A Champion of Sportsmanship as well
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
May 14, 2012
While his teammates ran against White Lake Lakeland last Tuesday, Devin Kimberlin was inside Walled Lake Northern High School studying for an Advanced Placement exam. He had about 10 minutes to spare to run one race – and hoped Garret Zuk would help him make it worthwhile.
It’s not that the Knights sophomore thought he could beat Zuk, a senior who is the reigning Division 1 cross country champion and will run at Michigan State University this fall. But Kimberlin was coming off a career-best 10:02 in the 3,200 meters, and knew chasing Zuk would be a prime opportunity to break the 10-minute plateau.
He was right. In fact, Zuk recognized the situation, and after a short conversation during the second lap, offered to pace his opponent the rest of the way. Kimberlin finishing in 9:58.
“At that point, something clicked in my head; I can help him out,” Zuk said. “It was kind of a selfish thing, because it gave me something to do for that race. I was a little worried that my coach would care. But I said to myself, the meet is over, there’s no reason he would care. At that point, I made my decision.”
Opponents from rival schools working together for a common goal makes this a feel-good story. But another selfless act by Zuk at the end made this race one of the most memorable in Michigan this spring.
The 3,200 is the longest high school race in MHSAA competition, measuring eight laps. As Tuesday’s race neared its end, the story picked up speed as well.
Pre-Race Prep
The two didn’t know each other before Tuesday. Kimberlin certainly knew about Zuk, who on top of the cross country championship has since run the 3,200 in 9:09 – which would’ve won last season’s Division 1 track and field final by 11 seconds. Zuk also this winter was named an MHSAA Scholar-Athlete Award winner, one of only 32 from across the state, and is co-salutatorian of his class.
Zuk had recognized Kimberlin from other events over the year, although it was only a chance set of circumstances that led Kimberlin to running at all. He was a soccer player when his family moved back from London last fall. But he ran in a Walled Lake Northern alumni cross country race for fun, and coach Jeff McNeil noticed his raw talent – and convinced Kimberlin to join the cross country team as well in the fall. Kimberlin just missed making the Cross Country Finals with a personal record of 16:01. He then came out for track this spring and had showed lots of potential over the season’s first month.
Laps 1 and 2
The 3,200 is the third-to-last event. With Lakeland already trailing by too many points to win the meet, Zuk wasn’t sure if he should go after a fast time or simply cruise through. He’d been breaking 10 minutes in the 3,200 since his freshman year, and would’ve had little problem winning this race.
Kimberlin hoped for the former.
A pack of three or four runners, including Zuk and Kimberlin, led into the second lap. Kimberlin couldn’t figure out why Zuk was hanging back. So Kimberlin took off.
His charge was fast – but not fast enough. As that lap ended, McNeil ran to Kimberlin and yelled to him his pace was about five seconds too slow to break 10 minutes.
Lap 3
Zuk overheard something in that conversation about “pace.” At the start of the third lap, he came even with Kimberlin and then pulled a bit in front of him.
“He looks over his right shoulder, and he said, ‘Just draft off me for a couple of seconds here.’ I was like, ‘All right,’” Kimberlin said. “He turned around again and asked what time I was going for. I said I wanted to break 10, and he said, ‘All right. Stick with me and we’ll do it.’”
In the stands, Walled Lake Northern fans were trying to make out what was going on below. Some thought Zuk might be taunting their runner. But parent Dave Routledge, whose son was a Knights standout last season, told those around him that Zuk wasn’t that kind of guy. Kimberlin wasn’t sure how to answer Zuk at first either, but decided to latch on for the ride.
At the top curve of the back stretch, Zuk and Kimberlin started lapping runners, with Zuk encouraging them as they ran by. The race – and the 10-minute pace – was on.
“What Garret did … caught me off-guard at first. I had watched him do that for different kids on our team all year. (But) that’s the type of leader that he is,” Lakeland coach Dave Browne said. “Garret is a tremendous leader and one of the best motivators by example that I have ever coached. I’m not sure MSU fully understands the tremendous individual that they are inheriting from us.”
Laps 4-7
Instead of getting slower, Kimberlin’s lap times sped up as he chased Zuk around the track. And now everyone had joined the effort.
McNeil, of course, was cheering on his runner to keep the pace. Sometime during the fifth or sixth lap, Brown pulled close to Zuk and cheered him to pull Kimberlin through.
Those in the stands had figured things out as well. Some were close to tears. All were cheering loudly as the 10-minute goal began to look possible.
Lap 8 – Home Stretch
Zuk continued about five meters in front of Kimberlin, who usually has a strong kick at the end – but clearly did not have as much left as usual.
Zuk did. And that would be enough for both of them.
“There wasn’t really a whole lot of planning to any of this. I was trying to figure out how to push him, and I knew we had to be quicker on that last lap,” Zuk said. “I knew he would get that last little bit of adrenaline (trying) to go ahead and catch me. With as much effort as I knew he’d put into that race, he deserved to pass me and win.”
Zuk had won every race but a few this season, when he let younger teammates go ahead of him. This time, it was an opponent following him -- but Lakeland no longer could win the meet. With about 10 meters left, he cooled his jets again and let Kimberlin charge through the finish line first.
It must’ve caught the officials off-guard as well – one gave Kimberlin the second-place stick and the first to Zuk. But Zuk grabbed the second and gave Kimberlin the first, and, as McNeil remembered, said with a smile on his face, “He beat me. He got me at the line. He deserves the first-place stick.”
“I couldn’t believe he was going to let me win,” Kimberlin said. “After the race, I walked up and gave him a hug and said, ‘Thank you so much.’ He was just like, ‘No problem.’”
“I wrote Garret an email that his character means more than it means (to be an elite) runner. And his character now shows even more,” McNeil said. “His running alone is obviously awesome. He’s just great. But he’s also got a great attitude, and I wanted to reinforce to him: Please don’t change.”
Zuk’s effort has been the talk at school, and Lakeland athletic director Greg Michaels said he was told the same is true at Walled Lake Northern. Michaels lives in South Lyon, and his neighbor, a high school runner, also had heard the story from his coach. On Thursday, Zuk was recognized by the Huron Valley Schools Board of Education.
Routledge wrote a letter to the Lakeland athletic department that quickly circulated around the school and included this excerpt:
“I watched this performance and was astonished. To say that I was, once again, impressed by Lakeland’s Garret Zuk would be an understatement,” Routledge wrote. “Somewhere in his young life he has learned the value of humility, sacrifice, and deferential character. He understands that as a champion he is a role model and mentor. He was a hero on this day to one young runner from Walled Lake Northern. And perhaps to all who watched.”
Kimberlin’s English teacher read the letter in class the next day. It nearly brought the runner to tears.
“It’s a great example. It’s something, down the line, I’d like to do some time,” Kimberlin said. “I don’t know if I’ll ever be as good as him. But he’ll definitely be a great inspiration along the way.”
PHOTOS: (Top) White Lake Lakeland's Garret Zuk finishes off his Division 1 championship run at the MHSAA Cross Country Finals in the fall at Michigan International Speedway. (Middle) Walled Lake Northern's Devin Kimberlin races during a track meet earlier this season. (Top photo courtesy of High School Sports Scene. Middle photo is courtesy of Walled Lake Northern.)
Not Even Sky Seems Limit as Richards Keeps Calvary Sports Soaring
By
Tom Kendra
Special for MHSAA.com
January 4, 2024
Bradley Richards believes that life is all about trying new things, setting bigger goals and pushing yourself to new heights – in his case, literally.
Richards, now a 6-foot-5, 190-pound junior basketball standout at tiny Fruitport Calvary Christian, played on the school’s fifth-grade team when he was in second grade.
He remembers staring longingly at the rim in those days and dreaming about dunking, before making that dream a reality by throwing one down in February of his seventh-grade year.
While his three older sisters - Taylor, Allyson and Kelsey - were leading the Calvary girls basketball program to new heights, he vowed he would do the same with the boys program someday.
Bradley and his teammates accomplished that goal last spring, winning the school’s first boys District basketball title despite a roster with no seniors.
This season, Calvary came flying out of the gate with a 5-0 start and is now 5-2 heading into Friday’s home game against Saugatuck.
“It’s been a lot of fun,” said Bradley, who averages 29 points and 14 rebounds per game. “Our school is so small that we’re more like a family. It’s not about me. I’m just so happy for our school and all of the guys on the team.”
The next goal is to repeat as District champions and try to win a Regional title, before setting his sights at clearing 7 feet in the high jump this spring.
“I’m going to try to get past that this year,” said Bradley in his typical humble, matter-of-fact fashion.
One thing his father and fourth-year Fruitport Calvary Christian boys basketball coach Brad Richards has learned is to not put anything past his only son, the youngest of his four children.
Bradley displayed an interest in music as a young boy and now sings in the school’s worship group and plays the saxophone, piano and guitar. Last fall, he played high school football for the first time as part of a cooperative agreement with Muskegon Catholic Central and wound up starting at wide receiver and defensive back for the state powerhouse program.
“He’s blessed and he’s gifted – yes,” said his father, who also coached all three of his girls during their Calvary Christian basketball careers. “But he works so hard.
“Bradley sets goals and works toward them. He’s always looking for the next thing to do.”
True to his school
One thing he doesn’t like to do is media interviews. Specifically, he doesn’t like calling attention to himself.
“He is pretty quiet and would rather have his teammates get the attention,” said his mother, Joy.
Fruitport Calvary Christian is one of the smallest schools on the entire Lakeshore with 51 students in grades 9-12, and just 17 boys in the high school.
The Eagles take great pride in their ability to compete against much larger schools. They made a huge statement during the first full week of December with three convincing victories over bigger schools.
That week started on Tuesday, Dec. 5, with Calvary’s first-ever boys basketball win over neighbor Fruitport, a Division 2 school that competes in the Ottawa-Kent Conference Blue. Bradley scored 35 points with 14 rebounds in that game, with clutch free throws by role player Eric Dubois Quayle sealing the win.
Two days later, Richards scored 36 points with 17 rebounds in a win over Grand Rapids Sacred Heart.
Calvary then capped the 3-0 week Friday with a victory over Kent City, another Division 2 school, as Bradley scored 36 points with 18 rebounds.
Calvary is led by the “big three” of juniors Richards and Quinn Swanson and senior Sam Zelenka. Swanson, the team’s second-leading scorer with 17 points plus six rebounds and three assists per game, injured his knee last week against Schoolcraft and his health will have a huge bearing on the team’s success going forward. Zelenka is the top defender and averages 11 points, eight assists and seven rebounds.
The other starters are junior workhorse Zach McFarren, who owns the school’s shot put and discus records and has played all but six minutes over the team’s seven games, and senior Nolan Ghezzi.
Richards, already a two-time Associated Press all-state selection who even made the Basketball Coaches Association of Michigan all-state team as an eighth grader, has seen every gimmick defense to try and shut him down, including box-and-twos and triple teams. He credits his experience in football and track with helping him deal with it.
“There is usually a quick guy in front of me and a big guy behind me,” said Bradley, who scored a career-high 47 points in a game last season. “Football has really helped me, because I’m not as scared of the contact. The high jumping has helped me to elevate and get my shot off.”
Great heights
Jim McHugh is a high jump legend from Pentwater who went on to become a two-time national champion in the event at Hillsdale College, and he now coaches West Michigan athletes in the event.
The first time he worked with Bradley Richards, in April of last year, he knew he had something special on his hands.
“Bradley went up and literally hurdled the bar at 5-11,” said McHugh. “I was in shock. I said to myself: ‘This is gonna be a heck of a ride.’ The kid is a generational talent.”
The coaching of McHugh paid immediate dividends, as Bradley improved from a top jump of 6-1½ as a freshman to 6-6½ in last year’s Regional meet. Then came the Division 4 Finals at Hudsonville a few weeks later.
Bradley won the first track Finals championship for Fruitport Calvary with a leap of 6-10 – which was 3 inches higher than anyone else in any of the four Lower Peninsula divisions and entire Upper Peninsula that day – and caught the attention of college scouts from across the country.
The following week, he competed at the New Balance Outdoor Nationals in Philadelphia and placed second with a jump of 6-8.24.
McHugh shudders to think of how high his prodigy can soar. He has his sights set on the Division 4 Finals record of 6-10½ (Kurt Schneider, Auburn Hills Oakland Christian, 2009), the Muskegon-area record of 7-0 (Steve Paulsen, Fremont, 1998) and the all-division/class Finals record of 7-1 (John Payment, Brimley, 1989).
“God has given him incredible talent, but he also has the desire it takes,” said McHugh, who is also working with another Division I college high jump prospect in Hart junior Addison Hovey. “I gave him a workout plan, and he has done every bit of it. He has cleaned up his diet, done the cold showers and the cold bathtubs, everything. I’m excited to see the results.”
Richards, whose first love was basketball, admits he is smitten with the high jump and seeing how high he can soar.
Now, when asked about his favorite athletes, he still mentions Michael Jordan and Kevin Durant, but he also includes Olympic gold medalist high jumper Mutaz Barshim of Qatar – who made news by not taking additional jumps at the 2020 Olympics in Japan, thereby sharing the gold medal with Gianmarco Tamberi of Italy.
“I just respect that so much, sharing the gold medal,” Bradley said.
Decision time
Now the Bradley Richards recruiting saga has begun and, for him, it’s not just about choosing what school – it’s also about choosing what sport.
“I would like to do both, play basketball and high jump in college, if possible,” Bradley said.
That would certainly be a possibility if Bradley follows in his family’s footsteps at Cornerstone University. His father was a basketball standout at Cornerstone, which is where he met Joy, and all three of his sisters played for the Golden Eagles. (Kelsey is currently a student assistant for this year’s team.)
Playing both may not be possible if he pursues high jump at the Division I level, where Michigan and Illinois are among schools actively recruiting him.
“I know at some point I’m going to have to make a decision, but I don’t have to right now,” said the 17-year-old Bradley. “So it doesn’t do me any good to sit and stress about it all the time.”
Instead, he is focused on more immediate goals.
The first is figuring out a way for his basketball team to snap a two-game losing skid and get positioned for another postseason run.
Then it will be trying to clear the magical high jump number of 7-0, and beyond. And don’t forget football, where he would love to start off his senior year by helping Muskegon Catholic improve on its 6-5 record from a year ago and make a run at the school’s 13th state football championship.
Only after all of that will it be college decision time.
“It’s not an easy choice, and it will take a lot of prayer and discernment,” admitted Richards, who will look for help from his immediate family and his school family in making his choice. “I’ll figure it out. I usually do.”
Tom Kendra worked 23 years at The Muskegon Chronicle, including five as assistant sports editor and the final six as sports editor through 2011. E-mail him at [email protected] with story ideas for Muskegon, Oceana, Mason, Lake, Oceola, Mecosta and Newaygo counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Fruitport Calvary Christian’s Bradley Richards stands atop the podium after winning the high jump last spring at the Lower Peninsula Division 4 Finals. (Middle) Richards lines up to shoot a free throw. (Below) Playing as part of a cooperative with Muskegon Catholic Central, Richards works to get away from a Traverse City St. Francis tackler. (Track photo courtesy of Joy Richards; basketball and football photos courtesy of Local Sports Journal.)