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.)
Record-Setting Harper Woods Earns 1st Title, Western's Good Doubles Up on Greatness
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
May 30, 2026
HAMILTON — Parma Western junior Ryan Good was traditionally a competitor in the 400 and 800 dashes going into this spring, but he said he had a revelation earlier in the year while running the 1,600 at the Branch County Invite.
“I ran a 4:18,” he said. “I was just kind of like, ‘That’s pretty high up in the state. I might as well try and go for the 1,600 as well.”
Good did, and at the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 2 Finals, he was more than just good. He was the champion in two events.
First, he prevailed in the 1,600, claiming that title in a time of 4:13.20. Later, he won the 800 in a time of 1:53.81, pulling away over the last 100 meters with a big finishing kick.
“I’m definitely more 800 and 400 oriented,” he said. “But I think my body’s changed a lot. I used to be scrawny, a little bit weak. Over the past couple of years, I’ve gotten a lot more strength and mental strength as well.”
In the team portion Saturday, Harper Woods won going away, already having the title clinched before the final races of the day.
On the strength of dominant sprint relays, the Pioneers finished with 47 points, eight ahead of runner-up Otsego.
It was the school’s first Finals title in boys track & field.
“They had a lot of strong times going into indoor season,” said Harper Woods head coach Mike Carson, who was the coach of River Rouge’s runner-up team last year. “As we went from indoor into outdoor, we knew we wanted to do something special together as a team.”
Harper Woods set LPD2 Finals records in two relays. The 400 relay of Jayden Crump, DeAndre Bidden, Dakota Guerrant and Shawn Mosley won in a time of 41.50, which broke the record of 42.13 set in 2024 by Berrien Springs.
In the 800 relay, Harper Woods won in a record time of 1:27.26 with the team of Mosley, Crump, Dewayne Johnson and Bidden. The old record was 1:27.71 set by Orchard Lake St. Mary’s in 2016.
Crump, Bidden, Guerrant and Johnson are all standout football players as well, and Carson said there was little issue having them all come out for track.
“All the football players run track,” Cross said. “All the skill players run, and all the linemen do shot put. “They’ve been the ones to take the track program to the next level.”
Battle Creek Harper Creek senior DJ Wood repeated in the 110 hurdles in a time of 14.20, but fell short in his bid to repeat as champion in the 300 hurdles, finishing ninth. Corunna senior Logan Herrick claimed the 300 with a time of 38.02.
After finishing second in the high jump last year and reaching 7 feet at his Regional, Stevensville Lakeshore junior Declin Doroh won this time at 6-10.
Other champions Saturday included Coopersville’s Austin Langeland in the 100, Otsego’s Jack Cook in the 200, Portland’s Brady Rowe in the 400, Whitehall’s Robert Jazwinski III in the 3,200, Frankenmuth’s 1,600 relay and Grand Rapids Christian’s 3,200 relay, Vicksburg’s Kameron Kessler in the shot put, Otsego’s Alex Robbins in the discus, Spring Lake’s Ben Goran in the pole vault and Saginaw Swan Valley’s Jamison Pelt in the long jump.
Adrian’s Dillon Lauffer (100, 400) and Ethan Boprie (200) and Grand Rapids Christian’s Ezra Ippel (shot put) finished first in adaptive events.
PHOTOS (Top) Harper Woods' DeAndre Bidden sprints to the finish ahead of the field in the 800 relay Saturday. (Middle) Parma Western's Ryan Good leads one of his two winning races. (Click for more from Dave McCauley/RunMichigan.com.)