Generations of Dedication, Pride Fuel Milford's 34-Year Regional Hosting Run
By
Steve Vedder
Special for MHSAA.com
May 22, 2026
It may seem a bit of a stretch on the surface, but it makes perfect sense to Brian Salyers.
How can planning a wedding feature work much along the same lines as a school hosting an MHSAA Lower Peninsula Regional track meet for 34 straight seasons?
Easy, contends Salyers. Both take an immeasurable amount of planning.
"I have a couple friends who planned a wedding," said Salyers, Milford's girls track coach. "I told them I'd hosted a track meet, and they're so much alike. There are so many things you entrust other people with. There is so much work to be done, you're hoping things go smoothly."
Like a wedding, Salyers said Milford takes great pride in the event's final outcome. The meet's philosophy includes more than being a stepping stone of funneling deserving athletes along to the MHSAA Finals. At Milford, Salyers said organizers have worked diligently for more than three decades to ensure the participants not only leave with lifelong memories, but also that the meet brings together an entire community.
Volunteers from the school work alongside Milford natives not connected in any way to a track program in a multitude of roles from timing races to rototilling and raking long jump pits, selling dogs and T-shirts and taking tickets. Alumni from up to 45 years ago faithfully return to the school to pitch in whenever needed while also taking a moment to rehash old memories with former track teammates.
Put it all together, Salyers said, and the meet is special.
"It's a melting pot," Salyers said of the mostly unpaid volunteers who work the meet. "It's like, who can come and do it this year? It's not always a fluid list because we pull from such a large group."
The large group has been banding together since 1993. Started by former Mavericks track and cross country coach Gene Balawajder, the school hosted its first Regional in 1988. After moving to a nearby site for a couple years, the Regional landed back at Milford for keeps 34 years ago. Whether it was those first Regionals in the late 1980s or the three and a half decades since, Salyers said the school and community's philosophy hasn't wavered: Take care of the athletes foremost, but also bring the community together to ensure that care happens by organization, identifying issues and swiftly taking action to solve problems.
Milford athletic director James Marszalek said the school handily recruits about 30 people for various positions, only a "handful," he said, who are paid. He said the key to ensuring a smooth meet begins with the volunteers and longtime meet organizer Chris Ceresa, a former athletic director and current assistant coach.
"The No. 1 thing is making sure we have competent people in the right positions and that we make sure it's a day the kids will remember," he said. "But it definitely takes an army."
Ceresa said much of the meet's success comes down to planning and the unselfishness of alumni. For instance, at this year's meet there were five alumni working the long jump, four on the throwing events and two on both the high jump and pole vault as well as many involved as timers.
Ceresa begins recruiting for the following year's Regional at the current event. There he seeks commitments from officials and event workers 12 months in advance.
"We take it very personally; the staff is very committed to the meet," he said. "If you talked to our colleagues at other schools, I think they would tell you they love to come here. It's quite a spectacle, a matter of pride."
The meet even features an unofficial system of where and how volunteers are used. Meet newcomers typically start out in smaller roles, eventually working themselves into the meet's most prestigious position: being an official timer for races. Unfortunately, when the meet became the last Regional in the state to go to electric timing more than a dozen years ago, there was no need for about 20 volunteers who worked as hand timers at the finish line.
Milford boys track coach Eric Hincka ran in the meet as a junior and senior before graduating in 1998. He said while some Regionals typically run more smoothly than others, because of the hours upon hours of organization and the quality of the volunteers, the Milford event annually draws praise from visiting coaches and participants. And that's no accident, he said.
"Every year you hear horror stories of meets which have problems," he said. "We try our best to see that everything is done right so we don't run into problems. We want to honor the kids – it's our philosophy and we take pride in it.
"At Milford, it's multi-generational. Gene as the founder set the standard, and we're just trying to follow in his footsteps."
The athletes notice, Milford senior distance runner Kyle O'Rourke said. Headed to run at Michigan State next season, O'Rourke's pedigree in the meet is three-generational. His grandfather has clerked and also made T-shirts for volunteers while O'Rourke has had an older brother and sister run at the Regional. His mother also ran in the meet.
"It's touching for me to see all the old alumni to come back and work; a highlight of the season," said O'Rourke, a six-time all-stater in track and cross country. "They treasured their time here, and now many of them are part of a community that unites to make this meet run well.
"Yeah, it comes in handy (competitive-wise) that this meet is home for us. But there is also a certain pride in us hosting it. I think we all take pride in how we conduct ourselves at the Regional."
PHOTOS (Top) A relay runner sets up in a starting block during the Lower Peninsula Division 1 Regional hosted by Milford on May 15. (Middle) Runners move toward the starting line before their relay. (Below) Milford’s Kyle O’Rourke rounds a curve during a relay. (Photos courtesy of the Milford athletic department.)
Frazee Set to Finish Long Race to Return to Track After 2-Year Health Fight
By
Tom Spencer
Special for MHSAA.com
April 17, 2026
When Brooklynn Frazee next competes for Buckley girls track & field team, tears are going to flow.
And that very well may be today.
“To be honest, I'm not looking for anything — I just want to see the joy on her face again,” said sixth-year Buckley coach Jolie King. “It gives me goosebumps. If you saw this kid run, and then to know what she's been through … the minute she gets on the track and completes the race, I'm going to cry. Yeah, I'm going to bawl on the track.”
Frazee, now a senior, is expected to run the sprints and long jump today when the Bears travel to Benzie Central for the 8-team Garland Invite. She hasn’t competed for the Bears since her sophomore year. As a freshman, she won the 100-meter dash with a personal-best 12.47 seconds and took second in the 200 as Buckley won the Lower Peninsula Division 4 championship, its first team Finals title in the sport.
There had been lots of preseason excitement the following spring, and thoughts of repeating for the Bears, who had Frazee and Aiden Harrand back – Harrand who won the 1,600 for the third time and the 800 and 3,200 as well during the 2023 team championship run.
But long before Harrand eventually became the LPD4 champion again in the 400 and 1,600 to close 2024, Frazee began to face constant illness and a major injury.
“I was competing well and felt ready for another strong season,” Frazee said of her early sophomore competitions. “But deep down, I knew something was wrong. I was battling non-stop illnesses like strep throat, pneumonia, low iron, aches and pains and fatigue. Even with all of that, I kept competing. I loved my sport, and I did not want to let my team down.”
Frazee wound up missing weeks of her sophomore season but kept her eye on qualifying for the Finals in hopes of repeating in the 100.
“The constant illnesses and stress on my body finally caught up with me,” she said. “I suffered level 3 out of 4 tears from my hips to my knees. Suddenly, I went from competing to being sidelined.”
Following brief breaks for recovery purposes, Frazee did manage to qualify for the 2024 Finals in the long jump, 100, 200 and 400-meter runs.
“After another week of rest, I made it to the state finals meet,” she recalled. “I fought through the pain and made the finals in the 100-meter dash and long jump. I missed qualifying for the 200-meter finals by just one spot. By then, my body was fading fast. I was unable to sprint in the 100 finals and just crossed the finish line. I was not able to run the 400 meter.”
That was the last time Frazee competed for Buckley.
She’s coming back after nearly two years of treatments that kept her out of track and basketball. She endured the two years while staying involved in Buckley sports as a team manager for cross country, track and basketball and while strengthening her already-strong faith.
“After the 2024 season, doctors thought it might be multiple sclerosis. I was also diagnosed with mono but when that didn't go away eventually, I received the diagnosis that changed my life,” Frazee said. “I don't really want to go into much detail about the diagnosis specifically, but it definitely changed my life. As treatments became harder, I was no longer able to help during the basketball and track seasons. I made it to a few track meets to cheer on my team, but many times I had to leave early because of the pain and fatigue.”
Buckley hoped to have Frazee back for its season-opening invitational last week. She ran indoor track races over the winter but returned from spring break sick. She’s missed the Bears’ first two outdoor meets but returned to school Wednesday.
“Friday is a go,” said Todd Frazee, Buckley’s athletic director and Brooklynn’s father. “The poor girl was so excited for her season to start, and then this virus hit. I can really feel for her.”
But now that Frazee is nearly back, King believes the Bears will be seeing an even faster senior on the track.
“Part of me is, like, holy cow this kid's faster now, stronger, and smarter and when we can get her on the track, she's going to blow people's minds,” King predicted. “But then the other part of me is, I don't want to do this to her. I'm not putting any of my hopes and dreams on this kid at all. I'm celebrating.”
The senior speedster, who is also a member of the Buckley school record-holding 3,200 relay team, offers another perspective.
“I've gone from helping lead my school to its first state final championship as a freshman, to nearly losing sports completely,” Frazee acknowledged. “I'm fighting back to come back just as strong. My faith grew stronger and through everything I've faced, I believe that God was leading me toward a bigger purpose.”
Without Frazee, the Bears finished fourth in the team scoring at the 2024 Finals. Last year, after Harrand’s graduation the previous spring as well, Buckley qualified for just three events.
As sophomores last spring, Mikayla Kulawiak qualified in the high jump and finished fifth, and Maddie Snider qualified for the 100 hurdles. Kulawiak set the school high jump record at 5-foot-2 as this spring season opened up. The Bears also have seniors Addison Harrand and Kinsey Peer and sophomore Ariana Paris back from last year’s Finals-qualifying 3,200 relay.
Also, the top two finishers from Buckley’s third-place team effort at last fall’s LPD4 Cross Country Final – Brooklyn Griffin and Mirthe Breuker, an exchange student from the Netherlands – are running track and have the Bears excited for what lies ahead.
Griffin, just a freshman, is already bolstering the Bears in the 100, 200 and 400-meter races, along with the long jump and pole vault. She won the 400 at Wednesday’s Northwest Conference meet.
With Frazee likely returning, the Bears now have their eyes on the Regional hosted by conference rival Frankfort and ultimately the May 30 Finals at Hudsonville Baldwin.
“We're just taking one day at a time,” said King, who noted it’s been devastating to watch Frazee’s struggle. “Brooklyn’s is a tremendous athlete and a tremendous person, and my heart just breaks for her. She’s very focused and telling herself May 30th. We have to take it day by day. Actually, we take it minute by minute.”
Frazee echoed her coach.
“We have a small but mighty team this year, and our goal is not to win the small meets, but focus in on what really matters, as well as each of us have individual goals that we are excited to cheer each other on in achieving.” she said. “I'm excited for this season and this team as I know it'll be one to remember. My goal is May 30th, the state finals, and just to enjoy being back and able to compete.”
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) Buckley’s Brooklyn Frazee, middle, competes in a race during her sophomore season in 2024. (Middle) Frazee, right, celebrates with a teammate. (Below) The Bears’ Brooklyn Griffin, right, hands off the baton to Mirthe Breuker during a relay this spring. (Frazee photos courtesy of Todd Frazee. Relay photo courtesy of Jolie King.)