South Haven Building on Memorable Run
By
Pam Shebest
Special for MHSAA.com
April 23, 2019
SOUTH HAVEN — When A.J. Jeffries injured her shoulder during basketball season, she was devastated, afraid that she would be watching her teammates instead of playing this softball season.
But the South Haven junior catcher opted for physical therapy instead of surgery and, although she missed tryouts in March, she was ready to take her place behind the plate for the Rams after spring break.
Senior Olivia Ellis, who goes by “Gracie,” did miss the first day of tryouts, but not because of injury.
The reigning Miss Bangor competed in, and won, the Miss Blossomtime pageant, quite a different experience than suiting up for a softball game.
Instead of wearing spikes for tryouts on March 11, Ellis was wearing dress shoes and walking across a stage.
“Being an athlete, I had to buy heels and I did horrible (walking in them),” she said, laughing. “I never wore heels before, and they hurt my feet.
“I didn’t know how to do makeup. It was bad.”
Coach Wilma Wilson said she knew Ellis planned to compete in the pageant.
“I actually have Miss South Haven (junior Liz Johnson) on my team as well,” Wilson said. “It’s one of those things where the kids who are usually good at a lot of things, do a lot of things.
“You have to try to be flexible. It can hurt. We missed her at our tournament (a week ago), but I also know that is going to be a great experience as well in the whole scheme of life.”
Wilson looks at sports as well as preparation for life, and South Haven softball has been living well over the last 10 months.
The Rams are the reigning Division 2 runners-up, making last season’s MHSAA Finals championship game – their first since 1979 – after finishing just third in their league. South Haven is off to a 5-3 start this spring, with five starters returning from that run including Jeffries and Ellis – although the team lost its entire infield to graduation and almost lost its catcher for this season.
Jeffries, who has played on the varsity team all three years, injured her labrum in the Rams’ first basketball scrimmage in December. The original diagnosis called for surgery.
“I was on vacation in Hawaii and she called me, bawling her eyes out,” Wilson said.
“I could hardly understand what she was saying because she said ‘I’m not going to be able to play this year. I have to have surgery, and I’m not going to be good.”
Wilson recommended a second opinion, which suggested physical therapy. Jeffries opted for that and finally was cleared to play after spring break.
“During a team meeting, she said she will not let one minute be taken for granted because basically when you think the opportunity is going to be taken away from you, then you can appreciate the opportunity so much more,” Wilson said of Jeffries.
“AJ is that dirty, gritty, sparkplug catcher,” she added. “If you watch her play, it’s joyful because she plays the game hard, like it should be.”
Still, Jeffries was surprised at the team’s run last year.
“I had no idea we’d be in the state finals (for the first time since 1979),” she said. “It was just an unexpected thing, but we just played game by game and took everything that we learned from each game and applied it to the next.
“This year, I expect to play every game like it’s our last game for our seniors and for everybody that came up because I think we can do really good things this year.”
Ellis, who is headed to Manchester College in the fall to play softball, is one of those seniors.
“My advice to the girls coming up is give it your all because in two months or so, I’m going to be done with high school and softball,” said the second baseman, who played left field a year ago. “I know I’m going to regret not putting in as much effort as I could have.
“We actually lost five from last year and three of them were starters pretty much since freshman year, so we lost a lot. We’re all, especially the returners, itching to be just as good as we were last year.”
Wilson said Ellis has grown a lot over the last four years.
“She’s one of those quiet freshmen who came up and didn’t play a lot those first couple years and then this year, she’s been a great leader on our infield and is very vocal in a positive way but (by) also letting the kids know when they have to step it up a little bit,” she said.
Joining Jeffries and Ellis among returning starters are junior Torie Loikits – who earned all-state honorable mention last season – junior Holli Dannenberg and sophomore Jordyn Holland. Holland led off and played center field in last season’s championship game against Escanaba, and Dannenberg played right field. Holland also hit the eighth-inning home run that pushed South Haven past top-ranked Stevensville Lakeshore in last season’s Regional Final.
Other seniors on this year’s team are Grace Lyons, Paeton Hayes, Jules Stuckum, Macy Jenks and Courtney Kelly. Juniors also include Mallory Dorow and Opal Eddy, and sophomore Lexi Young is another contributor.
While Wilson is listed as the head coach, “there are really three of us who are co-coaches,” she said.
Dave Gumpert pitched professionally with the Chicago Cubs, Detroit Tigers and Kansas City Royals from 1982-87. Mike Sweet has “coached softball for a long time and has been a head coach in different sports,” Wilson said.
All three coaches played sports at the high school and all three are members of the South Haven High School Athletic Hall of Fame.
“I think the three of us each bring something different to the program, but it helps us be cohesive and look at the game from different angles,” said Wilson, who was on the Rams team that lost in the Class B Semifinals in 1982, her senior year.
“Between the three of us, we bring a ton of experience.”
Wilson not only coaches, but also drives the bus to away games, “which is really nice because we have that time together with no interruptions with another team or a boys team,” she said. “When we do our ‘remember whens’ at the end of the year, almost all of our memories come from our time on the little bus.”
As noted above, Wilson looks at sports as a preparation for life. And South Haven sees this spring as another chance to build on last season’s dream run and the lessons learned along the way.
“One of my perspectives is that you’re probably going to end up involved in your life the same way you are involved in sports,” she said.
“You’re going to have to learn to get along with people, you’re going to have to learn to have some self-judgment, you’re going to have to make adjustments, you’re going to have to try to improve on things that you don’t do well in.”
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) South Haven catcher A.J. Jeffries fires the ball after a strikeout during last season’s Division 2 Final. (Middle) Gracie Ellis is crowned Miss Blossomtime last month. (Below) From left, South Haven coach Wilma Wilson, Ellis and Jeffries. (Middle photo by Don Campbell/St. Joseph Herald-Palladium.)
'Student-Athlete' Wheaton Combines Elite Academics with 3-Sport Success
By
Doug Donnelly
Special for MHSAA.com
May 9, 2023
She’s perhaps the definition of student-athlete.
Addison senior Kahlen Wheaton’s athletic career is winding down, but she’s leaving a legacy at the southern Lenawee County school, not so much for record-breaking sports statistics, but for her drive, determination, and classroom success.
This fall, she’ll enroll at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, one of the most exclusive colleges in the nation.
“They accept only 4 percent of the students who apply,” said Barbara Brown, Addison volleyball coach and a teacher in the district. “I have had her in my Advanced Placement English classes the last two years, and she has turned in some of the most impressive work I have received in my 27 years of teaching. She goes above and beyond in everything she does.”
Wheaton has played sports since grade school. At the varsity level, she’s played volleyball, basketball, and softball. She played three years of travel softball in high school and rarely missed summer workouts in the other sports.
Always competitive, Wheaton said she used sports to relax from the rigors of her academic calendar. She estimates she spends 3-5 hours a day on homework or taking college classes online.
“I definitely enjoy it,” she said about sports. “It’s nice to be able to hang out with people. I really like the game itself. It’s a stress reliever. I have that two hours a day where I can kind of chill.”
Wheaton will graduate Addison as its valedictorian. She has a long list of scholarships and academic awards, from being named the Cascades Conference Scholar Athlete to being named outstanding senior in mathematics, English and science at Addison.
“Kahlen is truly one of a kind,” Brown said. “Her work ethic is impressive, and I never heard a single complaint from her. Kahlen is a very quiet young lady, but she is also kind and encouraging to everyone.”
Wheaton, 17, finds time to study every chance she gets – on the bus, in-between games at volleyball and softball tournaments, and just about all her downtime.
“My teammates can attest to this,” she said. “On the bus to games, I’ll be doing my homework, or between games at softball tournaments. I try and stay off my phone when I get home so I can get all my work done.”
Wheaton is playing softball this spring for Addison, which has vastly improved over the last couple of seasons. Head coach Kelly Gahn said Wheaton is a leader who has spearheaded fundraising efforts for the softball program and serves as the team tutor in math.
“She is a completely selfless person,” Gahn said. “She leads by example, and as a senior she is still working harder than ever. In the weight room, on the practice field and on game day Kahlen is working to be better. She is giving to her teammates any help they might need.”
Brown said Wheaton missed part of her freshman year of volleyball due to a concussion she suffered during a softball game the preceding summer. Not playing a lot due to that injury didn’t deter her.
“She worked extremely hard to catch up and by the time she was a senior, she was one of my two middle hitters,” Brown said. “I knew every time she got a set, she would put the ball in play.”
Wheaton grew up in the Irish Hills area of southern Michigan, the daughter of Glen and Dawn Wheaton.
Getting into MIT wasn’t on her radar until her senior year started and she began comparing some of her college entrance exam scores with those of MIT applicants. She gave it a shot and applied.
“I really didn’t think I was going to get in,” she said. “I applied early, in December. When those decisions were released, I was deferred. I was planning on going to the University of Michigan, then on March 14 they released their regular decisions and I found out I got in. I was super surprised.”
Her being accepted goes beyond her 4.2 GPA and test scores, but she’s not entirely sure what set her apart. On her visit to Cambridge, she met students from across the country, most from much larger schools than Class C Addison. She will study engineering with a focus on sustainability. She’s been interested in green energy and solar panels for several years and feels that is the direction her career could be headed.
“I’ve always had a passion for the environment,” she said. “It was my sophomore year where I started thinking about a career in that field. I love math and science so I thought engineering would be a good path to go. Everything I’ve learned about it so far has seemed awesome.”
Her academic schedule hasn’t been set for the fall, but she’s peeked at the freshman year requirements.
“Physics, chemistry, biology, calculus, two humanities – that is my freshman year,” she said.
Whatever the class load, she’s prepared for it.
“I anticipate it being hard. I’m excited for the challenge. I’m going to have to adjust to school being harder,” she said.
“I want to get involved with on-campus sustainability clubs. Research is a big thing at MIT, so I want to get involved with a research project. Other than that, I just want to explore the Boston area and meet new people.”
While her athletic career is winding down, Wheaton takes a lot of lessons from volleyball matches, basketball games and time on the softball diamond.
“The main thing I’ve learned from sports is how to communicate with people,” she said. “I wasn’t close to the girls on my sports teams when I was starting high school. Learning how to communicate with people in different ways has made me more sociable, for example. I used to be way shyer than I am now. Being able to work as a team will be very useful in college and in the workplace.”
Doug Donnelly has served as a sports and news reporter and city editor over 25 years, writing for the Daily Chief-Union in Upper Sandusky, Ohio from 1992-1995, the Monroe Evening News from 1995-2012 and the Adrian Daily Telegram since 2013. He's also written a book on high school basketball in Monroe County and compiles record books for various schools in southeast Michigan. E-mail him at [email protected] with story ideas for Jackson, Washtenaw, Hillsdale, Lenawee and Monroe counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Addison’s Kahlen Wheaton readies for a pitch during a softball game this spring. (Middle) Wheaton begins her swing during a volleyball match. (Softball photo by Barbara Brown; volleyball photo by Mike Dickie.)