Preview: Watch These Stars Shine Again

June 3, 2016

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

With so many athletes competing at each of the five sites of Saturday's MHSAA Track & Field Finals, it's easy to lose track of who is competing where until they reach the starting blocks. 

But fans will want to be sure to focus on a number of familiar standouts who could dominate girls meets this weekend. 

Read on for some of the teams and individuals to watch at Saturday's girls meets. Click for meet information including all qualifiers and come back Saturday night for results as they come in, and check out MHSAA.TV for live streaming of running events from both peninsulas, available with subscription.

LP Division 1 at Hudsonville Baldwin Middle School

Top Regional scores: Grosse Pointe South 195½, East Kentwood 176, Ann Arbor Pioneer 164½.

East Kentwood: The Falcons have never won an MHSAA title in girls track & field, but did finish second last season to Oak Park. East Kentwood could trim the margin significantly if not eliminate it this time. Senior Sekayi Bracey is the reigning champion in the long jump, 100 and 200 and total has won eight individual titles over her first three seasons; she’s seeded third in long jump (17-9¾) second in the 100 (12.0) and sixth in the 200 (24.84) plus runs on the third-seeded 400 relay (48.47). She’ll have help especially in the field events from sophomore Corrinne Jemison, who is third in discus (133-6) and also will toss shot put, and junior Gabriela Leon is second-seeded in pole vault (12-6).

Oak Park: The two-time reigning champion will say good-bye to one of Michigan’s top talents of this decade with senior Anna Jefferson running her last high school races and looking to add to two individual and four relay championships. She’s seeded second in the 100 hurdles (14.10) and 400 (55.15). Junior Tamea McKelvy is seeded first in the 100 and 200 dashes (11.89 and 23.97), and another outstanding senior, Brianna Holloway, is third in the 100 hurdles (14.37) and first in the 300 (43.84) after winning the latter last season. The 400 relay (47.15) also is seeded first, and sophomore Dorriann Coleman is seeded third in the 800 (2:15.53).

Ann Arbor Pioneer: The Pioneers have the kind of star power necessary to win this meet, led by sophomore Britten Bowen. She’s seeded first in the 100 hurdles (14.02) and second in the 300 (44.56) and runs on the second-seeded 400 relay (47.87) and top-seeded 800 relay (1:39.99). Another sophomore, Anne Forsyth, is seeded first in the 1,600 (4:56.30) and second in the 3,200 (10:43.94), and junior teammate Alice Hill is seeded first in the 800 (2:10.45); both also run on the top-seeded 3,200 relay (9:03.86). Senior Torisa Johnson has top-four seeds in the 100 and 200 and also will be key.

Grosse Pointe South’s Kayli Johnson: After taking fifth in shot put as a junior, she enters as the fourth seed in that event (39-9) but top seed in the discus (136-8) and also runs on the 400 relay.

Farmington’s Maddy Trevisan: She took fifth in the 3,200 last season as a junior and has the top seed (10:38.62) by more than five seconds this time, as well as the sixth seed in the 1,600 (5:01.82). 

LP Division 2 at Zeeland

Top Regional scores: Dearborn Divine Child 182½, Ada Forest Hills Eastern 146½, Detroit Country Day 124½.

Flint Powers Catholic: Only 36 points won this meet a year ago, which makes someone like reigning shot put champion Nikole Sargent even more valuable; she’s seeded first in the shot put (47-7¼) and discus (137-4). Senior Tyra Hunter could score as the sixth seed in the 100 hurdles (15.3), as could junior Lyndsey Braman coming in as the fourth seed in the 800 (2:19.52) and junior Julia Vanitvelt running the 800, 1,600 and 3,200 and being seeded seventh in the 1,600 (5:14.41). She and Braman run on a 3,200 relay seeded third (9:32.77).

Lansing Waverly: The Warriors tied for ninth last season and would get a huge boost by justifying their top seeds in the 400 (49.38) and 800 (1:45.31) relays. Sophomore Tra’chele Roberts runs on both and also is seeded third in the 100 (12.44) and 14th in the 200 (26.42). Junior Teaghan Thomas runs on both relays as well and is tied for sixth in high jump (5-2). Sophomore Malin Smith also could contribute big points in field events, entering seeded third in shot put (43-1½) and seventh in discus (121-3).

Detroit Country Day: The Yellowjackets are seeking their first title since sharing in 2012. Junior Michaiah Thomas is the reigning champ in the 100 hurdles and seeded first in that race (14.42), second in the 300 (45.23), seventh in the 100 dash (12.68) and fourth in the 200 (25.80). She alone could put Country Day into contention.

Battle Creek Harper Creek’s Charley Andrews: The reigning high jump champ is seeded first in that event (5-8) and also will run on the 3,200 relay after helping it to an eighth-place finish a year ago as a sophomore.

Carleton Airport’s Zoe Eby: She took first in the 200 and third in the 400 in 2015 as a sophomore, and this season is seeded first in the 200 (25.02), second in the 100 (12.25) and also will long jump.

Saginaw Swan Valley’s Lauren Huebner: After winning the 300 hurdles as a junior, Huebner is seeded fourth in that race (45.65) and third in the 100 hurdles (15.0) and also will run on the fifth-seeded 800 and sixth-seeded 1,600 relays.

Spring Lake’s Gabriella LeRoux: She won pole vault as a sophomore and is seeded first by four inches at 12-3; she’ll also run the 100 and on the 400 relay.

Ada Forest Hills Eastern’s Camron Nelson: The reigning 100 champion is seeded 11th in that race (12.76) and 15th in the 200, and also will run on the second-seeded 400 relay (49.78).

Grand Rapids South Christian’s Abbie Porter: She’s the fourth seed as a senior in the 400 (58.32) after winning the race last season and also runs on the top-seeded 1,600 relay (4:01.46). 

LP Division 3 at Comstock Park

Top Regional scores: Hopkins 154, Pewamo-Westphalia 153, Ithaca 150.  

Ithaca: The Yellowjackets have never won an MHSAA title in this sport but were fourth last season and on relays alone should be in the mix. The 400 relay is seeded third (51.26), the 800 fourth (1:48.31), the 1,600 also fourth (4:10.32) and the 3,200 relay second (9:34.12). Senior Erica Sheahan is perhaps most valuable among individual contributors; she’s the top seed in long jump (17-11¾) after winning last season, ninth in the 100 and second in the 200 (25.99). Junior Emily Foster comes in sixth-seeded in the 300 hurdles, and junior Courtney Allen enters third in the 800 (2:19.14) and also will run the 1,600.

Pewamo-Westphalia: The reigning champion Pirates are seeking their third title in four seasons and finished runner-up the off year. The talent is spread across a number of events; all four relays qualified for Saturday, with the 400 relay top-seeded (50.83), the 800 relay seeded seventh and the 3,200 relay seeded fourth. Senior Emma Schafer is seeded first in the 100 hurdles (15.53) and fourth in the 300 (47.11), and junior Emma Wirth has top-11 seeds in the 200 and 400 after taking fourth in the 100, second in the 400 and third in the 200 in 2015. Schafer also should help on the field event side, entering with the second-seeded shot put (38-1), while sophomore Claudia Heckman is seeded ninth in long jump.

Traverse City St. Francis: While the Gladiators don’t have a qualifier in field events, they do have senior Holly Bullough, a two-time runner-up last season who is seeded first in the 800 (2:17.36) and 1,600 (4:56.61) and also runs on  the top-seeded 1,600 (4:06.43) and 3,200 (9:31.18) relays. Junior Emmalyne Tarsa also could provide a boost; she’s seeded eighth in the 100 hurdles (16.23) and fourth in the 400 (1:00.03).

Manistee’s Emma Burns: The reigning high jump champion went 5-3 to win last season and is among a large group that cleared 5 feet at Regionals.

Byron’s Jessica Marvin: She won discus last season and is third-seeded in that event (123-4) and top-seeded in the shot put (38-5).

Adrian Madison’s Megan Rosales: She’s seeded third in the 300 hurdles (47.07) and runs on the eighth-seeded 800 relay and third-seeded 1,600 relay (4:09.89) after winning the 400 and coming in second in the 300 last season.

Sanford Meridian’s Hailey Stockford: The reigning champion in the 100 and 200 will look to cap her career with a couple repeats entering second-seeded in the 100 (12.54) and tops in the 200 (25.83). 

LP Division 4 at Grand Rapids Houseman Stadium

Top Regional scores: Saugatuck 242, Fowler 187½, Deckerville 152½.

Saugatuck: The Indians finished 14th a year ago and have never won an MHSAA title in this sport, but have a chance to make history with strong relays leading the way. All four qualified, with the 1,600 seeded third, the 400 and 3,200 fifth and the 800 relay seeded sixth. Sophomore Paisley Sipes could add points seeded second in the 3,200 (11:42.34), sixth in the 1,600 (5:21.93) and tied for 11th in the pole vault. A strong group of freshmen including Thea Johnson (800) and Lily Francis (300 hurdles) also could factor in.

Fowler: Last season’s runner-up would love to add a third title in six seasons and first since 2012. Their relays are ranked even higher than Saugatuck’s as a group, with the 800 (1:48.75) seeded first, the 1,600 second, 400 third and 3,200 seeded fourth. Seniors Julie Thelen (800) and Madison Koenigsknecht (400) in races and freshman Alyssa Vandegriff (high jump) and sophomore Ciera Weber (pole vault) in field events are among a large group of others who could contribute.

Reading: The Rangers were fourth last season and return with all four relays and competitors in nine individual events. The 800 relay is seeded third and the 3,200 second (9:51.73), and senior Teddi Zimmerman has top-six seeds in both hurdles races among a number of individuals on the cusp of scoring territory based on their Regional performances.

Lawrence’s Mara Carter: The reigning shot put champion enters seeded second in that event (40-9) and fourth in the discus (115-0).

Pittsford’s Maddie Clark: She won discus last season and is seeded second in that event (126-4) this time.

Waterford Our Lady’s Tessa Fornari: She’ll be looking for a repeat in the 1,600 and 3,200 while seeded seventh (5:22.31) and third (11:48.73), respectively, in those races.

Custer Mason County Eastern’s Jordan Goodman: Last year’s winner in the 100 finished sixth or higher in four events and this time will compete in the long jump (16-4), where she’s seeded third and came in sixth in 2015.

Petersburg-Summerfield’s Ashley Herrmann: The reigning high jump champion is seeded first in that event (5-4) as a senior but also third in the 100 hurdles (16.19) and fourth in the 300 hurdles (48.07).

Concord’s Lindsey Lehman: One of the fastest sprinters last season winning the 200 and coming in second in the 100, she’ll try to finish her career with four more titles seeded fourth in the 100 (12.45), first in the 200 (26.57) and running on the seventh-seeded 400 and sixth-seeded 1,600 relays.

Mesick’s Sierra King: She nearly swept the hurdles in 2015, winning the 100 and finishing second in the 300, and she enters second-seeded in the 100 hurdles (15.49), third in the 300 (48.01) and also will compete in long jump. 

UP Division 1 at Kingsford

Top Regional scores: Marquette 85, Houghton 53½, Negaunee 53.

Marquette: The Redettes doubled up the field last season in winning their sixth straight Division 1 championship. This will be the last high school run for stellar seniors Lindsey Rudden and Holly Blowers; Rudden is seeded first in the 1,600 (4:56.80) and 800 (2:14.58), runs on the top-seeded 1,600 (4:12.22) and 3,200 (10:15.88) relays and owns seven individual Finals championships in track. Blowers is seeded second in the 1,600 (5:16.66) and 800 (2:22.34), runs on the same relays and owns three previous individual titles. Junior Amber Huebner won the 3,200 last season and is seeded first in that race (12:00.28), third in the 1,600 and also runs those relays. Junior Hannah Detmers is the reigning 300 hurdles champion and is seeded fourth in that race, but also runs on the 1,600 relay and the second-seeded 800 relay.

Escanaba’s Jenny Brandt: Last season’s discus champion enters with the second-longest throw from the Regionals (99-2).

Escanaba’s Sunny Martineau: She’s seeded second in the 100 hurdles (16.38) and third in the 300 (48.51) after winning the 100 and finishing second in the 300 in 2015.

Houghton’s Kendra Monette: The reigning shot put champion also finished sixth in the 100 last season as a freshman; she’s seeded first in shot put (37-2), fifth in the 100 (13.47) and runs on the top-seeded 800 relay (1:50.78) and second-seeded 400 relay.

Calumet’s Hailey Wickstrom: The high jump champion last year at 4-10 is the top seed as a junior at 5-3¼. 

UP Division 2 at Kingsford

Top Regional scores: Ishpeming 78, Hancock 73, St. Ignace 58½.

Ishpeming: The Hematites will go for a repeat with three top-seeded relays, strong field events and a title winner leading the way. Junior Khora Swanson is the reigning champion in the 800 and runner-up in the 1,600, and she’s seeded first in the 1,600 (5:54.26) and 800 (2:28.85), fourth in the 3,200 and runs on the top-seeded 3,200 relay (10:54.66). The 800 (1:56.01) and 400 (54.71) relays are both also seeded first, as are senior Libbie Doney in the pole vault (9-0) and junior Marissa Maino in the shot put (35-10). Maino won shot put and discus last season and is second-seeded in the discus this time.

Hancock: The Bulldogs own one MHSAA title in this sport, from 1983, but could move up from fifth a year ago. Distance running and hurdles are definitely the team’s strengths; senior Mary Jarvis is seeded first in the 100 hurdles (16.52) and 300 hurdles (48.45) and third in the 100 dash, and senior Julie Heinonen is seeded second in the 100 hurdles (17.29) and runs on two relays. Jarvis won both hurdles races last season.

St. Ignace's Linnie Gustafson: She won high jump last season in Division 3 at 5-1 and is top-seeded in the event at 5-2 while also running two relays.

Ironwood’s Rachel Hudaceck: The reigning high jump champ in this division at 5-0 is seeded second at 4-9 and also will run on two relays.

Iron River West Iron County’s Emmy Kinner: As a sophomore Kinner won the 100, 200 and 400; as a junior, she seeded first in all three races (13.27/27.22/1:02.30) and tied for second in long jump as well (15-6½).

UP Division 3 at Kingsford

Top Regional scores: Munising 78, Lake Linden-Hubbell 65, Stephenson 57.

Munising: The Mustangs are seeking their first championship since 2009 after finishing fifth but only 19 points back a year ago. They have competitors in 13 events and two top seeds: Madeleine Peramaki is seeded first in the 800 (2:28.31) while also doing long jump and running on the 1,600 relay, and junior Michaela Peramaki is seeded first in the pole vault (8-6, tied) while also running the 100 and on the 400 relay.

Newberry: The reigning champion returns its one-two punch from last season’s Final, where Taylor Bryant won the 100 and was fourth in the 300 hurdles, and Natalie Beaulieu won the 800 and 1,600. Bryant is seeded first in the 100 hurdles (17.14) and 300 hurdles (49.34) and also will run the 100 and on the second-seeded 400 relay. Beaulieu has top-five seeds in the 800, 1,600 and 3,200 and will run on the 3,200 relay.

Ontonagon’s Paige Blake: The reigning long jump and 400 champion placed in four events total last season, and she’s seeded first in the 400 (1:03.04), third in the 200 (28.64), second in the long jump (14-9) and also will run the 100.

Cedarville’s Emma Bohn: She’s the top seed in the 1,600 (5:25.24), second in the 3,200 (12:18.84) and also will run the 800 and on the top-seeded 3,200 relay (10:44.74) after winning the 3,200 last season.

Brimley’s Alyssa Hyvarinen: She won discus and shot put in leading Brimley to a runner-up finish in 2015, and this time she’s top-seeded in the discus (103-10) and second in the shot put (35-3).

PHOTO: Ishpeming's Khora Swanson is among many standouts returning to MHSAA Finals on Saturday. (Photo by Cara Kamps.)

Self-Taught Lutzke Leaving Williamston with Decades of Memorable Lessons

By Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor

June 1, 2022

WILLIAMSTON – If it were possible to string together all of the moments that made Mitch Lutzke into a Hall of Fame high school track & field coach, the first half of the video would look like a one-man pentathlon. 

At most, the now-longtime Williamston leader brought into coaching a season of mostly-junior varsity cross country experience as a student at Albion High, and some additional knowledge gleaned from marrying a college All-American runner.

He also didn’t have the internet back then to speed up the learning curve. But he had books to show him technique, and coaching clinics where he’d learn more. The skills he was using as a morning radio news reporter surely helped him digest information and pass it on to his pupils. And he had an open track facility, where he’d go when no one else was around and try to teach himself all of the events so he could better serve as his wife Karen’s assistant as she was coaching middle school kids in Illinois before she herself would go on to lead college programs for most of the last three decades.

“I just wanted to make my wife happy and said, ‘I'll coach middle school track,’ which I didn't want to do. And I almost tried to quit. I'm like, I don't want to do this. I don't even know what I'm doing. And she's like, ‘No, you could just learn,’” Mitch Lutzke recalled last week. 

“I tell people I’d do this, and they think I’m making this up. I’d stand there with a book and say, ‘OK,’ and I would go do it, and like, ‘OK, that’s how you do it right.’ So I decided, but nobody needs to know when they do it right – they need to know when they do it wrong. So I would take a book and look at discus. I said, ‘OK, I’m throwing it straight. How do I throw it left? So I’ve changed my feet. And if I step in a bucket, I’m going left. Or if I don’t block out, or if I do this … so I’d write down all these things to fix the kids. I did trial and error; what do I do if it goes too high in shot? OK, what did I do with my thumb? So I wrote a bunch of little notes down.”

His experiences, especially over the last 32 years leading the Hornets girls and now both the girls and boys programs, could fill a book – and he’s written a few of those too, on other subjects that have interested the also big-time sports fan and local historian. 

Lutzke has begun the final week of a coaching career that’s seen him build upon one of the state’s most consistently-strong track & field programs and make it his own. Since taking over the Hornets girls team in 1993 and then adding the boys team in 2014, Lutzke has amassed 250 meet wins, 16 girls league championships and five conference titles with the boys, 12 Regional championships, eight top-10 MHSAA Finals finishes and nine Michigan Interscholastic Track Coaches Association team state titles. In 2020, he was named to the MITCA Hall of Fame.

Williamston track & fieldThat’s a whale of a list for someone whose “gift for gab” had him headed initially down a path aspiring to be the next Dan Rather. He had earned accolades and opportunities to continue in broadcasting, but found himself instead taking a path back to school to become a teacher, into the classroom and onto the track and sideline, with his communication skills and knowledge no doubt pouring into the multiple books and other pieces he’s written on baseball and local history, the classes he’s taught as a popular social studies and television broadcast teacher at Williamston and the years serving most recently as the public address announcer at many Hornets events. 

“The thing about Mitch is he’s not one dimensional, even in coaching – he can coach many different events. He has many different interests outside of track & field. And when he does something, he does it 100 percent,” Karen Lutzke said. “Even when he started coaching a long, long time ago with me … he just kept learning. He likes working with kids. He enjoys that and watching them get better, whether it’s a guy who’s a 30-foot shot putter or a 45-foot shot putter, or any event. It’s not how far they throw, it’s are they doing the best they can?

“He just likes the kids, and being around them. I think it’s going to be harder than he thinks, retiring – because the kids are what make coaching fun. Being around the kids and watching them have success, and he’s had a lot of success.”

‘Expectation of Excellence’

Williamston has had its fair share of MHSAA Finals individual placers over the years, with the best of those eight top-10 team finishes under Lutzke coming in 2007 when the girls placed fourth in Lower Peninsula Division 3.

The MHSAA Finals team championships are determined by the success of individuals who qualify from Regionals, which could be just a handful. Williamston has shined even brighter, however, at the MITCA Team Finals, where the competition pits full teams against each other and the Hornets’ talent and depth across all events frequently has stood out.

Longtime and similarly-legendary coach Paul Nilsson led both Williamston track & field programs from the 1970s into the 1990s. Lutzke joined him as an assistant for both in 1991 – following Karen after she’d been hired to coach women’s cross country and assist with track & field at Michigan State. In 1993, Lutzke took over the Hornets girls track & field program. 

Known now for success in a variety of sports, Williamston during the first decade of the 2000s was most consistently revered for that MHSAA championship-caliber track & field success – and on the girls side, that superiority was rooted in part in the daily grind of January and February workouts often in the school’s hallways or later on an inside track that circles the gym.

Williamston track & fieldLutzke’s “Winter Warriors” got a T-shirt if they trained a certain number of days during the offseason. But that was just a small bonus for showing up. The memorable pay offs came three and four months later in league titles, Regional successes, MITCA titles and MHSAA Finals achievements.

“I’ve never quite had another experience in my lifetime that demonstrated that as much to me. Now I know moving forward in my life that if I expect to be great at something, or I expect to achieve results, I have to put the work in myself,” said 2019 graduate Jessica Robach, who that spring helped Williamston finish 10th at the MHSAA LPD2 Final running on a championship relay and placing third in long jump and as part of another relay.  “It’s really kind of a personal integrity and motivation thing that draws a direct parallel to my career in track and to when I really decided to push myself to be great – you put in the hours of work, and then it finally happens.

“That’s just something Mitch always reiterated to us: That you can have all the natural talent in the world, but a person who works hard is going to get to where they want to be.”

Robach began attending Williamston as a freshman, and didn’t feel entirely comfortable with her new school until track season came – when “everything fell together.”

That “expectation of excellence” wasn’t just about competing athletically, but striving to be a good person. The camaraderie he established, the way he made sure knowledge was passed down from the oldest athletes to the youngest, and again, the emphasis on work ethic overcoming talent, have continued to stick with Robach as she’s gone on to study at Western Michigan. 

“Mitch does things the right way. He believes in fair play, hard work, and preparation. He keeps an even keel with athletes – he doesn't get overly hyped when the team is successful or overly critical when the team struggles,” said assistant Ray Herek, who has coached with Lutzke since 2002 and taught with him since 2000. “I have learned a ton from watching him coach.  He does an excellent job of knowing how to approach each athlete – he reads people very well. He seems to know what makes each person tick, and finds the right words or coaching tips to help each athlete excel.”

A decade before Robach, Leanne Selinger was learning the same lessons. The team’s leadership award is named after her, and after running on two Finals-placing relays as a senior in 2010 she actually went on to serve as an assistant coach on Lutzke’s staff over the next four seasons while at college.

These days she’s working in supply chain management – a higher-pressure-than-usual field lately because of headline-making materials shortages in a number of industries. But what she learned from Lutzke about being flexible and prepared for the unexpected – in a track meet, maybe a scratch or an injury – while trying to lead people from different subgroups (sprinters, distance runners, jumpers, etc.) toward a common goal are among lessons she continues to keep front of mind.

“Even in my professional career now, I get a lot of feedback that I am not afraid to roll up my sleeves, get dirty,” Selinger said. “And I think that comes from some of my track history with Coach Lutzke and being able to go out, let’s go out and get the job done. If we have to do X-Y-Z, let’s go do it.”

Williamston track & field

Signing Off

After the couple moved from Illinois, Mitch Lutzke taught in Lansing for five years while coaching at Williamston, then came to Williamston to teach as well. He added coaching in basketball and cross country at the middle school and subvarsity levels, and immersed himself in the family’s new community. Karen Lutzke is now in her second tenure at Olivet College, coaching the women’s and men’s cross country and track & field teams, and the couple has sent three children through Williamston schools with two going on to run at the college level.

Mitch let the decision to retire sink in over this school year – he’s retiring from teaching as well – and eventually he had one more major objective to complete this spring. And he accomplished it. 
Williamston track & field wasn’t alone trying to dodge the wrenches thrown its way by COVID-19. But the effects certainly were noticeable.

When the 2020 spring season was suspended (to be ultimately canceled) late that March, Williamston’s teams had practiced four days – with 125 students (nearly 20 percent of the entire student body) signed up and hopes high with lots of talent and experience returning. When spring sports returned a year ago, Williamston was down to 49 athletes in the program – including only 16 girls – with that missing year of older athletes recruiting and mentoring the younger ones striking a massive blow. 

Williamston track & fieldThis spring, numbers didn’t return all the way to pre-COVID levels. But 90 athletes came out to put the program on solid footing for this season and whoever comes next.

“I've been amazed this year how many coaches have approached Mitch with words of appreciation and admiration for the job he has done at Williamston,” Herek said. “Anybody that has coached track and field knows that it is so hard getting kids outside in the spring when it is 40 degrees outside. It is difficult to know how to coach all of the events. It is difficult to know how to reach each athlete – there are so many different types of students that go out for track. But Mitch is as good as it gets.”

He’ll pour his energies into other things. He’s going to do some announcing of Olivet College events. He wants to write more. He’d like to visit baseball spring training for the first time. “Whatever he’s involved, in he’s very passionate about and gets things done,” Karen Lutzke said. “Maybe we’ll have a very clean house (and) the lawn will look wonderful after this.”

Although Williamston’s boys team won’t send anyone to the MHSAA Finals this weekend for the first time in a number of seasons, Mitch Lutzke will bring five athletes to Saturday’s Lower Peninsula Division 2 championship meet at Ada Forest Hills Eastern. They will combine to run two relays, in two more individual races and participate in one field event. 

Next year, he’ll cheer from the stands, maybe help move hurdles or clerk a meet if needed. Williamston has renamed its annual meet the Mitch Lutzke Williamston Track & Field Invitational, after all, and the namesake can’t be a no show.

“I say at the end of every year, if you've got more negatives than positives in what you did in track this year, then don't come out (next year). Because we're not changing. This is what we do,” Lutzke said. “I always tell the kids, I want you to support the program of track & field in the community you grow up in or you move to, that you put your kids in track & field because you thought it was a positive experience because of what you went through here in the program, and you just give back.”

Geoff Kimmerly joined the MHSAA as its Media & Content Coordinator in Sept. 2011 after 12 years as Prep Sports Editor of the Lansing State Journal. He has served as Editor of Second Half since its creation in January 2012, and MHSAA Communications Director since January 2021. Contact him at [email protected] with story ideas for the Barry, Eaton, Ingham, Livingston, Ionia, Clinton, Shiawassee, Gratiot, Isabella, Clare and Montcalm counties.

PHOTOS (Top) Williamston coach Mitch Lutzke talks things over with his boys team captains last week. (2) Lutzke stands with, from left, Diana Eidt, Cassidy Metzer, Mallory Metzer and Elizabeth Dutcher – who ran on school record-setting 400 and 800 relays in 2011. (3) Lutzke is recognized earlier this spring as Williamston’s annual meet is named after him. (4) Lutzke and assistant Ray Herek (kneeling) confer with their girls team. (5) The 2009 team dumps a cooler over Lutzke’s head to celebrate a Capital Area Activities Conference league meet championship. (Last week’s photos by Geoff Kimmerly; others courtesy of Williamston track & field and athletic department.)