Oak Park Girls Hurdle Competition Again to Regain LPD1 Championship
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
June 3, 2023
ROCKFORD – For the fourth time in five seasons Saturday, Oak Park’s girls captured the Lower Peninsula Division 1 team title – this time with a meet-best 80 points at Rockford High School.
Last season’s champion Detroit Renaissance was second with 58 points, while Ann Arbor Pioneer was third at 56.
The Knights – runners-up a year ago – won again mainly thanks to their dominance in the hurdles. Senior Nonah Waldron won the 100 and 300 hurdles, but also Morgan Roundtree was third in the 100 (13.86) and second in the 300 (41.54) and Carrie VanNoy was fourth in both the 100 (14.18) and 300 (44.11).
Waldon said the team’s success was all about pushing each other the best they could in practice every day.
“It takes maturity to understand that you all can be great together,” Waldron said. “It took a lot of love for each other to be the best we can be.”
The Knights also were second in the 400 relay (47.71) and 800 relay (1:38.21), and third in the 1,600 relay (3:55.27).
“I think that dealing with losing and some adversity helps you grow,” Oak Park coach Brandon Jiles said. “I think the kids used the experience from last year to catapult them this year. We know it’s a points game. We know there are no style points in team championships. We spread the kids out to do what we needed to do. We’re not a depth team, but a quality team. They showed out, and I’m happy.”
Waldron won the 100 hurdles in a time of 13.56 before really putting on a show in the 300 hurdles. She won that event in a time of 40.37, which was the second-fast time in that event in the nation thus far this year. Waldron, who will run in college at USC, also won both hurdles events two years ago and won the 100 hurdles last year, but had a mishap that cost her last year’s title in the 300.
“Last year, I fell and tore my ankle,” she said. “That did motivate (me) a lot more than before. It made me want it more.”
If it wasn’t evident that Renaissance sophomore Jayla Dace might be the state’s next big sprinting star already, she established that on the biggest stage.
Dace won the 100-meter dash in a time of 11.90 and was a part of winning 400 and 800 relay teams. Dace also took third in the 200-meter dash in a time of 24.56.
“The starting gun is a horn, so I’m not really used to that,” Dace said of her strategy in the 100. “I had to really adapt quickly and to make sure I wasn’t the last person to get out of the blocks. Once you see people in the 100 ahead of you, it’s over. I just had to make sure when I started the race that I really didn’t see anybody.”
In the relays, Dace ran the second leg in the 400 and the first leg in the 800.
“I’m just happy we were able to execute,” Dace said.
Saturday was quite an inauguration into the pressure of a high school state meet for West Bloomfield freshman Kamryn Tatum. But she performed like a veteran, winning the 400 in a time of 55.74 and the 200 in a time of 24.10.
“I’ve been at big meets so I know how to deal with quite a bit of pressure, but I was still nervous because it was my first high school (Finals),” Tatum said. “I just wanted to run until the end of the line.”
Ann Arbor Pioneer junior Rachel Forsyth won the 800 (2:09.96) and 1,600 (4:44.22), and East Lansing senior Anna Delgado finished first in the 3,200 (10:33.87). Forsyth also was part of Pioneer’s winning 3,200 relay (9:01.19), and Detroit Cass Tech won the 1,600 relay (3:52.82) by 12 hundredths of a second ahead of Renaissance.
Howell senior Sophie Daugard was first in shot put (41-7), Allen Park junior Abigail Russell first in discus (148-7½), and Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central junior Brooke Bowers won pole vault (12-3). Farmington Hills Mercy junior Milena Chevallier won high jump (5-11), and Rockford senior Maya Anderson was champion in the long jump (18-6½). Flushing sophomore Ally Ingrahm competed in the adaptive 100 (42.81).
PHOTOS (Top) Oak Park's Nonah Waldron crosses the finish line first in the 100 hurdles Saturday. (Middle) Renaissance's Jayla Dace, right, charges toward the finish. (Below) West Bloomfield's Kamryn Tatum, far left, leads the 200. (Photos by Jamie McNinch [top photo] and Carter Sherline/RunMichigan.com.)
In Just 2nd Season, Van Dyk Breaks Decades-Old K-Christian Throws Records
By
Pam Shebest
Special for MHSAA.com
June 9, 2022
KALAMAZOO — When an exuberant Tess Van Dyk broke the shot put record at Kalamazoo Christian earlier this year, the senior was thrilled at reaching one of her high school goals.
For her throws coach, Tracy (Rozema) Jackson, the achievement was bittersweet.
Jackson was the previous record-holder with a put of 41 feet, 6 inches, and knew that record was in jeopardy when she saw Van Dyk’s numbers a year ago.
“I thought, just wait and be prepared for it,” Jackson said. “It was kind of something sentimental. That record had been in place for 34 years. I set it in 1988.”
Van Dyk actually broke the record twice.
She put the shot 42 feet, 6 inches, to snap Jackson’s record, then the same day, threw the current mark of 42-9.
That happened during a dual meet April 21, and was just the start of a stellar year.
Van Dyk also shattered the previous discus throw record of 127 feet, 3 inches, set by Sandy (Wolthuis) George in 1978.
Van Dyk’s record-setter was 134-6, tossed at the Southwestern Athletic Conference championship meet May 24.
“When I started track, one of my big goals was to break either the shot put or discus record,” Van Dyk said. “I was like, before I leave this school, I want my name on that board.
“That’s what started me on the path to loving track and getting that grit for it.”
Since the records board has not yet been updated, the recent grad will have to return to the school to see her name up there. But her coach gave her a preview.
“I went into the gymnasium and I took a picture of the board with my name on it, then I covered it up with her name (using SnapChat),” Jackson said.
Those two records are not the only accolades Van Dyk has on her resume.
She owns three MHSAA Finals titles: the discus and shot last year and the shot this year at the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 4 Track & Field Championships.
In addition, she earned all-state honors both seasons.
The camaraderie and respect between the student and coach is evident as they talk and laugh, reviewing the last two years.
In fact, Van Dyk is headed this fall to Western Michigan University, her coach’s alma mater.
Jackson was on the college track team, but noted: “I do not have any records there, and none anymore, thanks to this one,” she said, nodding toward Van Dyk, laughing.
Since her sophomore season was scrubbed because of the statewide COVID-19 shutdown, Van Dyk’s first introduction to track & field was her junior year.
“I just naturally grew toward shot put and discus with the help of my coach and other people because I like running, but not competitively,” she said.
“Shot put you can kind of get your frustrations out. If you had a really bad day, you can just take up all that emotion and let it all go in that moment.”
It is different for discus, she said. “For discus, you really get the calmness of it and then a quick little snap as you release it, just the feeling of knowing it’s a good one.”
Van Dyk learned a few important lessons at the MHSAA Finals last year.
“In shot put, I had thrown a 41-foot before I went to states,” she said. “(Finals day) was a hot, steamy day. There wasn’t a cloud in sight.
“We were all getting beaten down by the weather. In throwing, you’re just standing there cooking. I had to push through it. I had a huge support team behind me and trusted that my body knew what it had to do.”
It knew enough to give Van Dyk, the top seed, the championship.
In discus, she was seeded third.
“I’d been struggling with that all year, so I had some bigger fish to fry,” she said. “As soon as I got up there, it was a windy day at Baldwin Middle School (in Hudsonville), and some of the big dogs started hitting the fence area around it.
“That was when I realized it doesn’t matter what their records are, you just have to do what you can do. Then I realized I could do it and got my head in the game and squeaked out a 112 (to win).”
Although Van Dyk repeated as shot put champ Saturday, she finished second in discus.
“It was honestly kind of funny, because the girl who beat me (Elli Stender of Gobles) was slated for third as well,” Van Dyk said, referring to her own junior year. “She’s a great girl. I’ve been competing against her all season, and she’s got great form.
“Everything worked together like what happened to me last year. I couldn’t be more grateful to celebrate with her. I am honestly proud of my second place.”
Looking at next season, Jackson said she would not mind if Van Dyk spent some time working with the K-Christian throwers.
“I thought I gave up my (coaching) position now that she took over control of the record,” Jackson joked. “I feel like she just has to walk over here (from WMU). She doesn’t even need gas.
“She does an amazing job with some of the other throwers. That came out this year.”
And not only with her own teammates.
Although the Comets and Hackett Catholic Prep are fierce crosstown rivals, Hackett coach Carl Scholten has respect for Van Dyk.
“She’s a great technician and she knows the events very well, knows the form, knows the techniques and the mechanics,” he said. “That makes her incredibly gifted in these events.
“It’s led to her great success. I love that, not only with her own team but with other kids, she’s wants to help develop other throwers, too. We had a couple of seniors out for the first time, and they really connected with her. She was a great model and inspiration for them.”
One thing the two schools have in common is their faith-based education, which is very important to Van Dyk.
That is also one reason she chose WMU.
“Coach Makiba Batten does not host practices on Sundays, which is a big thing for me,” Van Dyk said. “It’s so close to home, I don’t have to switch churches and that was a big thing, too.”
She also enjoys talking with others about her religion.
When she was getting her shirt for this season, instead of her name she had SDG on the back.
“People ask all the time why I have SDG on my back,” she said. “I say, ‘Glad you asked.’ It stands for Soli Deo Gloria: to God be the glory alone.
“It’s just a reminder to me every time I throw that it’s not me who’s throwing, it’s Him who gave me strength.”
Jackson, who is coordinator of surgery at Bronson Methodist Hospital in Kalamazoo, said if she has one thing to say to Van Dyk, it is: “The discipline you put in for the discus and the shot, just continue that in your life, and especially in your spiritual walk. I know how important your church is. Remember the ultimate glory is His.”
Pam Shebest served as a sportswriter at the Kalamazoo Gazette from 1985-2009 after 11 years part-time with the Gazette while teaching French and English at White Pigeon High School. She can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Calhoun, Kalamazoo and Van Buren counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Kalamazoo Christian’s Tess Van Dyk, pictured at center on the awards podium at Saturday’s LPD4 Finals, closed her career as her school’s record holder in discus and shot put. (Middle) Van Dyk, left, and Kalamazoo Christian throws coach Tracy Jackson. (Action photos courtesy of Kathy Van Dyk, Finals photo by State Champs! Sports Network, and head shots by Pam Shebest.)