JOHANNESBURG ― The Class of 2024 is going to be dearly missed across Gaylord-area athletics.
Johannesburg-Lewiston is no exception.
The most recent graduating class of athletes accomplished a lot in their time as JoBurg athletes, helping capture the school's first-ever state title in 2022 while, for the most part, being among the most competitive teams in the Ski Valley Conference in all sports.
It's a group that will be remembered for a while, and after the conclusion of the 2023-24 school year, it was fitting that two seniors were given the distinction as the JoBurg Athletes of the Year, with Malaki Gascho bringing home the Most Valuable Male Award and Jayden Marlatt taking home the Most Valuable Female Award.
Gascho has been a key member of the JoBurg cross country and track and field teams for the past four years, helping the boys CC team earn second place at the Division 4 state meet back in 2022, the same year the girls won the D4 state title. This year, he was among the most competitive runners in all of D4, logging five top-ten finishes, winning two meets including the MHSAA Division 4 regional at East Jordan on Oct. 28, and finishing 11th overall at the D4 state finals in November.
Gascho was also one of the most active runners on the JoBurg track team, running the 800-meter, 1600-meter, 3200-meter, 4x400-meter relay and the 4x800-meter relay. He ran the 3200-meter in 9 minutes, 55.18 seconds at the Shepherd Bluejay invite, the third fastest time in school history. He holds the school record in the 3200-meter as well, a time of 9:48.25 set last season at the same meet.
He was also a starter for the JL boys basketball team, averaging 5.8 points, 2.5 rebounds and 3.3 assists in 22 games played.
Marlatt, meanwhile, finished off a historic high school career as the best female athlete not just at JoBurg, but in the entire Ski Valley Conference. She was named the SVC Player of the Year for volleyball, baseball and softball, sweeping the award in all three major sports.
She finished the fall with 421 kills and 431 digs for the volleyball team, helping them win a share of the SVC title for the third time in four years while wrapping her career as JL's all-time kill leader. In the winter, she averaged 12 points, 5.6 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 4 steals per game for the SVC runner-ups.
Finally, she put together another memorable softball season in her final months as a JoBurg Cardinal, pitching to a 15-3 overall record, a 1.52 ERA and 198 strikeouts. She also led the Cardinals in almost every offensive category, including hits (56), batting average (.639), doubles (14), triples (4) and home runs (11).
She is signed to play softball at Ferris State University, joining Gaylord's Braleigh Miller and Alexis Wangler in the Bulldogs' 2024 recruiting class and former Blue Devil Alexis Kozlowski already on the FSU roster.
Contact GHT Sports Editor Dylan Jespersen at Djespersen@gaylordheraldtimes.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @dylanjespersen, and Instagram, @dylanjespersen
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