Hillsdale Academy Finishes Championship Climb Securing 1st Title on Final Race
By
Brian Freiberger
Special for MHSAA.com
May 30, 2026
HUDSONVILLE – After years of climbing the standings at the Lower Peninsula Division 4 Finals but not yet reaching the top, Hillsdale Academy won its first championship Saturday at Hudsonville Baldwin – thanks to its depth and a heroic 1,600 relay win to close the meet.
The Colts scored 46 points to edge Eau Claire by two and Royal Oak Shrine Catholic by seven.
“We've been blessed to have a lot of success at the state meet for a number of years, but this is our first MHSAA state title, so it's extra special,” Hillsdale Academy coach Mike Roberts said. “This is a really good group of guys. … The depth of the team showed. There are two points in the high jump, one point in the two-mile. All of that mattered, and those extra points really added up.”
Hillsdale Academy clinched the team championship when its 1,600 relay team of Jordan Perry, Luke Molenkamp, Grayson Rorick and Dawson Scharer finished seventh with a time of 3:32 as Shrine finished 10th and Eau Claire took 11th. That left Eau Claire as overall team runner-up and Shrine third.
The Colts were led by Scharer, who also earned championships in the 110 and 300 hurdles with times of 14.63 and 38.52, respectively.
“I'm so glad that I was able to run a good time today and just everybody else was able to run good times,” Scharer said. “I was hoping for the back-to-back all year. I've just not had the fastest time in the 300 hurdles.”
Rorick and Molenkamp also helped lead the Colts to a championship in the 3,200 relay with a time of 8:09, as Jonah Cuthbert and Stephen Holm joined in the dominating win by eight seconds over Holland Calvary.
“It's absolutely incredible. I'm so happy. I was not expecting it, but then when it came down to the 4x400, we were all on the edge of our seats watching it, going crazy,” Rorick said. “That's a great thing for the team. It was a great time for everyone.”
Eau Claire had a remarkable day on its way to that runner-up finish. The boys 400 relay of Melvin Davis Jr., Devin Hill, A’darion Fort and Elijah Marlowe edged second-place Maple City Glen Lake with a time of 43.36. The same foursome also took home the top honor in the 800 relay.
“It means a lot to me that we came a long way from last year,” Davis Jr. said.
Devin Hill added: “I'm pretty shocked. But also at the same time, I knew we were going to be at this moment because we were talking about this all summer, our whole lives, basically.”
Shrine senior Abenezer Cerone capped off his high school career by breaking the meet record in the 800-meter run (1:52). He also took home the title in the 1,600 with a time of 4:14.
The senior finally ran the race he has been preparing for all season long.
“I didn't really know what was gonna happen, even though I wanted the record still. That 800 hurt. Literally from the first step, everything. But I believed in my training that my coaches gave me, and I believed in myself, and I just went for it,” Cerone said. “I always remember that my teammates and my coaches were the best part. Also, I got to thank God and the many blessings given to me. … I’m super grateful.”
After a midseason plateau, Manchester junior Jayden Johnson saved his best for last on his way to a 200-meter championship with a time of 22.34.
“I've been the underdog all year. I've been slept on by so many people. I thought I wouldn’t even end up here …,” Johnson said. “I gotta get better every single day. I decided that I had to put in the extra time. I did workouts after practice … and I got it done.”
Other champions included Blanchard Montabella’s James Rodriguez in the 100, Beal City’s Aaron Locke in the 400, Harbor Beach’s Brody Karg in the 3,200, Morrice’s Oliver Long in the shot put, Climax-Scotts’ Gabe Walliczek in the discus, Glen Lake’s Jacob Plamondon in the high jump, Buckley’s Easton Harrand in the pole vault and Webberville’s Matthew Howery in the long jump. Detroit Douglass won the 1,600 relay.
PHOTOS (Top) Hillsdale Academy's Dawson Scharer, far left, carries the baton in the 1,600 relay Saturday. (Middle) Eau Claire completes a handoff during one of its two relay championships. (Click for more from Ken Swart/RunMichigan.com.)
Pioneer's Johnson Focused on Finish
May 24, 2012
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
At 6-foot-1 and a solid 205 pounds, Drake Johnson looks every bit the college running back he’ll become this fall at the University of Michigan.
And amid chasing the MHSAA record for single-season rushing yards this fall, he became a recognizable face as well.
But not long ago, Johnson was known primarily for the elite times he ran during track season. And that allowed the Ann Arbor Pioneer hurdler to have a little extra fun.
A self-admitted jokester, Johnson would get a chuckle before races while watching opponents keep a lookout for him, not realizing he was standing next to them.
“Let’s see who they think I am before the race,” Johnson would say to himself. “And once they figured out who I am, they’d be like, ‘No way! This can’t be Drake.’
“I’d just win the race.”
Now there are few in MHSAA track and field who don't recognize him – or know of the legacy he's about the leave.
Johnson is a two-time MHSAA Division 1 champion in the 110-meter hurdles, and won both that race (14.25) and the 300 hurdles (38.63) at Friday's Division 1 Regional at Saline. He owns the Pioneers’ record in the 110 hurdles of 13.7 seconds, and also will run as part of the 1,600 relay at next weekend’s Division I Final at East Kentwood High.
A Second Half High 5 recipient this week, Johnson has two goals for his final high school meet: Break the all-Finals record in the 110 of 13.6 seconds set by Detroit Central’s Thomas Wilcher in 1982, and win the 300 intermediate hurdles – a race he qualified for last season, but did not advance in past the preliminaries.
Johnson won both hurdles races at last weekend's Regional by more than a second – margins that also have become the norm. After finishing third in the 110 hurdles as a freshman at the 2009 Division 1 Final, Johnson won that race in 2010 by 34 hundredths of a second and last season by 44 hundredths.
His 13.9 Finals qualifying time this spring is the second-fastest among all four divisions. And his best time in high school competition – 13.7 – is faster than them all.
“He’s always had high aspirations to do really well,” said Pioneer coach Don Sleeman, who is finishing his 39th season coaching the Pioneers' boys team. “He’s basically been (this) way from the get-go. I’ve had kids you could see as freshmen would be really good if they developed … but Drake was really good from freshman year on. His talent was pretty obvious.”
And it’s not restricted to hurdles. Johnson would do just fine as a sprinter – for example, he’s beaten Ann Arbor Skyline’s Nathan Hansen, who posted the fifth-fastest Division 1 qualifying time in the 100 of 10.8 seconds. Johnson uses his strength to power through races like he has a ball tucked under his arm, continuously accelerating as others begin to fade.
And the hurdles offer a canvas on which he can create what he describes as his art.
“Everyone has a top speed. It's only one variable -- are you fast, or are you not fast? With hurdles, … it’s a combination of speed and hours of working on technique,” Johnson said. “There's almost that second variable to it, that X factor. A lot of people … can work on technique for hours and hours.
"It’s deeper, but at the time, it’s so incredibly simple. Whoever gets there faster wins the race. Whatever form allows me to finish the fastest, then technically I have better form than you do.”
Johnson has seven entries in the MHSAA football record book, thanks to his incredible numbers in the fall. In 12 games, Johnson ran 344 times for 2,809 yards and 37 touchdowns, and scored 38 times total. His yardage is sixth-most for one season in MHSAA history.
A downfall of his final run through high school track has been the outside expectation that he would post super-fast times in every race – although doing so hasn't always been necessary to win. Sometimes, Johnson focused more on working on nuances, or saving up energy for other events.
But he’s looking forward to one last opportunity to let fly before moving down the road and onto the next level of competition.
“Knowing that it’s my last chance to get the record, I have a sense of urgency almost,” Johnson said. “Also, if I had an actually good start, and a full race, if I run the way I feeI could run it, I’m hoping I could possibly go 13.1 – if I were to run the perfect race.”
Click to read more about Johnson's career aspirations and favorite football runners.
PHOTO: Ann Arbor Pioneer's Drake Johnson won last season's MHSAA Division 1 110 hurdles Final by nearly half a second.