SI Honors Belding SAC Member Wilker
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
May 11, 2016
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
A nationally-known media giant like Sports Illustrated can seem worlds away from a town of fewer than six thousand just left of middle in Michigan’s Lower Peninsula.
Belding senior Greta Wilker figured the New York-based magazine would never find someone like her. But it did, and this week readers all over the world have the opportunity to find out why.
Wilker was chosen as SI’s High School Athlete of the Month for May, with the video below appearing at SI.com and an article to follow, she believes, later this week or soon after. Wilker was nominated for the award – she’s not sure by whom – and was first contacted by Sports Illustrated near the end of her basketball season in March.
A camera crew came to Belding in mid-April and spent two days shooting video of Wilker at school, training dogs at her Paws with a Cause class and then during her softball game and track & field meet. Another reporter came out the next week to spend a few more days reporting for the written story that will appear on the website and in part in the magazine this month.
“When you watch the other kids who got picked … some of the things other kids are doing are ridiculous,” Wilker said. “To think I was up at the same level as those other kids, it’s pretty cool.”
Wilker, a member of the MHSAA Student Advisory Council, has some pretty “ridiculous” achievements herself. She’s her class’ top student with 4.2 grade-point average weighted to include Advanced Placement classes, and she’ll graduate with 16 varsity letters – four each in volleyball, basketball, softball and track & field. In her spare time, she trains service dogs that are placed to assist people with hearing and other disabilities.
She will study and play softball next at Emory University in Georgia with another big goal in mind – she hopes to eventually become a pediatric orthopedic surgeon.
Performance of the Week: Pickford's Talya Schreiber
October 24, 2025
Talya Schreiber ♦ Pickford
Senior ♦ Cross Country
The Panthers' distance star capped her high school cross country career Saturday by winning her third-straight Upper Peninsula Division 3 Finals championship and obliterating her race record time clocking an 18:31.6 at Pictured Rocks Golf Course in Munising. That time outpaced her record run last year by more than 17 seconds and also would rank as the second-fastest in both UP Division 2 and Division 1 Finals histories.
Schreiber dominated throughout her season, finishing first in 11 races, third once and fourth once, and while making several trips to face downstate competition. She finished first at the Portage Central Early Bird Invitational on Aug. 15 and also first in the Division 4 race at the Oct. 4 Portage Invitational, where she bested the field by 30 seconds. She placed third in the Division 1-2 Gold race at the Veterans Serving Veterans Invitational in Cadillac and fourth in the Elite race at the Shepherd BLUEJAY Invitational while running a personal-record 17:46.5 against some of the Lower Peninsula's fastest runners. She also this spring led Pickford to its first track & field UP Finals championship since 2007, winning the 800, 1,600, 3,200 and leading off the winning 3,200 relay in Division 3.
@mhsaasports 🏃♀️➡️POW: Talya Schreiber #pickford #crosscountry #highschoolsports #performanceoftheweek #MHSAA ♬ Bright and fun upbeat pops, Kids, Animals, Pets, Fun, Cute, Happy, Playful, Upbeat(1465232) - SAKUMAMATATA
@mhsaasports 🏃♀️➡️POW: Talya Schreiber #funfacts #tiktalk #performanceoftheweek #highschoolsports #MHSAA ♬ Girly and cute synth pop - SAKUMAMATATA
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Previous 2025-26 honorees
Oct. 16: Avery Manning, Dexter golf - Report
Oct. 9: Brady Van Laecke, Hudsonville football - Report
Oct. 2: Sarah Giroux, Flat Rock volleyball - Report
Sept. 25: Sam Schumacher, Portage Central tennis - Report
Sept. 18: Kaylee Mitzel, Saline field hockey - Report
Sept. 11: Natasza Dudek, Ann Arbor Pioneer cross country - Report
Sept. 4: Kate Posey, Big Rapids golf - Report
PHOTO Pickford's Talya Schreiber rounds a curve during last Saturday's Upper Peninsula Division 3 Final. (Photo by Cara Kamps.)