Hamlin Breaks Escanaba's 48-Year-Old High Jump Record, Climbing List of State's Best
By
Adam Hinch
Special for MHSAA.com
May 7, 2026
ESCANABA — Over the last three seasons, Escanaba sophomore Andrew Hamlin has shown big gains annually in the high jump – and this year he has broken Escanaba High School’s record not once but twice, with plenty of opportunities remaining to better his best performance.
Hamlin took his first jumps in seventh grade but did not actively start competing until his eighth-grade year at Holy Name School in Escanaba.
“I remember the meet in Bark River,” Hamlin said. “I used to go off my right side with my left leg and then switched halfway through the season and ended up breaking the record.”
Hamlin broke Holy Name’s school record at the Escanaba Junior High Invitational with a jump of 5-foot-7 on May 14, 2024.
He also came in 11th at the Upper Peninsula Division 3 Finals that spring with a jump of 5-4 as one of only two eighth graders to compete in the Division 3 boys high jump that day.
“I knew Andrew since he was in fourth grade,” Holy Name athletic director Tony Derkos said. “He is a great kid, and track really gives him a chance to be his own athlete.”
Hamlin switched to Escanaba High School as a freshman and had a jump of 6-foot at the Division 1 Regional in Escanaba last spring. He then came through with a jump of 6-2 at the UP Finals in Kingsford where he was finished second as one of only two freshmen to place among the top 10.
“I really enjoy the competitiveness of the sport,” Hamlin said. “It definitely helps to fuel you as an athlete to improve every time out.”
Hamlin also has a personal coach, Hugo Munoz, who was a member of the Peru national team and competed in the 1996 and 2000 Summer Olympics.
Hamlin has competed in two high jump camps, one in Wisconsin and most recently one in New Prague, Minn.
Now a sophomore, he broke the high jump record for Escanaba High School with a jump of 6-6 on April 21at the Delta County Invite in Gladstone. The previous record was set in 1978 by Keenan Failing.
“It meant a lot to get the record,” Hamlin said. “It was one of the goals for the season coming in, and I was just kind of surprised that it happened this early in the season.”
That record lasted for 10 days until the Escanaba Invitational on May 1, when Hamlin completed a jump of 6-7. That height ranks eighth statewide this season and first among Upper Peninsula jumpers.
“I have to adjust my goals for the season,” Hamlin said. “I never thought I would hit this high of a height this early in the season, so now I’m just trying to stay consistent and improve my height when I can.”
Hamlin will be taking part in the Nike Nationals this summer as well as some other high jump events. He also competes for Escanaba in the long jump, 400 meters and 1,600 relay, and plays football and basketball for his school.
“He’s everything you want in an athlete,” Eskymos track coach Scott Dykema said. “He is a good competitor and is always working on his game and what he can do to improve every time he goes out.”
Hamlin has overcome various injuries but works to get back in action as soon as he can.
“He never lets injuries keep him down,” Derkos said. “He is a tough kid and battles through injuries, and that is the sign of a natural competitor – which is what he is.”
Hamlin has aspirations of taking the high jump to the collegiate level and said he also enjoys distance running. He competes in 5K races and said he would enjoy running a marathon at some point.
“I think it would be fun to run a marathon,” Hamlin said. “That would come after college as there is so much time and training that goes into preparing for a marathon, but definitely something I would have interest in down the road.”
Hamlin has at least four track meets left this season as Escanaba will compete in Negaunee on May 8, at the Division 1 Regional at Manistique on May 13, and at Gladstone and Gaylord as well before finishing at the UP Finals on May 30 in Kingsford.
PHOTOS (Top) Escanaba’s Andrew Hamlin soars over the high jump bar during a meet. (Middle) Hamlin completes a turn in the long jump pit. (Photos by Adam Hinch.)
Fruitport's Oleen Catches Up Quickly
April 12, 2018
By Tom Kendra
Special for Second Half
Cameron Oleen first ran track his sophomore year.
As a junior last spring, he was the 400-meter champion at the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 2 Finals.
While pulling off that feat is certainly a testament to the Fruitport High School senior’s talent, work ethic and determination, it also illustrates Oleen’s potential as he gains more experience on the track.
“Cam is still learning – that’s the exciting part,” said 15th-year Fruitport boys track coach Chad Brandow, wearing his winter coat and gloves during a recent practice. “He is a state champion who is still very raw. To be honest with you, Cam is one of the main reasons I’m still out here. I was gonna hang it up a couple years ago, but I want to be here to see what this kid can do.”
What Oleen wants to do is add two more Finals titles before starting his collegiate running career at Michigan State University, where he has verbally committed to attend as a preferred walk-on.
He already has two titles under his belt. The first came that sophomore year, when he ran a leg on Fruitport’s winning 3,200-meter relay, teaming with Kody Brooks, Seth Glover and Noah Hendricks for a winning time of 7:54.39. Then came last year’s shocking victory in the 400, when he dove at the tape to win with a personal-best time of 49.21.
“If you asked me last year if I could win state in the 400, I would have said no way,” said Oleen, who also runs cross country and plays basketball at Fruitport. “But when we were approaching the final turn, with about 150 meters left, I realized that I could win and be a state champion. That was kind of a turning point for me.”
As is often the case for Oleen in big races, he was trailing multiple runners nearing the end, including neighboring rival Isaiah Pierce of Spring Lake. But Oleen, motivated by Fruitport’s disappointing seventh-place finish in the 3,200-meter relay earlier in the day, kicked on the after-burners and won in a photo finish.
“The last 100 meters, I couldn’t feel my legs, so I just ran with my heart the whole way,” explained Oleen.
His goal for this spring is to pull off a rare double at the MHSAA Division 2 Finals on June 2 at Zeeland - repeat as champion in the 400, then come back just two events later and win the 800.
It’s a daunting (and tiring) goal, but Brandow said if there is anyone who can do it, it’s Oleen.
“He doesn’t get tired,” said Brandow, who is in his 30th year coaching track, with previous stops at Muskegon Heights and Muskegon High. “Cam will do the sprint workouts with the sprinters and then turn around and do the distance workouts right after. He always works hard. He could pull it off.”
Both Brandow and Fruitport cross country coach Randy Johnson rave about Oleen’s God-given running ability and untapped potential, but they also emphasize that he is a great leader, role model and the ultimate teammate – even when individual opportunities might be at stake.
The best example of that came at the MHSAA LP Division 2 Cross Country Finals his junior year, when Oleen was on pace for a top-30 finish and all-state with less than a quarter-mile to go.
He stopped to help teammate Mitchell Johnson, who was struggling with exhaustion. The teammates ended up walking the final 400 meters together, with Johnson placing 46th and Oleen 47th.
“It was just a natural reaction for me to stop and see how Mitch was doing,” explained Oleen, who came back to earn all-state honors in cross country last fall with a 13th-place finish. “I would do the same thing again. Our coaches teach us that the team is everything.”
Now that he is a senior, Oleen has assumed a leadership role on the team and is trying to provide a good example like 2017 graduates Johnson and Aaron Simot and others provided for him. He even refers to his past and present Fruitport teammates as family, whom he said have helped him through so much both on and off the track.
“One thing that might surprise you about me is that I really don’t like running by myself, especially more than two miles,” said Oleen, the son of Bill and Joy Oleen, with a laugh. “But when I’m out here running with my family, it’s totally different. I forget about it. Any success I’ve had, these people out here are a big part of it.”
Oleen is determined to make the most of his final couple of months with his Fruitport track family. He just returned from a spring break trip to Myrtle Beach, S.C., with 18 team members, and now the Trojans are aiming for a fifth straight Greater Muskegon Athletic Association city meet title. Then the focus will shift to Ottawa-Kent Conference Black, Regional and state goals.
Looking ahead to college, Oleen plans to major in kinesiology and become an invested part of both the cross country and track families at MSU, where he could see his main events becoming the 800 and the 1,600. Brandow sees another possibility for his star pupil’s future.
“With his athletic ability, they could put him in the steeplechase,” Brandow said.
Fruitport already has one steeplechase legend in 1995 graduate Tom Chorny, a collegiate star at Indiana University who went on to win the 2001 U.S. Championship in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. Chorny, a 2017 inductee into the Muskegon Area Sports Hall of Fame, is now the head track and cross country coach at Miami University (Ohio).
Oleen is approaching his running future with an open mind. After all, less than a year ago, he couldn’t imagine being an individual Finals champion – but that breakthrough win whetted his appetite and now his eyes are wide open.
“I need to have goals to drive me,” Oleen said. “That’s why I put it out there to try and win the 400 and 800 at state, to drive me. I’ve got a bunch of goals in my head for college, too. Then I want to shoot for the 2028 Olympic Games.”
Tom Kendra worked 23 years at The Muskegon Chronicle, including five as assistant sports editor and the final six as sports editor through 2011. E-mail him at [email protected] with story ideas for Muskegon, Oceana, Mason, Lake, Oceola, Mecosta and Newaygo counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) Cameron Oleen hits stride during a race last season. (Middle) Oleen after winning his first individual MHSAA Finals championship in 2017. (Photos courtesy of the Fruitport athletic department.)