After Close Calls, Chelsea Claims Title
June 1, 2013
By Greg Chrapek
Special to Second Half
ADA – This spring’s high school sports season long will be remembered for having some of the worst weather in years.
While the wet and cold weather hampered many teams across the state, the Chelsea boys track team used it to its advantage. And the payoff was an MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 2 track and field championship Saturday afternoon at Forest Hills Eastern.
After coming close the past two years, the Bulldogs came away with this year’s title as they totaled 64 points to edge second-place Grand Rapids Ottawa Hills by eight points.
Chelsea finished second two years ago, and last year the Bulldogs placed third. This year, thanks to some hard training when the weather was at its worst in the spring, Chelsea had what it took to bring home the title hardware.
“Back in March and April when the weather was bad and everyone was complaining about how bad the weather was, we talked about just concentrating and working harder,” Chelsea coach Eric Swager said. “Rain, sleet or snow everyone was out there working their hardest, and it paid off. … Everyone just worked that much harder when the weather was bad.”
The hard work resulted in Chelsea having a deep team capable of scoring points in a variety of events.
“Everybody contributed,” Swager said. “The sprints, the relays, the distance runners, field events. The entire team has been focused and working hard from day one. We have some individual talent, but everybody stuck together and that was the key.”
Berkley Edwards was one of the individual talents that helped pave the way for the Bulldogs. One of the state’s top sprinters, Edwards wrapped up his high school track career by winning both the 100 and the 200-meter dashes.
Edwards turned in a time of 10.58 in the 100-meter dash and then came back to edge Gary Jones of Allegan in a 200-meter dash that came down to the end. Edwards finished with a time of 21.37.
“Things went well for me today, better than expected,” Edwards said. “I ran a 10.58 which was a p.r. (personal record) in the 100, and then I ran a 21.37 which was a p.r. in the 200.”
The highlight for Edwards was holding on to win the 200.
“It was definitely a photo finish,” Edwards said. “It was a real close race. My strategy was to get out to the lead and hold it on the curve. I heard him (Jones) coming. I didn’t want to stress. I just stay relaxed.”
Sweeping both the 100 and 200 was a major key to Chelsea’s title and part of the strategy going into the Finals.
“My coaches told me I had an opportunity to win two races,” Edwards said. “They thought I could get the 100 and possibly the 200, and if I did we had a real good chance of winning.”
The Bulldogs also picked up points in the field events as senior Michael Hovater won the pole vault by clearing 14 feet, 10 inches. Chelsea also won the 3,200-meter relay as the team of Zach Rabbitt, Jacob Stubbs, David Trimas and Tony Vermilye turned in a time of 7:55.84.
Chelsea was pushed for the title by an Ottawa Hills team that had one of its best Finals performances in recent history. Key to Ottawa Hills’ strong effort was the performances turned in by its sprint relay teams.
Ottawa Hills finished in the top three of three of the four relay events, led by the first-place 400-meter relay team of Shawn Kneeland, Sam Beal, Jacori Millbrooks and Teyland Avery.
The relay was seeded second coming into the day but came away with the school’s first title-winning effort at the Finals since 1997.
“This was real big,” Kneeland said. “The key for us was to focus. Not to worry about anyone else and just focus on running our best.”
Senior Teyland Avery ran the anchor leg for the Bengals.
“To win a state title in Grand Rapids was real special,” Avery said. “We had two seniors on the relay team, and to finally win a title is special. Last year we finished third at state and we didn’t do too well. This just feels great. To run in my city and to win in my city is pretty special.”
For Detroit East English senior Marcell Wyckoff and the rest of his teammates, Saturday’s Finals were the first in school history as East English is in its first year as a high school. Wykoff, who came in seeded second, won the 400-meter dash.
“The first thing I wanted to do was to get out fast,” Wykoff said. “I knew if I got out to a good start, nobody would catch me. I had a pretty good start, and I held on.”
Wykoff’s title was the first in school history and was a little bittersweet for the senior.
“I came over from Crockett Tech,” Wykoff said. “This year was really different. It was not like I thought my senior year would be, but it ended up pretty good winning a state championship. It feels good on the inside.”
Mason senior distance runner Tanner Hinkle ended a few years of frustration both on the track and during cross country season. He won the 3,200 by more than four seconds with a time of 9:13.41.
“I have finished second two different times at state,” Hinkle said. “Winning it my senior year feels real good, to finally win a state title. I also finished second at state during the cross country season. I’ve been very close to a state title a few times before, and to finally win one is a dream come true.”
In the field events, Cadillac senior Riley Norman closed out a successful high school throwing career by winning the shot put for a second consecutive season. He turned in a winning put of 59-10, missing a Finals record by less than two feet.
“I won it last year with a 61-2 ½ and this year I had a p.r. of 62-10,” Norman said. “I wanted to set a new record, but I came up a little short.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Chelsea's Berkley Edwards races toward the finish line on the way to winning one of his two MHSAA titles Saturday. (Middle) Mason's Tanner Hinkle sets the pace in the 3,200. (Photos by Greg Chrapek.)
MCC's Glover Fills Key Role as Athletic Trainer for Super Bowl Champions
By
Tom Kendra
Special for MHSAA.com
August 6, 2024
David Glover never had the glamour role – and didn’t even play the glamour sport – during his high school days at Muskegon Catholic Central.
MCC is known statewide as a football powerhouse that ranks third in state history with 12 MHSAA Finals championships during the playoff era. But basketball was Glover’s sport of choice, and his specialty didn’t show up in the box score.
“I was the defensive stopper,” explained Glover, who graduated from MCC in 1996. “I was always the guy that Coach (Greg) Earnest would put on the other team’s best scorer. I took a lot of pride in that.”
Glover continues to be the ultimate team player, only now his role is the first assistant athletic trainer for the Kansas City Chiefs, who are aiming to three-peat this season as Super Bowl champions.
“As the team and the goals have grown, so have I,” said Glover, who has been on the Chiefs’ training staff for the past 18 years. “The job is the same, which is getting the players onto the field and back onto the field after injuries so that they can perform at their highest level. I have become more comfortable and experienced in that role.”
Glover broke into the NFL as an athletic training intern with the New York Jets in 2004. He came to Kansas City in 2006 when Jets head coach Herman Edwards took the KC job, bringing Glover and several other members of the training staff with him.
Glover quickly fell in love with the Chiefs’ famous family-first culture, along with the area’s world-famous barbecues. He also met his future wife, Jera.
He is known as a tireless worker and student of his craft, which has allowed him to steadily move up to his current position as first assistant athletic trainer on the Chiefs’ five-member training staff, second only to Rick Burkholder, the vice president of sports medicine and performance.
Glover’s skills also have caught the attention of his colleagues across the NFL, who awarded him the 2022 Tim Davey AFC Assistant Athletic Trainer of the Year Award – given annually to someone who represents an unyielding commitment, dedication and integrity in the profession of athletic training.
Glover said a big reason for his success in his profession can be traced back to high school.
“Playing sports at MCC, especially for a smaller school, gave me such a sense of camaraderie, teamwork and a family outside of my normal family,” said Glover, the son of David and Lyndah Glover. “Those teammates energized me to be my best.
“There’s no doubt that some of the lessons that I learned playing sports in high school help me out in my job.”
Glover also ran track for the Crusaders – competing in the long jump, 200 meters, 400 meters and various relays – and said he enjoyed himself, even though he ran track initially as a way to stay in shape for basketball.
The highlight of his MCC basketball career came his senior year, when the underdog Crusaders captured a Class C District championship.
Growing up in Muskegon and close to Lake Michigan, Glover thought he would become a marine biologist someday – that is, until he suffered an injury during his senior basketball season.
Glover went up for a block and actually pinned the opponent’s shot against the backboard. However, the shooter inadvertently took his legs out on the play, causing him to crash violently to the court and lose feeling in his right leg for about 10 seconds.
The injury to his hip flexor put him on crutches for two weeks and off the court total for about a month, which he said “felt like the end of the world” at the time.
But the injury led him into rehab with Brian Hanks, a 1988 MCC graduate who was back working at his alma mater as an athletic trainer through Mercy Hospital.
Glover and Hanks turned out to be a perfect match. Glover was naturally curious about the entire process and wanted to know the “why” of his rebab program. Hanks recognized Glover’s interest in how the human body works and encouraged him to consider studying athletic training in college.
“God works in mysterious ways,” said Glover. “I was devastated when I got injured, but that experience opened my eyes to a whole new career. I wanted to learn everything I could about the human body and how it works.
“Looking back, the injury was a blessing in disguise. I wouldn’t change anything at all.”
Glover followed in Hanks’ footsteps and attended Central Michigan University, spending countless hours in the training room working with athletes in every sport – from football to track to gymnastics – graduating with a degree in health fitness and exercise science.
He said a huge inspiration in his career was CMU professor Dr. Rene Shingles, who in 2018 became the first African-American woman to be inducted into the National Athletic Trainers Association Hall of Fame. Shingles encouraged Glover to continue his studies at Seton Hall University in New Jersey, where he earned his master’s of science in athletic training.
He got his break into the NFL with his internship with the Jets, and his work ethic has kept him there for the past 20 years.
“If there are high school kids out there reading this, I guess I would tell them that there are a lot of different avenues to get to the NFL or the NBA,” Glover said. “I’m a perfect example. I didn’t even play high school football, but through athletic training I have been part of three Super Bowls.”
The Chiefs, who won their first Super Bowl way back in 1970, would have to wait 50 years (until 2020) to win their next one. But Kansas City now has won three Super Bowls in five years, adding titles in 2023 and 2024.
“To have these kind of experiences, and to be able to share so much of it with my family, is really a dream come true,” said Glover, 45, who said his ultimate goal is to become the head athletic trainer for an NFL team.
“I am always open to see what opportunities God has for me and what doors he opens.”
More immediately, with the start of training camp last month, Glover is back to his seven-day-a-week schedule, sharing the organization’s goal of making it to the Super Bowl for the third consecutive season.
Glover has worked with all of the Chiefs star players at some point, including star quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who he calls “a great, humble man.”
But perhaps the player he has worked with most is standout tight end Travis Kelce.
Kelce, who has become a huge name outside of football as the boyfriend of pop sensation Taylor Swift, injured his knee during his rookie preseason in 2013, sidelining him for the entire year. Glover was assigned to Kelce for his rehab.
With Glover’s daily help, Kelce was able to get back on the field the following year and emerged as a star, earning him the 2014 NFL Ed Block Courage Award as a model of inspiration, sportsmanship and courage.
After winning the award, Kelce invited Glover (he calls him “DG”) and his wife to attend the award ceremony with him in Baltimore.
“That was a huge honor for me, and I was blown away,” said Glover. “I look at it that I was just doing my job. He entrusted and believed in me throughout the process, and it worked out great.”
2024 Made In Michigan
August 1: Lessons from Multi-Sport Experience Guide Person in Leading New Team - Read
July 30: After Successful 'Sequel,' Suttons Bay's Hursey Embarking on Next Chapter - Read
July 24: East Kentwood Run Part of Memorable Start on Knuble's Way to NHL, Olympics - Read
July 22: Monroe High Memories Remain Rich for Michigan's 1987 Mr. Baseball - Read
July 17: Record-Setting Viney Gained Lifelong Confidence at Marine City - Read
July 11: High School 'Hoop Squad' Close to Heart as Hughes Continues Coaching Climb - Read
July 10: Nightingale Embarking on 1st Season as College Football Head Coach - Read
June 28: E-TC's Witt Bulldozing Path from Small Town to Football's Biggest Stage - Read
PHOTOS (Top) At left, David Glover as a senor during the 1995-96 school year at Muskegon Catholic Central, and at right Glover shows the AFC Championship trophy after Kansas City's 17-10 win at Baltimore on Jan. 28. (Middle) Glover, left, hugs teammate Doug Dozier after a victory over rival Muskegon Mona Shores in 1995-1996 basketball season opener. MCC finished 17-7 and a District champion. (Below) Glover poses with this year's Super Bowl Championship trophy alongside fellow Chiefs athletic trainer Julie Frymyer. (Trophy photos courtesy of David Glover; 1996 photos courtesy of the MCC yearbook.)