No Individual Event Wins Needed as Parma Western Clinches 1st Finals Team Title
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
May 31, 2025
HAMILTON – Parma Western boys track & field coach Lucas Sponsler never has been happier to see one of his relay teams finish second.
Entering the 1,600 relay at Saturday’s Lower Peninsula Division 2 Finals, Sponsler knew his team needed to finish sixth or higher to overtake River Rouge, which held a two-point lead but didn’t have a team competing in that last race of the afternoon.
As it turns out, that closing event was a perfect reflection of Western’s day.
Western took second to win its first Finals team title by six points, with 44 total, despite not winning a single event throughout the competition.
Depth and versatility in running and field events allowed Western to prevail.
“That’s pretty sweet,” Sponsler said. “I felt like our team was built a lot more for team states. We knew we were built for this because we had a variety of strong athletes.”
While Parma Western made history by winning what Sponsler said was just the third state title by any sports team at the school, River Rouge also had reason to be proud.
After registering just one point at last year’s event, the Panthers took a major jump with their best Finals finish.
Leading the way for River Rouge were seniors Jaiden Melton and Donpaul Keith. Melton won the 100 meters in 10.62 seconds, while Keith won the 200 in 21.66. The two also were part of River Rouge’s winning 800 relay, which came in first with a time of 1:27.89.
“Those guys, they did everything they could and it was amazing for them,” River Rouge head coach Mike Carson said. “We bounced back and we showed up in the individuals, and we showed up in the relay. I’ll take a team runner-up.”
The multiple-event winners on the day individually were Marshall senior Jack Bidwell and Battle Creek Harper Creek junior DJ Wood.
Bidwell won 1,600 meters in 4:14.95 and the 3,200 meters in 9:12.13, using a lethal finishing kick to surge ahead at the finish line.
“I like to use my kick a lot, so I pushed on that today,” said Bidwell, who will run in college for Michigan. “I’ve kind of just always had a kick. I like to say it’s my mentality a lot. It’s like, ‘Why not?’ … I feel like that pushes me a lot and has helped me get to a lot of places I’ve been.”
After not competing at the Finals last year, Wood swept the hurdles events taking the 110 race in 14.15 seconds and winning the 300 hurdles in 39.24.
“I felt really confident doing it,” Wood said. “I put in a lot of work and really cared about it.”
Another standout performance came from Stevensville Lakeshore sophomore Kaden Griffiths, who broke a meet record in the long jump with a leap of 24-¼ .
PHOTOS (Top) Parma Western sprints to the finish in the 1,600 relay; the Panthers' runner-up finish in the race clinched their team title. (Middle) Marshall's Jack Bidwell, left, raises his hands in victory as he crosses the finish line. (Click for more from RunMichigan.com.)
Hackett '6' Claim 1st Title Since 1930
By
Wes Morgan
Special for MHSAA.com
June 2, 2018
HUDSONVILLE – One day, when a Kalamazoo Hackett Catholic Prep track championship team reunion is in order, it won’t require much effort rounding everyone up.
With only six young men representing the Irish on Saturday at the Lower Peninsula Division 4 Finals at Hudsonville, head coach Simon Cholometes’ squad scored 51 points to win it all — the program’s first championship since 1930, when it was part of predecessor St. Augustine High School before boys began attending the newly-built Hackett High School in 1964.
All six Irish athletes made the all-state team, with junior Heath Baldwin leading the way with a pair of individual titles in the 110-meter hurdles (14.83 seconds) and the long jump (personal best 22 feet, 2½ inches).
After winning the hurdles, Baldwin paced around the infield with very little emotion.
“I kind of tried to come in with a cool and calm mindset,” he said. “I knew what I was capable of in the long jump and knew what I had to do for the 110s to win it. I’m just trying to stay relaxed. I know when I get too tight, good things are not going to happen.
“I came out and didn’t jump the way I wanted to. On my third jump, I really got my hips up and got the height I wanted.”
Sand Creek finished second with 36 points, and Breckenridge rounded out the top three with 33.
Hackett teammate Gus Magnell, a sophomore, was third in the 110 hurdles (15.14), and he ran a leg on the fifth-place 800 relay along with Christian Bartholomew, Eric Smith and Wade Poling. The quartet ran a time of 1:33.89. Bartholomew, Smith, Eric Wenzel and Magnell also placed fifth in the 400 (44.71).
Baldwin then nabbed a fourth-place time of 40.75 in the 300 hurdles, and Magnell secured the final all-state spot in eighth with a time of 41.20.
Magnell credited Cholometes for a drastic improvement in technique and the motivation to put in the extra work, and Baldwin for being, well, Baldwin.
“I would not be anywhere without my coach,” Magnell said. “To have a state champion you’re racing against every race, it really pushes you to keep getting better and better.”
“Those guys have a great relationship and they really feed off each other,” Cholometes added. “It’s very healthy competition with those guys, and they want to see each other do well.”
In the discus, Hackett sophomore Henry Zimmerman recorded a third-place toss of 145-10, and he made it a double all-state day with a sixth-place distance of 46-3 in the shot put.
Cholometes is in just his second year at Hackett after serving as an assistant coach at Sturgis, where he oversaw a sprint group that set several school records.
“It has been a quick turnaround for us,” Cholometes said of the culture shift for the program. “I did think it was possible. I knew we had to go out and perform to our potential, and we did that. These guys put a lot of work in last summer and this winter leading up to the season. It was all that work coming together today.
“Heath is a pretty big-time performer, and he showed that today. Our sprint relays did well, as did Henry, scoring in both the throws. To win by [15 points] at a state meet, I was really pleased with that. Typically, it is pretty close.”
Sand Creek’s Alec Muck was the only other double winner Saturday as the junior claimed titles in the 100 (10.98) and the 200 (22.02). He ran the same time in the 100 as he did when he won in 2017. Muck also was the reigning champion in the 200 after running a 22.14 last year.
The rest of the meet offered quite a variety for fans that packed the stadium. Fulton captured a title in the 800 relay after Tristan Johnston, Jon Baker, Adam Duflo and Nate Alwood combined for a time of 1:31.15. In the 3,200 relay, Hillsdale Academy’s Nick Rush, John O’Connor, Connor Oakley and Ian Calvert clocked a winning time of 8:14.88. The 400 relay title belonged to Breckenridge’s Lukas Ebright, Caleb Hurt, Hunter Collins and Caden Foster (44.00) and the 1,600 team from Concord comprised of Zeavion Jones, T.J. Kessman, Vincent Giuliano and Bryan Smith produced a first-place time of 3:30.96.
Also topping the podium were Ubly’s Alex Grifka in the 1,600 (4:27.90), Hale’s Patrick Harris in the 400 (50.04), Derek Flory, of Marcellus, in the 300 hurdles (39.49), Deckerville’s Stephen Barker in the 800 (1:56.82) and Wyoming Potter’s House Christian’s Nathan Stout in the 3,200 (9:44.08).
In the field events, Coleman’s Cody Finney won the discus (151-1), Sand Creek’s Cole Hallett cleared a winning height of 13-6 in the pole vault, Carson City-Crystal’s Daniel Smith had the best shot put of the day with a toss of 52-9, and Hillsdale Academy’s Peter Kalthoff was first in the high jump (6-5).
VIDEO: Alec Muck Runs To Double Wins – Again!
PHOTOS: (Top) Hackett’s Heath Baldwin and Gus Magnell, second and third from left, respectively, break through for two of top three places in the 110 hurdles. (Middle) Sand Creek’s Alec Muck pushes toward the finish line for one of his sprint championships Saturday. (Click for more from RunMichigan.com.)