Coldwater Boys Trade Up for 1st Track Title
June 2, 2018
By Dan D’Addona & Tom Markowski
Special for Second Half
ZEELAND — Led by a trio of dominant throwers, the Coldwater boys track & field team had high hopes of winning the Lower Peninsula Division 2 Finals on Saturday.
The team finished runner-up to Zeeland East last year and returned most of its point scorers.
Coldwater turned the tables and surged to the championship this time with 60 points at Zeeland Stadium.
“It means a lot. We got second last year, and we were really happy with that,” Coldwater’s Dylan Targgart said. “But we have never done this in school history. It feels really good.”
Zeeland East was second with 53 points, followed by Harper Woods Chandler Park (37), Tecumseh (33), Chelsea (26), Saginaw (25), Flint Powers Catholic (21), Wyoming Lee (20), Essexville Garber (18) and Romulus (18).
Coldwater powered through the shot put, taking the top three places behind Dylan Targgart (61-2), Zach Gipple (54-0¼) and Cole Targgart (52-6¾).
“The energy is always there when we are in the ring, and that helps us a lot,” Dylan Targgart said. “It’s fun. After each person hits their throw, we build off of each other and off of the energy that the crowd is giving us.”
Zeeland East’s Boone Bonnema was fifth (52-1) in the shot put.
Dylan Targgart won the discus with a throw of 170 feet, 10 inches, holding off East’s Brenden Knoll (170-1).
Coldwater’s Shuaib Aljabaly added a win in the 1,600 in 4:16.56.
“Nobody remembers who finishes second,” Aljabaly said of 2017. “Finishing second last year was a big part of what we did today.”
Aljabaly placed second in the 3,200-meter run last season and said he needed to do more this season to help his team score points. He ran the 1,600 just a few times as a junior and made a concerted effort in this event to compete with the best.
“This year the mile was my best event,” he said. “I felt, in the shorter the race, the more guts you have to have. I wanted more of a challenge this year.”
Aljabaly placed third in the 3,200 and then, oddly, ran in the next and final race, the 1,600 relay and helped Coldwater finish seventh for two more points.
“It was great seeing everyone perform,” Targgart said.
Zeeland East’s Gabe Taylor, Alex Stockdale, Bryce Metzger and Corbin DeJonge won the 800-meter relay (1:29.67). The quartet also won the 400 (43.06).
DeJonge won the 300-meter hurdles in 38.14 for the Chix.
“My Regional time wasn’t very good, and I knew I had to do something different to try to win this, so I tried to bring it out way faster than I normally do, then try to have the crowd drag me through at the end,” DeJonge said. “It is tough because (the state title) as a team is what we were working toward.”
One of the more impressive athletes on this day was Thomas Robinson of Wyoming Lee. This was Lee’s first season competing at the Division 2 meet. Robinson won the 100 and 200 both of the last two seasons in Division 3, improving his times in both each time.
Robinson made it a double three-peat Saturday as he set personal bests in the 100 (10.85) and in the semifinals of the 200 (21.6). His winning time in the 200 was 21.62.
Robinson didn’t compete in track until his sophomore year, the same year he tried out for football. A 6-foot-1, 180-pound receiver, Robinson said he’s more of a fan in that sport than he is in track. Be that as it may, Robinson signed to run track at Michigan State.
“My football coach at the time told me I should go out for track,” he said. “He said it would make me better in football. I don’t like track as much as football. I’m just better at track.
“I felt good running the 200. I am getting better. Just look at my times.”
Like Robinson, Anthony Hudson of Harper Woods Chandler Park competed in football and track. And, like Robinson, Hudson began his high school career rather late. Hudson competed in track in middle school but decided not to compete as a freshman. He ran a couple of races as a sophomore before making a commitment his junior year. Last season he placed sixth in the long jump and was second in the 200. This season he won the 110 hurdles with a time of 14.68. He also placed fourth in the 200.
He held off Zeeland East’s DeJonge (14.69) by a hundredth of a second in the 110 in one of the closest races of the day.
“I didn’t think I’d be that good my freshman year,” he said. “That’s why I didn’t come out.”
Hudson signed to play football at Davenport University and said he might try both sports if he can handle the load. He plans on majoring in sports management in college.
Chances are not many in the crowd expected Jacob Denison of Tecumseh to do well in the 400 run. That’s all right. Denison followed his own expectations.
The junior won the 400 with a time of 49.27, a personal best. Last season he competed in one event, the 1,600 relay. Denison also ran on the 400 and 800 relays this season.
“I’ve been working hard all season for this,” he said. “It’s not much of a surprise to me. It was just a lot of hard work. I knew I had to take it out fast today. I had a good coach who got me out of the block faster, and I had a lot of support from my family. I’m blessed.”
Injuries held Alex Comerford back last season as the junior from Otsego placed 11th in the 3,200. Healed by the time fall rolled around, Comerford placed second at the Cross Country Finals and won the 3,200 on Saturday with a time of 9:07.25.
“It’s something I’ve been working on,” he said. “I haven’t been finishing well, and it was really my cross country season that started things. I got stronger. I grew up.”
In the 3,200-meter relay, Chelsea’s Connor Gilbreath, Jensen Holm, Carson Rabbitt and Tom Oates won in 7:56.48, holding off Zeeland West’s Carson Holwerda, Bryce Arredondo, Lunke Munsey and Matthew Converse (7:59.93).
Parma Western’s Alex Inosencio won the pole vault in 15-8, besting the field by an entire foot. Lake Fenton’s Jaden Zaitshik won the high jump in 6-7, and Saginaw’s Tony Martin won the long jump in 22-7.
Essexville Garber’s Josiah Morse won the 800 (1:55.63), and Lansing Catholic’s Ryan Schroeder, James Fedewa, Jack Fedewa and Ryan Ruiter won the 1,600 relay (3:23.27).
VIDEO: Coldwater's Shuab Aljabaly wins the 1,600.
VIDEO: Oak Park's Donnie James sets a meet record in the 200.
PHOTOS: (Top) Coldwater's Zach Gipple begins to unwind on a discus toss Saturday. (Middle) Chandler Park's Anthony Hudson, middle, stays just ahead of Zeeland East's Corbin DeJonge, left, in the 110 hurdles, which proved to be the closest race of the meet. (Photos by Janina Pollatz. Click for more from RunMichigan.com.)
Emeott Closes Prep Career Helping Vault East Kentwood to Team Title #9
By
Steve Vedder
Special for MHSAA.com
May 30, 2026
ROCKFORD – Reece Emeott went from not knowing state history to making it.
The East Kentwood senior said he wasn't aware he could become the first pole vaulter in state history to win three-straight MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 1 Finals titles until he was informed that was indeed what he accomplished following Saturday's meet at Rockford.
Emeott shook off some unexpected setbacks to win this time with a vault of 16 feet, 6 inches. After becoming the first sophomore ever to win the Division 1 pole vault two years ago, then repeating the feat last spring, Emeott said he prefers not to live in the past.
"I try to focus on the now," said Emeott, whose finish sparked the Falcons to their Finals team title since 2019. "I don't think about the past or winning other state titles. I just take it day-by-day, but that is crazy, to win three state titles."
East Kentwood narrowly won the team prize, finishing with 63 points to 62 for runner-up Detroit Catholic Central.
Emeott's title featured a couple of strange turns, including a pass at the15-feet, 9-inch mark, then a miss at 16 feet. At one point late in the event, he ranked just fifth.
"It wasn't how I planned it at all," said Emeott, who will compete at Michigan next season. "I had a sprained foot, and I was kind of nervous about it. I couldn't do everything I wanted. There's pressure, but only because I need to score points to help the team. It would have been bad luck not to win."
Falcons coach Dave Emeott, whose teams have now won nine Finals titles, said the latest championship comes on the heels of a book he wrote last December, "Beyond The Finish Line." The book stresses the importance of relationships, positive parental involvement, the role of winning and being process oriented. Emeott admits the program may have drifted from those factors since winning three straight Division 1 titles from 2017-19.
"We had kind of a drought, and I looked at myself and the team and tried to figure out what we were doing," he said. "I thought, 'Hey, maybe we should be doing those things again. It was a magical year. I thought we could be in the conversation (for a title), but then again, there were days I would have said I don't know."
East Kentwood's other first place came from the 800 relay (1:26.76).
Among the other championships were a pair by Detroit Catholic Central's Zacchaeus Brocks, who captured the 300 hurdles (36.33) and 110 hurdles (13.40). The 300 time is the fourth-best in the country. He was seeded first in both events.
"I got out hard and set the tone," said Brocks, whose 2025 season was prematurely ended by a stress fracture in his toe. "I knew it was in me. I was anxious, but never defeated. I knew I had the confidence and grit to go out and get it. It's a great legacy to leave."
Rodney Endsley of Walled Lake Western was also a double winner, taking the 200 (21.14) and 400 (47.11), with the 16th and 17th-best times, respectively, in state history in those two events.
"I'm not a cocky guy, but when I feel I can win, I do," he said.
Wendell Childs Jr. of Clarkston successfully defended his 2025 title by winning the 800 (1:50.81), less than two seconds ahead of runner-up Greg Myers of Ypsilanti Lincoln. Childs Jr. won last year's title with a 1:51.49.
"Greg is a tough competitor, and I worked and worked to get to the point where I didn't think anybody could beat me," he said. "Last year was big for me, but I knew this was going to be tough."
Luka Hammond of Grand Haven also repeated by winning the 1,600 (4:09.53). Hammond said he learned a valuable lesson about health after what he called "limping" through last fall's cross country season.
"My body got beat up, and I learned my lesson," he said. "I learned that missing a couple days doesn't need to affect you. The most important thing is to be healthy, and I didn't have any problems this spring.
"There was definitely more pressure because I wasn't even supposed to be here last year. I'd be lying if I said I could be here. But you can't let that get the best of you."
Vernall Lee of Detroit Martin Luther King won the 100 (10.76), barely inching past runner-up Peyton Trammer of Belleville (10.77).
"It's a good feeling," said Lee, who was slowed by a pulled hamstring and broken ankle suffered six months ago. "It's mental. I knew it was going to be a tough challenge when I couldn't even walk. I'm still not completely healthy (with the hamstring), maybe 75-80 percent. But the ankle is completely healed."
Among the other champs were Detroit Catholic Central’s Paxton Heitsch in the shot (58-6) and Malachi Clayton in the long jump (24-5). Jase Behmlander of Saginaw Heritage won the high jump (6-10), Cameron Gramzow of New Baltimore Anchor Bay won the discus (172-1) and Brandon Cloud of Northville won the 3,200 (9:02.40).
Detroit Renaissance won the 1,600 relay (3:17.14), Detroit Catholic Central the 400 (41.50) and Ann Arbor Pioneer the 3,200 (7:40.02).
Macomb L’Anse Creuse North’s Cooper Shain (100, 200, 400) and South Lyon’s Owen Moerdyke (shot put) finished first in adaptive events.
PHOTOS (Top) East Kentwood's Reece Emeott clears the bar during a pole vault Saturday. (Middle) Detroit Catholic Central's Zacchaeus Brocks, center, sprints toward the finish in the 110 hurdles. (Click for more from John Brabbs, Carter Sherline and Jamie McNinch/RunMichigan.com.)