Pewamo-Westphalia Returns to Podium
May 30, 2015
By Chip Mundy
Special for Second Half
COMSTOCK PARK – Pewamo-Westphalia girls track coach Scott Werner has a saying he believes applies to his track program: “Tradition doesn’t graduate.”
On Saturday, a team mixed with youth and experience won the Lower Peninsula Division 3 track and field championship for the second time in three years, but the crown was not clinched until the final event of the meet.
The Pirates totaled 63 points, while runner-up Manistee had 57 and defending champion Frankenmuth was third with 51.5.
Pewamo-Westphalia needed to finish at least sixth in the 1,600 relay to win the championship, but the runners on the relay did not know that. All they knew was the outcome was still in doubt.
Anchor runner Emily Kramer was not sure of the outcome after she crossed the finish line in fifth place.
“I didn’t know if I got it for my team, but I had a little bit of confidence that my teammates didn’t look too upset when I crossed the finish line, so I had somewhat of a good feeling,” Kramer said. “Considering that I don’t normally run this event, and I don’t always go last, there was a lot of pressure. I felt a lot of stress before the race.”
Although Pewamo-Westphalia did not have any individual first-place finishes, it did have two relays win MHSAA championships.
Senior Sarah Barrett, freshman Claudia Heckman and seniors Gabbie Hummel and Marissa Wirth made it two titles in a row for the Pirates in the 400 relay, although only Hummel ran on it last year. Sophomore Brenna Wirth, junior Kelly Thelen and Hummel and Marissa Wirth ran on the winning 800 team.
Brenna Wirth also had a pair of individual second-place finishes in both the 200 and 400.
While the team championship was sweet for everyone, it might have been a little sweeter for Barrett, who missed all of last season with stress fractures in both of her legs.
“It’s really a big thing to me to come back after being injured,” she said. “It felt really good. I’m so proud of my team. I knew we would do great. We’ve all been working together since our freshman year, and I knew what to expect.”
Several of the Pirates spoke of the extra motivation from finishing second at the meet a year ago.
“We definitely were disappointed last year, but we took it in stride to help us this year,” Hummel said. “Our expectation is always set to get to first place, and last year we learned that we still had to improve, even though we had done well.”
While Pewamo-Westphalia ran off with the MHSAA team title, several other athletes starred on an individual level.
Manistee senior Annie Fuller capped her stellar career by repeating as champion in the 800 and 1,600, and she broke her own meet record in the 800 in 2:09.61. She made it four MHSAA titles in a row by winning the 800, and she took the 1,600 for the third consecutive year after finishing second as a freshman.
“I definitely felt the pressure coming in, but I tend to do well under pressure,” Fuller said. “I really wanted it, and I am really blessed to be able to win it four years in a row.”
Fuller had a new opponent in Holly Bullough of Traverse City St. Francis. Bullough won the Division 4 Final titles in the 800 and 1,600 last season, but had to settle for second in both against Fuller in Division 3. After the 800, Fuller and Bullough had a nice chat as they walked across the infield.
“We became pretty close this year running together at all the meets and warming up together,” Fuller said. “I just knew she would be there because I’ve raced her a few times.”
Another individual double-winner was Sanford-Meridian junior Hailey Stockford, who swept the sprints. She won the 100 in 12.07 seconds and took the 200 in 25.11.
Frankenmuth senior Stephanie Lambeth broke the LP Division 3 Final record in the pole vault by clearing 12 feet, 3 inches, topping the previous record of 12-0 set in 2005 by Katie Shaw of Lakeview. The other champions in the field events were Manistee junior Emma Burns in the high jump, Ithaca junior Erica Shehan in the long jump, Watervliet senior Cali McLean in the shot put and Byron sophomore Jessica Marvin in the discus.
The other individual champions in the running events were Manistee senior Jessica Gustad in the 100 and Frankenmuth senior Sydney Bronner in the 300 hurdles, Adrian Madison sophomore Megan Rosales in the 400 and East Jordan senior Kayla Keane in the 3,200.
Adrian Madison took the 1,600 relay, and Shepherd won the 3,200 relay with three sophomores and a senior.
“It’s very sweet to come back and get the win after we scored 72 points and took runner-up last year,” P-W’s Werner said. “We had a very motivated group of kids. They worked very hard in the off-season.
“They wanted to get back on the podium.”
PHOTO: Pewamo-Westphalia won the 400 and 800 relays Saturday en route to the LP Division 3 team championship. (Click to see more from RunMichigan.com. Photo by Jamie Geysbeek.)
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 keithdunlap78@gmail.com 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.)