Preview: Team Contenders Seek to Make Stars Align at LP Boys Finals
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
May 29, 2026
Saturday’s Lower Peninsula Boys Track & Field Finals again will bring together a serious collection of star power at four sites across the Grand Rapids area.
But adding to an intriguing day is the relative unpredictability of the team title races. A large variety of schools have won championships over the last several years in all four divisions, and forecasting which might climb the podium this weekend remains a difficult task.
All four LP Finals will begin with pole vault and long jump beginning at 9 a.m., followed by race semifinals and the 3,200 relay at 10 a.m. and the rest of the running finals starting at noon. Tickets cost $11 and are available digitally only via GoFan.
MHSAA.tv will live-stream all four meets beginning at 10 a.m., viewable with subscription. Check out the Boys Track & Field page for meet information for all four sites and lists of all qualifiers. Those described as "seeded" below have received those seeds based on Regional performances or meeting early qualification standards. (Although not noted for most, several individuals below also will run on contending relays.)
Below is a glance at team contenders and individuals to watch in all four divisions:
Division 1 at Rockford
Team forecast: We’re up to six teams that have won LPD1 championships over the last five seasons (with Fenton and Rockford tying for first in 2021). Belleville is the reigning champ and has some points potential again this weekend. But Detroit Catholic Central’s star power across several events could be a difference maker, with Oak Park, East Kentwood and potentially Grand Haven and Northville among others that could have the right mix of standouts, depth and variety to make a run at the team title.
Zacchaeus Brocks, Detroit Catholic Central senior: He’s one of the nation’s top high school hurdlers and seeded first in the 110 (13.26) and 300 (36.23) by notable margins, but is seeking his first title after his 2025 ended early because of an injury.
Wendell Childs Jr., Clarkston junior: He’s seeded second in the 800 (1:51.49) after winning that race a year ago.
Beckett Crooks, Ann Arbor Pioneer senior: The reigning 3,200 champion is seeded fourth (9:03.74) and won’t run another individual race as he’s scratched from the 1,600, where he also would have been seeded fourth.
Reece Emeott, East Kentwood senior: He’s looking to cap his high school career with a third-straight Finals championship in the pole vault and has the top-seeded vault (16-0) by three inches.
Samson Gash, Detroit Catholic Central senior: He won the 100 in an all-Finals record 10.41 seconds last season and also finished third in the 200, and he enters this weekend seeded second in both in 10.51 and 21.53 seconds, respectively.
Luka Hammond, Grand Haven senior: The reigning 1,600 champ is seeded first in that race (4:08.29) and the 3,200 (8:58.33) and fifth in the 800.
De-Mani Roberts, East Kentwood sophomore: He could make a splash entering as the top seed in the 400 (47.55), third seed in the 200 (21.55) and sixth seed in the 100.
Division 2 at Hamilton
Team forecast: Parma Western became a first-time champion in this division a year ago, and Harper Woods may be the next with two top-seeded relays and more possibilities in sprints and hurdles. Flint Powers Catholic is seeking a first title as well and has three top-three seeded relays and potential points in sprints, hurdles and distance. Frankenmuth has won three team titles, its most recent in 2021, and might have the right mix with strong relays and a variety of events covered individually.
Declin Doroh, Stevensville Lakeshore junior: He finished second in the high jump last season but may be on the cusp of history with his statewide-best 7-0 at his Regional just an inch shy of the all-Finals record that has stood since 1989.
Ryan Good, Parma Western junior: Last season’s runner-up in the 800 has finished lower than first in an individual race just once across three events this spring and enters top-seeded in the 800 (1:50.11) and second-seeded in the 1,600 (4:16.30) after scratching from the 400, where he would have been seeded fifth.
Kaden Griffiths, Stevensville Lakeshore junior: He’ll return to the long jump pit seeking a third-straight championship and after winning last season’s by nearly 20 inches.
Zachary Overmyer, Edwardsburg senior: He won the high jump just ahead of Doroh last season and has continued to impress, seeding fourth for this weekend.
D.J. Wood, Battle Creek Harper Creek senior: He swept the hurdles championships last season and is seeded first in both the 110 (14.18) and 300 (tied at 38.44).
Division 3 at Kent City
Team forecast: Hanover-Horton tied for 33rd at last season’s Finals, but looks to have the power at relays and elsewhere to make a massive jump this weekend. Lansing Catholic could do the same after finishing ninth a year ago, and Ann Arbor Greenhills may make some noise with two top-seeded relays among a strong group on the running side.
Jack Deitsch, Reed City senior: The reigning champion in the long jump enters with the top Regional jump (22-10¼) plus is seeded second in the 100 (10.77) and will run the 200.
Hunter Eaton, Charlevoix junior: The fall’s Division 3 cross country champion also will look to repeat in the 3,200 and carries the second seed in that race (9:33.24) plus the second seed in the 1,600 (4:18.52) and sixth in the 800.
Dennis Jackson, Detroit Edison senior: He won the 400 last season and returns seeded first in that race (48.26) and fourth in the 200 (21.95).
Chaze Lorenz, Hart senior: He ran on three high-placing relays last season, including the champion 800, and could add a few individual titles seeded first this weekend in the 100 (10.67) and 200 (21.72) and second in the 400 (49.10).
Nolan Schaap, Kalamazoo Christian junior: He could make a big jump in his hurdles races, seeded first in the 300 (39.40) after finishing 14th a year ago and seeded fourth in the 110 after placing 15th during the 2025 prelims.
Division 4 at Hudsonville Baldwin
Team forecast: Kalamazoo Hackett Catholic Prep finished just a point behind champion Southfield Christian last season and most recently won back-to-back Division 4 titles in 2022 and 2023. Distance dominance could bring the Irish to the top of the podium again this weekend. Eau Claire, Manchester, Reading and Royal Oak Shrine also are intriguing possibilities on the board.
Marek Butkiewicz, Kalamazoo Hackett Catholic Prep senior: The two-time Finals champion in cross country also has won the 3,200 the last two seasons and the 1,600 last spring. He’s seeded first in the 1,600 (4:14.83) and 3,200 (9:05.33) and third in the 800 (1:57.79).
Abenezer Cerone, Royal Oak Shrine Catholic senior: The reigning champion in the 800 is seeded first in that race (1:52.24) and the 400 (49.33), fourth in the 1,600 and also has qualified in the 200.
Grant Johnson, Manchester senior: He finished third in the 110 hurdles and fifth in the 300 last season but enters this weekend seeded first in the 110 (14.84) and sixth in the 300, and he’s also expected to long jump.
Oliver Long, Morrice senior: The two-time reigning champion in the shot put is seeded first (56-9) by nearly five feet, and also fourth in the discus.
Dawson Scharer, Hillsdale Academy senior: He won the 300 hurdles and finished second in the 110 a year ago. He is seeded second in both in 39.06 and 14.92 seconds, respectively, and he’s also scheduled to run the 200.
PHOTOS (Top) Royal Oak Shrine’s Abenezer Cerone leads during the 800 meters at Friday’s Oakland County Championships. (Middle) Grand Haven’s Luca Hammond, followed by Ann Arbor Pioneer’s Beckett Crooks, pushes toward the finish during the Diamond 1,600 at Romeo’s Barnyard Invitational this season. (Photos by Dave McCauley, at Oakland County, and John Brabbs at Romeo/RunMichigan.com.)
Record-Setting Sutherland Focused on Final Goals as Glen Lake Career Winds Down
By
Tom Spencer
Special for MHSAA.com
May 9, 2025
All that’s left in a stellar athletic career for Colebrook Sutherland is a sprint to the finish line.
There isn’t much he hasn’t done for Maple City Glen Lake. But the four-sport standout and record-setting distance runner does have a few things he’d yet like to accomplish before commencements June 1.
For starters, he’d like to lead his team to a Regional championship next week at East Jordan and maybe set another school record.
But topping his list is to win an individual championship at the Lower Peninsula Division 4 Finals on May 31 at Hudsonville Baldwin Middle School.
“That’s for sure a goal,” Glen Lake track coach Jason Bradford said. “Any sport the does, he does well. From fall tennis and cross country and then basketball and now track, he’s just one of those athletes that can do anything.”
Sutherland is going into next week’s Regional as the school record holder in four events. One record – in the 800-meter run – was set this year; he ran a 1:57.61 at the Bruce Garland Invitational. The other three were set last year.
Sutherland ran a 4:25.60 to set the 1,600 record and finish fourth at the LPD4 Finals last June. He entered the record books in the 3,200 last year, too, with a 9:50.9 at the Northwest Conference championships. He’s also a member of the school’s 3,200 relay record-setting team along with Dylan Bixby, Dylan Cundiff and Abraham Feeney.
Sutherland had five school records on his mind when this season started. Actually, he’s been thinking about those five since the end of his sophomore year.
With the help of distance coaches George Drown and Jim Harrelson, Sutherland has only the 400 school record left on that list. The 400 belongs to Finn Hogan, who set it at 49.68 seconds in 2021, and Sutherland has clocked a 51.79 but may not run the race again this season. The Lakers have only one more meet before the Regional – this weekend’s Frankfort Invitational.
“I was thinking about five, but I think I want to just focus on the 800 run and continue to improve that instead of using all my time trying to get another,” Sutherland said. “I’d rather try to win states in the 800.”
While Hogan, too, continues to own four school records, Sutherland also now has been part of a coveted and long-sought team accomplishment. He led the Lakers to their first Northwest Conference track & field championship earlier this week, which also was high among Sutherland’s goals for the season as the conference has been dominated by Benzie Central and Kingsley over the years.
Sutherland ran away with the conference championships in the 800 and 1,600 to lead the Lakers, who were followed by Benzie Central, Frankfort, Leland, Buckley, Brethren and Onekama.
Also helping lead the way in the Lakers’ conference title pursuit was Boden Fisher, who won the 100-meter and long jump championships and finished second in the 200, which was won by his teammate Nolan Bretzke. Jacob Plamondon won the high jump for the Lakers, topping the bar at 6 feet, and Dominic Stein won the discus.
The Lakers also won three relay titles. Samuel Dykstra, Hunter Cox, Fisher, Daniels, Noah Scott, Cox, Liam Palmer, Feeney, Eli Maule, Liam McCaw and Lincoln Bailey ran those relays.
“We haven’t always had the depth of some of the other teams in our conference,” Sutherland said. “This year, we actually do have a lot of depth and talent.”
The Lakers do boast a larger roster this spring and often have multiple top-three placers in running events. They’ll lose just five seniors and plan to carry on the success next season with an influx of current eighth graders to go with the current load of sprinters and freshmen.
“We have someone in each event that can compete,” Bradford said. “It helps build a good program.”
The Lakers have a shot at winning the Regional, Bradford acknowledged. A lot depends on individual efforts of many, he said, as the Lakers could place in every event.
“We have a whole week to prepare after Frankfort, and we need to find a happy medium of pushing the kids and keeping them going so they reach their top potential,” Bradford said. “It is going to be a team effort just like the conference meet. It is the interesting thing about track. As a team, we’re always looking to where can we come up with some extra points.”
Bradford, who also coaches the Lakers’ boys basketball team, believes all sports at the school contribute to the success Glen Lake is finding on the track. Growth in the school’s weightlifting program, led by past St. Ignace multi-sport and Central Michigan football standout Gage Kreski, has also been a big factor.
“Every program here contributes to track,” Bradford said. “We see the benefits that start with our lifting program.”
While the Lakers will attempt to advance several to the Finals, Sutherland is assured of being there. He already has met qualification standards in the 400, 800 and 1,600.
Sutherland is looking forward to the competitors ahead as he expects them to bring out his best. He hopes to better his own marks.
“If I actually have people around me, I am faster than 1:57 (his 800-meter school record),” Sutherland said. “I rarely have competition.”
Tom Spencer is a longtime MHSAA-registered basketball and soccer official, and former softball and baseball official, and he also has coached in the northern Lower Peninsula area. He previously has written for the Saginaw News, Bay County Sports Page and Midland Daily News. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Manistee, Wexford, Missaukee, Roscommon, Ogemaw, Iosco, Alcona, Oscoda, Crawford, Kalkaska, Grand Traverse, Benzie, Leelanau, Antrim, Otsego, Montmorency, Alpena, Presque Isle, Cheboygan, Charlevoix and Emmet counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Glen Lake’s Colebrook Sutherland runs his leg of a relay. (Middle) Sutherland, holding the trophy, and his teammates take a photo to celebrate their Northwest Conference championship. (Below) Jacob Plamondon approaches the high jump bar. (Running photo by Meredith McNabb. Team photo by Donna King. Jumping photo by Jill Plamandon.)