Summerfield Girls Find Their Stride, Claim 1st League Title Since 1990
By
Doug Donnelly
Special for MHSAA.com
May 20, 2026
David Raymond has heard it before.
“I always laugh because I've definitely gone on the recruiting trail in our hallways and tried to get kids to come out (for track & field), and one of the answers I always get was, ‘I don't even like running.’ I tell them, ‘Great, you'll fit right in because there's a bunch of kids that run track that don't like running.’”
Running track is a little more fun these days, however, at Petersburg Summerfield, where Raymond is the head coach. His Bulldogs recently celebrated winning their first league championship in more than three decades and have a bunch of qualifiers heading into next week’s Lower Peninsula Division 4 Finals.
“When you win, people start talking it up positively within the hallways,” Raymond said. “That helps when you're trying to recruit kids. It's kind of funny how when you win, all of a sudden people are a little bit more interested and want to see what it's all about.”
Raymond is a 1999 Summerfield graduate. He played multiple sports in high school and was part of teams that won District basketball and a Regional track titles his senior year. He was named the Summerfield varsity girls basketball coach at age 23 and eventually switched to become the boys varsity coach. He would coach the Bulldogs for seven seasons, win 100 games, and become the winningest coach in school history before stepping down to spend more time with his family, which includes three daughters.
Two of those daughters are now on the Summerfield varsity track team. Both are headed to the Finals meet next weekend – Abby in the low hurdles and three relays and Grace in the 800 and three relays.
“I'm very blessed to be able to coach my daughters,” Raymond said.
When Grace was a freshman, she was Summerfield’s only Finals qualifier. This year she and Abby lead a parade of nine Bulldogs who have earned a trip.
Grace set a school record in the 800 at Friday’s Regional and was part of the 3,200 relay with her sister, Makenzie Wolfe and Allison Ost that set a school record and qualified as well.
Grace and Abby are part of the Finals-qualifying 400 relay with Emma Jacob and Sophia Stanger and part of the 1,600 relay with Alice VanCamp and Ost. Abby Zilka (high jump), Ost (1600), Wolfe (3200) and Gabi Myshock (discus) are other qualifiers. Abby will also compete in the low hurdles next weekend.
“Having nine girls qualify for the state meet shows how far the program has come over the last 3-5 years,” Raymond said. “It’s been incredible. The team has come a long way. We’ve had good kids come in, obviously. You need talent in order to be successful, and we have that. The girls have worked hard and put the time in. I am thankful they have been able to put it all together this year.”
Winning Summerfield’s first girls Tri-County Conference track championship since 1990 was a pleasant surprise.
“Winning a league title was a different experience for us because a lot of times, we kind of knew going into certain meets we didn’t have a chance,” he said. “Our focus has always been Regionals. This year, we had a much different mindset that we were going to try and win it. The hard work paid off. That’s what was so exciting.”
While he ran on the track team in high school, he didn’t start coaching the sport until about five years ago as an unofficial assistant to the previous head coach, Kelly Thompson. She stepped away from the head coaching role when her son started running in college. He has surrounded himself with several great assistants, he said, including two classmates from high school.
“There was an opening, and it was an opportunity for me to, again, be with my kids a little bit more, and that's kind of how I ended up in the role,” he said. “I learned that track is not a sport where you can coach by yourself; you need quality people around you.”
Raymond decided he wanted to be a teacher and coach in high school.
“I had good coaches growing up,” he said. “Ron Estes was my varsity basketball coach when I decided to go into teaching. I had a number of people like him that influenced me and showed me that teaching can be a great career and, when you get the opportunity, to coach.
“I've obviously loved sports my entire life. At first coaching was a way to be around sports. As you grow older, you start to see the impact that you can have on kids, which is even different than what the impact that you can have on somebody in a classroom is. It's always been an avenue that has allowed me to impact kids in a positive way.”
Doug Donnelly has served as a news and sports reporter at the Adrian Daily Telegram and the Monroe News for 30 years, including 10 years as city editor in Monroe. He's written a book on high school basketball in Monroe County and compiles record books for various schools in southeast Michigan. He is now publisher and editor of The Blissfield Advance, a weekly newspaper. E-mail him at [email protected] with story ideas for Jackson, Washtenaw, Hillsdale, Lenawee and Monroe counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Petersburg Summerfield coach David Raymond encourages Allison Ost during a relay race this season. (Middle) Summerfield 1,600 relay racers (left to right) Abby Raymond, Alice Van Camp and Ost get together to “Triple A Power Up.” (Below) Grace Raymond (left) and Abby Raymond hold up Summerfield's first league title trophy won since 1990. (Photos by Tom Westrick.)
Renaissance Follows Record-Setting Jackson to 1st Division 1 Finals Win
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
June 4, 2022
ROCKFORD – Before she even ran a race Saturday, Kaila Jackson had already established herself as one of the best sprinters in MHSAA history.
But in her final meet, she gave everyone at the Lower Peninsula Division 1 Track & Field Finals one final show.
The Detroit Renaissance senior won four Finals titles Saturday, repeating the feat she had accomplished in 2021, and led the Phoenix to their first Division 1 team title.
“The question was asked early in the season if I thought Kaila was one of the all-time great sprinters,” Renaissance co-coach Calvin Johnson said. “She solidified her legacy today. She solidified her legacy. With her going down to Georgia now to be a Bulldog, there’s nothing I can say but they’re getting a great athlete – a great student-athlete. It’s unfortunate they don’t have an MVP trophy, because she should get it, hands down.”
Jackson was responsible for 40 of Renaissance’s 80 points on the day. Three-time reigning champion Oak Park was second with 60. Ann Arbor Huron (55), Holland West Ottawa (47) and Ann Arbor Pioneer (38) rounded out the top five.
It was the first Finals title for Renaissance since 2007, when it finished a run of 10 Division 2/Class B titles over 11 seasons. The Phoenix were runners-up to Oak Park both of the past two seasons.
“It’s well overdue,” Renaissance co-coach Darnell Hall said. “It’s a good honor to finally get that monkey off our back. Especially with a good group of girls, the elite kids we have, this was the last thing they needed to solidify their legacy in the state of Michigan, was that Michigan state title.”
Jackson won the 100 meters and 200 meters and was part of the winning 400 and 800 relay teams. Olivia Jenkins, Madison Sheard and Jayla Graham joined Jackson on the 400 relay, while Jenkins, Chloe Vines and Jayla Dace joined her on the 800 relay.
Jackson’s winning 200-meter time of 23.51 seconds broke the all-Finals record of 23.74 run by Shayla Mahan of Detroit Mumford in 2006.
“It feels amazing to break a state record,” Jackson said. “I knew it was going to come, but I’m happy it came now. I worked very hard for this. I just feel so accomplished.”
She won the 100 in 11.64, and the relays came in at 47.01 and 1:38.09, respectively.
“I really work hard for this,” Jackson said. “Everything paid off, all the hard practices, the crying, smiling, it’s paid off. I’ve worked very hard.”
The Phoenix also got a Finals title from Leeah Burr, who won the 400 in 55.05.
Oak Park had three champions on the day, led by Morgan Roundtree’s record-breaking performance in the 300 hurdles. Roundtree’s time of 42.38 broke the LP Division 1 Finals record of 42.64 set by Wyandotte Roosevelt’s Kyana Evans in 2017. Ann Arbor Huron’s Mya Georgiadis was second in the race at 42.52, also breaking the record.
Nonah Waldron won the 100 hurdles for Oak Park in 13.9 seconds, while Drelin Mapp won the long jump with a distance of 18 feet, 2.25 inches.
Two others joined Jackson in winning multiple individual titles on the day.
Allen Park’s Abigail Russell won the discus and the shot put. Her throw of 144-4 in the discus won by nearly seven feet, while her throw of 41-8.25 in the shot put won by eight inches.
Traverse City Central’s Julia Flynn pulled off the 1,600/800 double, and even came back and placed fifth in the 3,200.
She won the 1,600 in 4:39.75, and the 800 in 2:08. In the 800, she took control of the race about 250 meters in, and never relinquished her lead.
“I wanted to go out in my first lap, not crazy, crazy, crazy fast,” Flynn said. “I let myself ease into the competition a little bit, had girls in front of me. Then, I had the fear of getting boxed in, so then I just peaced out. I was trying to use my competition, I wanted to stay with them a little longer than I did, but I started to get in that inner lane, and I was like, ‘I don’t want to misstep and get DQ’d.”
Dexter’s Sophia Mettes repeated as champion in the pole vault, clearing 13 feet to hold off a tough field.
“Coming into this I was a little nervous, because I knew I had really good competition,” Mettes said. “Natalie Blake (Holland West Ottawa), I’m competing with her next year (at Michigan State), so I’m super excited. She’s been looking so strong. Brooke Bowers (Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central), she’s been looking great, too. I knew I had a lot to look up to, and I was feeling a little tired coming in, but it was a great competition. I just got nervous throughout the whole thing, but my adrenaline kept me going.”
Holland West Ottawa’s Arianne Olson, who was runner-up to Flynn in the 1,600, won the 3,200 by more than 10 seconds, finishing in 10:23.43.
Ann Arbor Pioneer won the 3,200 relay in 8:55.58 with the team of Sylvia Sanok Dufallo, Emily Cooper, Cookie Baugh and Sarah Forsyth.
Ann Arbor Huron won the 1,600 relay in 3:52.81 with the team of Mackenzie Robinson, Jada Wilson, Christabelle Obi and Georgiadis.
Pioneer’s Gabriella Newman won the high jump with a jump of 5-8.
PHOTOS (Top) Detroit Renaissance's Kaila Jackson, front, powers to a win during Saturday's Lower Peninsula Division 1 Finals. (Middle) Traverse City Central's Julia Flynn turns into the straightaway during one of her races. (Click for more from John Brabbs/Run Michigan.)