GRAND RAPIDS — Lyla Mullins knew she might be in for a good track and field season in her first meet of the year, when she won both the shot put and discus in a four-team competition at Lutheran North on April 9.
“The first throws of the season set the tone of the way I wanted the season to go,” the recent graduate of Chesterfield Austin Catholic said. “I was very happy during the first meet because I hit two very big (personal records). I was excited to see what else I could do during the season, but it also set a higher standard of my performance.”
Mullins was able to live up to those standards throughout the spring, and capped off her senior year by finishing first in both events at the recent MHSAA Division 4 track and field state finals. In doing so, Mullins became her school’s first state champion in any sport.
She was one of 14 student-athletes from area Catholic schools to finish first in their events in state competitions earlier this month. In addition, the Dearborn Divine Child girls collected a team championship.
“Going into states I wasn’t very nervous; I was more excited because I had a chance at taking both home,” Mullins wrote via email. “Knowing I was ranked first and second in both events, I knew what I had to do. I couldn’t perform less than my potential and let myself down. When I threw the winning throw in disc, I felt extremely happy because this was the first time I qualified for states in discus and I won it!
“This is what I had prayed for so much and God helped me do it.”
Mullins’ state-winning discus throw of 120 feet, 0 inches might have surprised those who followed her career, as her best in her junior season was 74 feet, 9 inches. But in the interim, she had signed on with a local private throwing coach, Michael Hale, who had constructed a weight room in his home and turned his garage into a throwing den.
“The improvements I made coming into my senior year was (due to) hard work and dedication,” Mullins said. “The numbers weren’t immediate; you had to work for them.”
Although Mullins had been a previous regional champion in shot put, her measurements in that event showed a similar upward trajectory. She topped the state meet field at 39’ 6” — nearly seven feet farther than her junior-year best.
Over her high school career, Mullins played several sports, namely volleyball, golf, softball and basketball (including one season on Austin’s boys team when there wasn’t enough interest in forming a girls squad). But after a while, she found a home in the throwing ring.
“As much as I love the other sports I played, I have to say throwing shot and disc is my favorite because I only have to focus on myself, and the sport calms me,” she said.
Now, Mullins has a new goal: she wants her first collegiate shot put throw to be 40 feet, while competing on the University of Detroit Mercy track and field team next season.
More Division 4: Cardinal Mooney’s Lenn wins 1600 again
Mullins wasn’t the only Catholic League champion at the MHSAA Division 4 finals, held at Hudsonville. Marine City Cardinal Mooney senior Tyler Lenn successfully defended his title in the 1600-meter run, winning the four-lap race in 4:16.43.
“I’ll make kind of a bold statement: that title was probably my easiest to win,” the Grand Valley State University recruit said. “I went out there with more confidence than I had previously, and my confidence builds with my performances, and with two state championships under my belt already, I went to the line, I was confident and ready. There wasn’t one single moment in that race where I was panicking or doubting, and it was like, ‘Let’s get the job done.’”
Lenn led the Cardinals to a ninth-place team finish overall. He also placed fourth in the 800 run (1:58.62), and ran on the sixth-place 4x800 relay team with Isaac Zammit, Jack Luzynski and Evan Jacobs (8:21.37). Zammit also contributed a sixth-place finish in the 1600 (4:28.73).
Riverview Gabriel Richard placed 12th as a team, earning points in two relays and two individual events. Antonio Sobush, Derek Lesko, Joey Calhoun and Wisdom Nwadioha were second in the 4x200 (1:30.66) and third in the 4x100 (44.37). Lesko placed seventh in the 200 dash (23:34) and Kris Vigars was sixth in the 300 hurdles (41.90).
Royal Oak Shrine sophomore Abenezer Cerone ran fifth in the 1600 (4:26.57).
In Division 4 girls competition, Allen Park Cabrini’s Ava Teed was runner-up in the 3200 (11:07.65) and third in the 1600 (5:09.59). Teed, who will run at Central Michigan University next season, was All-State in both races for the fourth consecutive season.
Division 3: Lumen Christi, St. Mary Catholic Central place among top five teams
The Division 3 meet held at Kent City produced the highest concentration of champions from area Catholic high schools, due to victories in three of the four relays in the girls competition.
Jackson Lumen Christi’s Sydney Fazekas, Macy Fazekas, Samantha Schroeder and Madison Osterberg held their top seed in the 4x800 (9:35.93). With Layla Lopez replacing Schroeder in the 4x400, the Titans won that as well (4:09.68).
Osterberg, a Michigan State University recruit, was runner-up in the 800 (2:13.38) and third in the 1600 (4:59.76).
Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central won the 4x100 relay (49.80) with a team consisting of Mary Alice Lynch, Ashley Ruhlig, Jessica Costlow and Adela Illes. Individually, Ruhlig was second in the long jump (16’ 7.75”), Illes was runner-up in the 200 (26.04) and fifth in the 100 (12.59). SMCC’s Bella LaFountain added an eighth-place finish in the 1600 (5:12.42).
Team-wise, the Lumen Christi girls were fourth with 34 points; SMCC ranked fifth with 31.
Boys medal-winners from Catholic League schools included Grosse Pointe Woods University-Liggett’s Santino Cicarella, who was runner-up in the 200 (22.09) and fourth in the 100 (10.94). Lumen Christi’s Alex Pastoriza was six-thousandths of a second behind Cicarella in the 100, good for seventh place.
Division 2: Divine Child girls capture team championship
With big finishes in all six sprint events, Divine Child totaled 46 points and earned its first team title since 2013 in the Division 2 meet at Hamilton.
Freshman Aubrey Wilson led the charge by winning the 100 (12.33) and placing second in the 200 (25.15). Senior Meghan Koss also scored points in both of those races, finishing fourth in the 100 (12.54) and seventh in the 200 (26.13). Junior Kathryn Kurtinaitis was runner-up in the 400 (57.92).
Wilson, Olivia Velazquez, Kurtinaitis and Koss crossed the line second in the 4x200 (1:42.17). Wilson, Velazquez, Aleesia Parker and Koss placed fifth in the 4x100 (49.99). Samantha Black, Kirsten Koss, Parker and Kurtinaitis added an eighth-place finish in the 4x400 (4:07.93).
“It means a lot — it’s great to end on that note and get that state title back,” Kirsten Koss said. “Honestly it wasn’t a huge surprise, because the team had incoming freshmen and a lot of young talent. We knew what we had to do: work hard at every practice and meet, so it wasn’t like a huge surprise to us that we won. The sprints, for sure, definitely helped us out, so props to our sprinters.”
Also among Division 2 girls, Ann Arbor Fr. Gabriel Richard’s Cora Williams placed sixth in the shot put (38’11”) and Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood’s Lynzi Evans was eighth in the high hurdles (16.11).
For the boys, Pontiac Notre Dame Prep’s Zach Mylenek was state champion in the 400 (48.49) and runner-up in the 200 (21.92). The Purdue recruit powered the Fighting Irish to a fifth-place team finish overall. He anchored the seventh-place 4x400 squad with Mark Galle, Samuel Phillips and Isaak Brook (3:27.38). Joseph DeCasas added a third in the long jump (21’ 5.25”).
Divine Child’s boys put up a trio of eighth-place finishes: Colin Murray medaled in the 1600 (4:17.99) and 3200 (9:19.69) while Bryce Borgus did likewise in the long jump (21’ 0”).
Toledo Central Catholic junior Nyla King was the Division II girls state champion in Ohio for the 100 dash for the second season in a row.
Division 1: Close calls for Catholic Central, De La Salle, Mercy
There were no Catholic event winners at the Division 1 finals at East Kentwood, but several athletes were in the hunt.
Farmington Hills Mercy’s Milena Chevallier was runner-up in the high jump (5’ 9”) after winning the event in 2023. Teammate Taryn Henderson placed eighth in the 100 dash (12.65).
Warren De La Salle’s 4x100 relay team of Micah Walker, James Wallace, Dalton Drogosh and Walker Neff ran 41.64 — the sixth fastest in state history — but had to settle for second, one step behind Holland West Ottawa (41.35). In the 100 dash, Wallace was third (10.96) while Walker was fifth (11.02) as the Pilots tied for 11th as a team.
Zacchaeus Brocks scored all 10 of Detroit Catholic Central’s points. He was runner-up in the high hurdles (13.91) and seventh in the intermediate hurdles (38.89).
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