Saugatuck, Dunn Dominate in D4 Repeat
June 4, 2016
By Chip Mundy
Special for Second Half
GRAND RAPIDS – There was little question that Saugatuck junior Blake Dunn was the individual star of the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 4 track & field meet Saturday afternoon at Houseman Field.
Dunn swept the 110 and 300-meter hurdles, both in meet-record times, to lead Saugatuck to the championship just one year after the Indians shared first place with Concord. Saugatuck finished with 66 points to easily outdistance runner-up Evart’s 32. Cassopolis was third with 30.
It was Saugatuck’s third MHSAA championship in the past four years, and the Indians were runners-up in 2014.
“The distance guys let me know that we would have won the meet without Blake,” Saugatuck coach Rick Bauer said. “They get tired of my harping at them and asking why they don’t score as much as Blake. We used to be a distance program that ran track, and now we’re a pretty complete team.”
Dunn dominated the 110 hurdles as he set an LP Division 4 Finals record by winning in 14.33 seconds. He won by more than a second while running into a headwind.
“There was nothing I could do about the wind, so I just did the best I could,” he said. “I’m just really glad that I was able to run a good race.”
Dunn’s double came in the 300 hurdles, which he won in 38.31 seconds, another meet record. That victory was by nearly two seconds, and it was his second consecutive MHSAA title in that event.
“Basically, I try to get out as hard as I can and make those guys try to catch me and see what happens from there,” Dunn said. “I just have to hit the hurdles and keep pushing.”
Dunn is one of the top all-around athletes in the state. He was quarterback on the football team, played basketball and already has decided to play baseball at Western Michigan University. In fact, he had to leave his baseball team, which played in the District tournament Saturday, to compete in the track meet.
“It was a hard choice, but I had faith in my baseball guys that they could come out with a couple of wins,” he said. “It’s awesome that the coaches let me play both sports.
“I’ve been playing football, basketball, baseball and track my whole life, and I think it has helped me keep fresh for every season,” he added. ‘They announced a stat that there are fewer injuries for people who play multiple sports, and I think it keeps my muscles relaxed and loose.”
Bauer was thankful that Dunn was able to be on hand at Houseman.
“That’s a kid who throws 90 miles per hour and probably is going to be in the majors someday; that’s great. Thanks,” he said.
Dunn also ran a leg on Saugatuck’s fourth-place 400 relay, joining teammates Jordan Mitchell, Cole Hartman and Jeff Kohlmeyer.
“The 4 by 100 was kind of a surprise,” Bauer said. “We came in fourth, but we beat our school record by a half a second. That’s the sort of thing you hope happens.”
Saugatuck also was second in the 3,200 as Keegan Siefert, Nick Butch, Orlando Carrion and Zachary Pettinga finished in 8:17.84.
While Dunn had the only individual championships for Saugatuck, the team was loaded with plenty of excellent finishes. Perhaps the most inspiring was the second-place finish in high jump by senior Mervyn Auffret, an exchange student from France.
“We didn’t expect him to score at all, and he ended up in second place,” Bauer said. “I didn’t expect that to happen. He had never tried track until this year, and he didn’t know anything about high jump. He also qualified in the hurdles, so he was a great addition to our team.”
Auffret certainly will return to France with some stories to tell.
“I have told all my friends about the high jump and that I’m good at it, but it was really hard at first,’ he said. “I didn’t know much about it. Really, I didn’t know anything.”
Saugatuck had other strong finishes. In the 3,200, freshman Corey Gorgas was second and junior Pettinga was third. Evan Hotary was fourth in the pole vault (12-9), and Xavier Cardona took fourth in the shot put.
The only other individual double-winner at the meet was Santana Scott of Evart. Scott won the 1,600 in 4 minutes, 22.89 seconds and took the 3,200 in 9:42.83.
Other individual champions in the running events were Billy Wojnowski of Big Rapids Crossroads, who edged Montez Brewer of Concord 11.15 to 11.16 in the 100. Freshman Alec Muck of Sand Creek won the 200 in 22.50, Deion Gaston of Cassopolis took the 400 (50.20) and Daniel Mikovits of Concord captured the 800 in 1:58.50.
In the field events, Jacob Kulhanek of Merrill repeated as champion in the pole vault by clearing 13 feet, 9 inches. Southfield Christian sophomore Blake Washington won the high jump at 6-5, just 1 inch higher than Auffret.
Delvon Hines of Melvindale Academy of Business & Technology won the long jump (20-9.25), Paxton Titus of Brighton Livingston Christian took the discus (162-11), and Jacob Lechner of Harbor Springs won the shot put (13-9).
Relay winners included Melvindale ABT in the 400 (43.75), Muskegon Catholic Central in the 800 (1:31.30), Centreville in the 1,600 (3:28.28) and Hillsdale Academy in the 3,200 (8:13.34).
PHOTO: Saugatuck's Blake Dunn clears a hurdle on the way to an individual title while helping his team to the overall championship at Houseman Field. (Photo by Angie Graham/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.)