Just Halfway Done, Tatum Well on Way to Rewriting West Bloomfield Record Book
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
April 18, 2025
WEST BLOOMFIELD – Batting .500 is impressive in baseball or softball, but it’s even more so these days when talking about the track & field program at West Bloomfield.
When gazing at the school record book for the girls program, junior Kamryn Tatum has her name listed at the top for six of the 12 running events.
She owns the school records in the 100, 200 and 400-meter dashes and is a part of three relay teams (400, 800, 1,600) that own school records.
All of those have been established over the last two years. And if all that wasn’t enough evidence that it’s been quite a start to her high school career, Tatum already also owns three individual MHSAA Finals championships.
Two years ago as a freshman, Tatum won the 200 (24.20) and 400 (55.74) dashes at the Lower Peninsula Division 1 state meet, and followed those up by winning the 200 (24.63) at last year’s MHSAA finale at East Kentwood.
So, what’s the expected encore this spring? Well, more championships and really fast times, of course.
“She’s always a student of the sport, but she’s always driven to beat her previous times,” West Bloomfield head coach Nick Stration said. “She’s always trying to get better. You don’t have to coach her much because she always wants to get better.
“Her will to win is what stands out. She is one of the fiercest competitors I’ve been around.”
Tatum is the younger sister of two past West Bloomfield standouts – current assistant coach Raven Tatum, who ran at Wayne State and Indiana Tech; and current Michigan State football player Dillon Tatum.
Kamryn said she has never actually raced Dillon, but good-naturedly said she’d have a good shot if they did now.
“I believe I would win, especially since Dillon is all about football now,” Kamryn said. “He’s much stronger and bigger, so that makes a difference on how fast or slow he can run. However, back in high school he would have beaten me for sure.”
Kamryn said she started running track at age 7, but didn’t really enjoy it at first, only doing it because her siblings were racing.
But the love of the sport eventually developed.
“When I got to middle school, that’s when I started having fun,” she said. “I was breaking school records, winning, and getting lots of exposure. Overall, I am somewhat searching for my purpose and enhancing my passion in running.”
It certainly didn’t take long for Tatum to make her mark on the rest of the state with those two Finals titles as a freshman, and the thought of her still having two more seasons at West Bloomfield to go faster has to make other runners cringe.
As a junior, Tatum’s college recruitment is peaking. At the moment, she said she has not received any scholarship offers, but she has been communicating with both in-state and out-of-state coaches.
“My biggest goal right now is to work on my self-confidence,” she said. “From my perspective, it’s been a little tough so far, but I will continue to put in the work and believe in the plan God has for me. I would love to beat my freshman personal records and break more school records and hopefully earn a medal (or two) at the state meet and nationals.”
Keith Dunlap has served in Detroit-area sports media for more than two decades, including as a sportswriter at the Oakland Press from 2001-16 primarily covering high school sports but also college and professional teams. His bylines also have appeared in USA Today, the Washington Post, the Detroit Free Press, the Houston Chronicle and the Boston Globe. He served as the administrator for the Oakland Activities Association’s website from 2017-2020. Contact him at [email protected] with story ideas for Oakland, Macomb and Wayne counties.
PHOTOS (Top) West Bloomfield’s Kamryn Tatum (5) runs the final leg of the 400 relay at last season’s LPD1 Finals. (Middle) Tatum, left, leads the 200 last spring at East Kentwood. (Photos by John Brabbs/RunMichigan.com.)
Blissfield's Smith Aims to Spring into More Long-Jumping Success
By
Doug Donnelly
Special for MHSAA.com
March 30, 2022
BLISSFIELD – The 2021 track & field season didn’t start the way Annabelle Smith had hoped, but it sure finished the way she wanted.
Smith opened the season by long jumping only 15 feet, 5 inches, well short of her best. She bounced back quickly and never lost in the event again, culminating with a Lower Peninsula Division 3 championship in the event.
“I think it was probably my worst day since middle school,” she said of last spring’s start.
Those days are long behind her. As she prepares for her senior season, she is confident, mentally strong, and physically ready to beat the early spring Michigan weather.
“It’s sort of hard for me because I much prefer warmer weather,” the Blissfield senior said. “Spring is my time to prepare. I try to give as much as I can.”
Michigan’s weather doesn’t do prep athletes any favors this time of the year. But, Smith said, it’s something you have to set aside and push through. It’s part of being mentally strong and focused.
“It’s something you can’t really control. You just have to deal with it.”
Smith picked up track & field in middle school. Her coaches had all of the athletes try every event to see what they were best at. She immediately took to the long jump. She qualified for the Finals as a freshman and tied for eighth place in the long jump but missed out on being named all-state due to a tiebreaker.
She trained hard for her sophomore year, only to have it canceled due to COVID-19. Last year she recovered from that early-season meet to win the Lenawee County championship, Lenawee County Athletic Association championship, Regional and Finals titles. She set a personal record at the LPD3 Finals meet with a jump of 18-1.5 and became Blissfield’s first female athlete to win a state track title in 30 years.
“What sets her apart is her competitiveness and ability to adapt in any situation,” said Calvin Sullins, a former decathlete at Siena Heights University who now coaches Smith at Blissfield. “She trusts our process and is an exceptional student of the sport.”
There was a time that Smith just went out, located her marks, and jumped.
Sullins and the rest of the Royals coaching staff turned her head by concentrating on technique.
“Coach Sullins has a lot of knowledge about track in general,” she said. “It’s been great to work with him. Being a decathlete, he knows about every event.”
One of the techniques she learned was to count steps rather than just look for her mark when starting to sprint as she approaches the long jump platform.
“I use an 11-step approach,” she said. “I count 11 strides, and I lift off.”
She counts down in her head every time her left foot hits the ground.
“I jump when I’m at one,” she said. “I don’t have to worry where I’m at. It took a little bit to get used to, but it makes everything easier.”
She has scratched on occasion, but she trusts in her ability to take equal strides and count the 11 steps during her approach.
Being consistent in her events is her biggest challenge. She also takes pride in her mental approach to every event. There can be long breaks during a track meet, but she makes sure to get focused when she has to.
“Mentally, I’ve changed a lot,” she said. “For me, what works is to be very involved with the team and not spend my down time thinking about my event. When I start to warm up, I just envision what my jumps are going to look like. That’s my time to myself, my time to get focused.”
In between her junior and senior year of high school, she competed in a United States Track and Field Junior Olympic event in Atlanta, placing third in her division. She also had a national event in Florida. Closer to home, she entered some indoor meets in the open class in the area and trained whenever she found the opportunity to get out of the cold.
“I just tried to stay consistent all winter,” she said. “For me, technique is very important.”
Smith is looking at a few colleges, some nearby and some across the country. She’s undecided what she wants to do or where she wants to compete at the next level.
This year she intends to compete in the 100 or 200 meters and possibly some relays as well as the long jump. Her goal is to start stronger than last year and steadily improve as the season goes on and be at her best come the first weekend in June – when the MHSAA Finals take place.
“This year, my goal is to PR and get back to the state meet and place,” she said. “I have a lot of time to improve myself. That’s my main goal – to be better.”
Doug Donnelly has served as a sports and news reporter and city editor over 25 years, writing for the Daily Chief-Union in Upper Sandusky, Ohio from 1992-1995, the Monroe Evening News from 1995-2012 and the Adrian Daily Telegram since 2013. He's also written a book on high school basketball in Monroe County and compiles record books for various schools in southeast Michigan. E-mail him at [email protected] with story ideas for Jackson, Washtenaw, Hillsdale, Lenawee and Monroe counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Annabelle Smith, right, and credits her Blissfield coach Calvin Sullins with helping her become a championship long jumper. (Middle) Smith jumps during the 2019 Lenawee County Championships. (Top photo courtesy of the Smith family; middle photo by Mike Dickie.)