Click the thumbnails to see interviews with both Andrew and Maggie Karl.
KINGSFORD---It was a great day to be a Gladstone Brave, and it was a great day to be a member of the Karl family. Andrew Karl and his sister Maggie both brought home Upper Peninsula championships from the U.P. Finals at Flivver Field in Kingsford.
Both siblings brought home hardware in their best event: pole vault.
Andrew, a junior, took the championship at 14-feet flat, after earlier setting a Gladstone High School record at the Great Northern Conference meet a week earlier (14 feet, 6.5 inches). As a sophomore last year, Karl finished fourth at U.P. Finals with a 12-6 jump.
"It went pretty good," Andrew Karl said; "I didn't get what I wanted (better jump), but a win's a win. I mean, 14 feet. My goal was anything above 15-6. But I had a little headwind, and I just couldn't make it happen. But it feels good. My PR (person record) is 14 feet, 6-and-a-half (set at the Great Northern Conference meet), and I wanted to beat it. And I easily could've. I'm on a bigger pole now and it will send me a lot higher."
Maggie, a sophomore, won the championship at 10-feet-6-inches, a full foot over second place finisher Nori Korsman of Negaunee. As a freshman last year, Maggie Karl was third in the pole vault at the U.P. Finals, with a jump of nine feet flat.
"I did really good," Maggie Karl said. "I had a few jumps that were not great, but other than that, I had some really good jumps, and cleared 10-6. I wanted to get a little higher, but that's OK, becaise 10-6 ties my PR pretty much, so it's pretty good."
Also at this year's U.P. Finals, Andrew Karl finished third in the long jump (19 feet 9 inches) and was fourth in the 100 meter dash (11.37).
Maggie Karl was the UP runner-up in the 100 hurdles with a time of 16.69, and was also the UP runner-up in the high jump (4 feet 10 inches). She was also part of the 4X100 relay team that finished fifth in the finals.
In the end, both Karl siblings were happy to leave Kingsford with some hardware.
"It's a ton of fun," Andrew Karl said. "It's amazing. We put a lot of work in."
"He always pushes me at practice," Maggie Karl said. "He does very well. He just pushes me to do better."
"I hold her accountable when she's not doing it," Andrew Karl said. "It goes back and forth."
