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At one point in the evening, during a particularly long delay, some coaches on the infield were strategizing a mutiny.

Cooler heads (literally) prevailed, however, and the meet saw several strong performances from local athletes despite temperatures that dipped into the mid-thirties with a wind chill in the twenties.

One of those athletes was Bellaire's Molly Poel, who broke her own school record in the shot put (37-6) and also won the discus (96-1).

Bellaire head coach Deb Larson said that this season is a "year of redemption" for Poel, who was injured last year.

Poel admitted that she is on a mission.

"To win states is definitely my goal," she said.

She stayed undefeated in the two events by winning both on Monday, and she was happy with her efforts.

"It's a big meet," she said. "Knowing there's a lot of talent here feels pretty good."

Bellaire led the local contingency at the meet in seventh place out of 11 schools with 44 points. Central Lake was next with 39, then came Ellsworth with 25 and Mancelona with 21.

In the boys meet, Mancelona finished tied for third overall with Onaway as both teams totaled 81 points. Ellsworth finished fifth with 70, Bellaire totaled 55, and Central Lake had 12.

Ê Familiar names led the way for Mancelona. Adam Duerksen took home firsts in both hurdle races, and he finished second in the 200 and third in the 100. With prelims and semis in the sprint events, that's a lot of races.

Teammate Mike Herczak proved to be the quintessential track and field athlete as he finished third in the high jump, fourth in the long jump, and first in the 400.

Ê"I hate this race," he said, moments after winning the 400 in 53.9. "I've been trying to get out of it since middle schoolÊ -Ê hasn't happened."

Mancelona's David Bergey continued to dominate in the discus ring. He won the event by over five feet with his toss of 115-8.25. Bellaire's Dakota Jones was second with a throw of 110-4.75.

Bellaire's other top performance came from their 400 meter relay team of Ethan Murray, Jones, Chris Bueby, and Jared Rames, which finished third in 48.75.

Rames, the team's anchor leg, says the foursome is looking to qualify for the state meet.

"We're pretty close to state qualifying time," he said. "We have the speed, but our handoffs are hurting us.

"Our exchanges (tonight) were decent, but not too great.

"But we're looking strong. Tonight was the first time we haven't gotten first."

Perhaps the best performances of the day came from the Ellsworth Lancers, most notably Ashton Fisher and Jared Danbert.

Fisher was a double winner in the 1600 (4:39.5) and 3200 (10:13.5), and Danbert claimed top performances in a number of events. He was fourth in the 100 (11.7), second in the long jump (18-0.5) and first in the 200 (23.9).

Ellsworth head coach Kirk Ikens was pleased all around with his club.

"I'm very happy with our effort," he said. "We were trying to concentrate on quality today É I'm happy as can be today with how the kids have done."

"Danbert did a fantastic job in the 100 and 200 with all the prelims É He did very good against very good competition."

Danbert has only been competing in the long jump for a week.

"With more work on technique he can be very good," Ikens said.

Ikens was also impressed with the Piellusch sisters, Maggie and Emily, who both ran season best splits in the co-ed 3200 relay, which finished third in 9:55 and also featured Burton Jones and Juston Weis. Emily also picked up a medal in the 100 meter hurdles (sixth, 20.1).

"To medal in the 100 hurdles is a fantastic job as a sophomore in a quality meet," Ikens said.

All the athletes and coaches held the opinion that the cold was affecting performances.

"The weather is having an effect on the runners," Central Lake head coach Joe Shay said.

That sentiment was echoed by several people.

"It's so cold," Mancelona head coach Ron Davis said. "The kids can't flex as well and that really affects times, heights, and distances."

The athletes themselves weren't as nuanced.

"It's just too cold," Rames said.

"It's freezing," Poel said.

The weather can't be helped, but there were also several complaints about the length of the meet.

After the day concluded, Larson, who is also the Bellaire Athletic Director, promised a smoother ride next year.

"It was a very long and cold evening," she said in a written statement, "and we appreciate the volunteers and teams who stuck with us in this transitional year. We are already discussing changes to correct some of the problems with this year's meet and promise a better and more efficient event next season."