sun and news 4-17-2021

The Sun and News, Saturday, April 17, 2021/ Page 13

CHS boys’ lacrosse team has four wins in first five matches

Brett Bremer

Sports Editor

The Caledonia varsity

boys’ lacrosse team is off to a

4-1 start following a 14-

win over Hudsonville at

Scotland Yard Thursday eve-

ning.

The Fighting Scots opened

the year with three victories

prior to Spring Break, over

Grandville, Harper Creek

and Byron Center, but suf-

fered their first defeat of the

season in their return Tuesday

at Forest Hills Eastern.

The Caledonia boys don’t

expect to suffer too many

defeats this spring as they

chase a conference title and

look to be ready to make a

run at a regional champion-

ship by the end of the season.

Caledonia head coach

Richard Hogle likes the cre-

ativity his boys have dis-

played offensively early this

season.

“These players have

played together a long time

and have very good chemis-

try,” Hogle said.

That proves important on

the other end of the field as

well where he has a stout

defense filled with seniors.

The top returnees for the

program include senior

attackers Jobe Anderson,

Brady Herrema and Caleb

Sprague, senior middie’s

Griffin Poll, Chris Thomas,

Carson Vanderhoff, Dylan

Hall and Tanner Barry. Barry

will be the FOGO guys for

the Scots. The defensive

group is led by senior Jack

Buchmann, Reid Goosen,

Mason Klotz and Cam

Downer. Ethan Riley and

Goosen will both likely see

time as the team’s long stick

midfielder.

Coach Hogle is also happy

to add senior defender

DeAbian Arens, junior mid-

die Scott Singstock, junior

attacker Dylan Olsen, junior

defender Josh Fedewa and

freshman attacker Jack

Vaness to the group this sea-

son.

There are fine skills to

work on, like there would be

for any team that missed a

full varsity season. Hogle

said his guys need to work

on their shooting and their

ability to scoop ground balls.

Caledonia will return to

action Tuesday at Forest

Hills Northern and then will

play Forest Hills Central in

Caledonia Wednesday. The

Scots are home Friday, April

23, as well to take on Zeeland

West. Caledonia will get a

rematch with Forest Hills

Eastern April 27.

TK has a few ladies working

towards spots in state finals

Brett Bremer

Sports Editor

Thornapple Kellogg’s

Paige Zellmer closed out her

sophomore season in 2019 by

clearing the bar at 9 feet 3

inches in the pole vault at the

Division 2 Lower Peninsula

Track and Field Finals.

She’s working her way

back up to that bar now after

the year without a track and

field season.

Zellmer cleared the bar at

8-0 in the Trojans’ first meet

of the season, Tuesday

against Cedar Springs in

Middleville.

TK head coach Maggie

Wilkinson, who is entering

her fourth year leading the

program, said she has a hand-

ful of girls with goals of fin-

ishing this 2021 season at the

state finals.

So far she has seen that her

girls have great attitudes, are

great workers and are the

type to build each other up.

Leading the list of returnees

from the 2019 team are junior

distance runner Jessica

Durkee, senior hurdler Kylie

Smith and junior sprinter

Anna Benedict, who is also

one of the team’s top per-

formers in the long jump. In

the throws, senior Dalace

Jousma is looking to round

into form as she recovers

from an injury.

Durkee, who was top ten

in the OK Gold Conference

in 2019 in the 1600-meter run

and the 3200-meter run, will

be joined in the distance

group by a couple of cross

country teammates in sopho-

mores Maddie Nagel and

Lucy VanDemark.

TK is also happy to wel-

come a number of other

youngsters to the varsity

team. That list includes fresh-

man sprinter Kristen

Offringa, sophomore hurdler

and sprinter Lyndsey Velting,

sophomore thrower Alana

Compton, junior thrower

Cassidy Dole and junior

Trysta Hilton in the sprints

and hurdles.

Hilton and Smith were

both top six in the hurdles at

the 2019 OK Gold Conference

Championship.

“We are taking one day at

a time and focusing on find-

ing what works for us and

personal improvements,”

Wilkinson said. “We are just

so happy to be outside and

running. I am really enjoying

this team and their work

ethic.”

TK opened its season with

a tough loss to Cedar Springs,

a new OK Gold Conference

team, Tuesday. The TK ladies

were schedule to return to

action April 16 at the Wayland

Invitational and will continue

the OK Gold Conference sea-

son at Forest Hills Eastern

Tuesday where they will face

the host Hawks and Catholic

Central Cougars.

TK falls to Knights in first games of 2021

Brett Bremer
Sports Editor
Runs were tough to come
by as the Thornapple Kellogg
varsity baseball team opened
the 2021 with a pair of losses
to visiting Kenowa Hills in
Middleville Tuesday.
Kenowa Hills juniors
Justin Stulpe and Trevin
Laming combined to shut out
the Trojans’ 2-0 in the opener
of their OK Gold Conference
doubleheader, and the
Knights followed that up
with an 8-2 win in game two.
Stulpe got the start for the
Knights in game one and
went five innings, striking
out ten and walking two. He

allowed just three singles –

the only three hits of the

game for the Trojans. Laming

came on for the two-inning

save, striking out five and

walking one.

TK got a solid perfor-

mance from its senior starter

Levi VanderHeide who went

6.1 innings. He allowed

seven hits and walked five,

but TK held the Knights to

just the two runs over that

time. He struck out four.

Carsen Burbridge came on

to get the final two outs for

TK.

Carter Stahl, Jonah

Summerhays and Nolan

Dahley had the three TK sin-

gles in game one.

The Knights scored a run

in the third inning and then

tacked on an insurance run in

the top of the seventh.

Game two was a five

inning affair in which the

Knights took advantage of

six walks and two Trojan

errors to score eight runs on

just three hits.

Stahl, Summerhays,

VanderHeide and Kaiden

Pratt had the four TK singles

in the game two loss. Stahl

had an RBI. Alex Bonnema

and Burbridge scored the

two TK runs. Bonnema

walked twice out of the lead-

off spot.

The two teams will fin-

ished their conference series

with the Knights taking an

8-2 win Thursday afternoon

in Grand Rapids.

TK comes into the season

with about as much varsity

baseball experience as any

team. Bonnema, Stahl,

Dahley, Pratt, VanderHeide,

Reese Garbrecht and Sam

McKeown all saw time on

the varsity as sophomores in

2019, with VanderHeide and

Bonnema seeing varsity

times a freshmen as well.

Bonnema will find a spot

in the middle infield when he

is not pitching, with Dahley

playing innings at third base.

VanderHeide and McKeown

will spend time in the out-

field when they’re not on the

mound. Stahl returns behind

the plate for TK, with varsity

newcomer Summerhays

expected to get some time at

catcher too.

TK is slated to be at the

Barry County Invitational in

Hastings today (April 17)

and will play its OK Gold

Conference series with Cedar

Springs in the week head,

traveling north for two ball-

games Tuesday before a sin-

gle game in Middleville

Thursday afternoon.

Levi VanderHeide

Paige Zellmer

Trojans have been putting in

offseason track work to be ready

Brett Bremer

Sports Editor

The TK boys did what

they could to prep for a 2021

varsity track and field sea-

son.

Thornapple Kellogg head

coaches Chad Ruger and

Matt Wonders are happy to

have a good group of seniors

leaders back who were good

competitors as sophomores

in 2019, the last time there

was a high school track sea-

son in Michigan.

That group includes

Cameron Gavette and Wayde

Berry in the hurdles, distance

runner Brennan Lutz and

sprinters Logan Caruso and

Wyatt Helzer. Senior Blake

Monroe looks to be the

team’s top thrower this

spring.

There are a handful of

solid athletes back who com-

peted as freshmen as well for

TK in 2019, and the Trojan

program continues to add a

few athletic seniors each

spring.

“Our kids have been show-

ing up wonderfully through-

out the winter,” Ruger said.

“I don’t know that they have

missed very many days of

our offseason training. They

have been running. They

have been in the weight

room. Most of the kids, espe-

cially those seniors, haven’t

missed very much since we

have been able to be in

school.”

That includes turning in

workout reports at the times

the high school has had to go

virtual.

That group of returning

juniors that the TK coaches

are looking forward to good

things from includes sprinter

Jonah Schilthroat, distance

runner Howie Frizzell and

Camden Reynolds and hur-

dler Jacob Pykoz.

Freshman Jaxon Sias is

one of the quickest newcom-

ers to the program and he

could contribute points in the

jumps as well as senior

Austin VanElst.

The Trojans opened the

season Tuesday, falling in a

tough dual with new OK

Gold Conference foe Cedar

Springs. TK was scheduled

to be a part of the Wayland

Invitational Friday and will

travel to Forest Hills Eastern

April 20 for a conference

double dual with Forest Hills

Eastern and Grand Rapids

Catholic Central.

Making any kind of con-

ference predictions in the

preseason has been near

impossible after the missed

2020 season. A lot of changes

and a lot of growth happen in

two years.

“Most of these kids that

we’re going to compete

against were sophomores last

time, just like our kids.

Everybody is going to have

changed,” Ruger said in the

preseason. “I think every-

body is probably wondering

what that first meet is going

to look like.”

Brennan Lutz