By BUTCH HARMON
Who said that the days of the multi-sport athlete have passed?
Try telling that to the Meridian boys track team. In this age of specialization, it is a testament to high school athletes playing multiple sports. Meridian’s multi-sport athletes showed just how successful cross training can be, as they captured the MHSAA Division 3 boys’ track and field championship at Comstock Park.
“With the athletes we had coming, I thought we had a good chance at a top three finish, if everything went right,” coach Dave Pettyplace said. “We brought six, and five scored for us.
Those athletes included senior Jacob Wenzlick, who is also a member of the baseball team. While Wenzlick’s baseball teammates were busy at home winning a district baseball title, Wenzlick was helping the track team win the state championship.
Wenzlick ran on three winning relay teams for the Mustangs. “This was just nuts,” he said. “We didn’t even win our conference or our regional. To win a state championship is incredible.”
Wenzlick was not the only assist the track team received from the baseball team. Senior Dan Johnson, who played baseball last year, broke his wrist before the baseball season this year. Unable to play baseball, he decided to come out for the track team. At the finals, he found himself part of the 1,600-meter relay team that not only won a state title, but also set a new state record in the process.
“This is my first year of running track, and it was awesome,” Johnson said.
While the track team received an assist from the baseball team in Wenzlick and Johnson, it received an even bigger assist from the Meridian basketball team. Seniors Kevin Scheibert and Jacob Ham are first-year runners on the Mustang track team. Members of the basketball team, they were busy during previous springs playing travel basketball to prepare for the next season. Knowing that their high school basketball careers were finished, Pettyplace talked the duo into coming out for the track team.
Scheibert and Wenzlick stepped into vacancies on the 400-, 800-, and 1,600-yard relay teams and helped all three to win state championships that were key to Meridian’s success as a team.
“We had three guys who were in their first year running track,” Pettyplace said. “They were part of three relay teams that took first place and that was a big key.”
Another big key was a fifth-place performance from Ham in the 200-meter dash. Seeded eighth, Ham told a teammate that he was going to take it easy in the 200 to save himself for the 1,600 relay at the end. His teammate let him know that those points in the 200 would be key for the team, and Ham changed his game plan.
“Those points were pretty important,” Ham said. “I had the mile relay after that, and I wasn’t going to try very hard, but when I was told we needed those points I ran as hard as I could and finished fifth, and it helped us win the state. This is just incredible. It is the most incredible feeling I’ve ever had.”
Ham would not have had the chance to compete for a state track title if not for the recruiting efforts of Pettyplace. “Coach has always talked to me about coming out for track,” Ham said. “This spring I was done with basketball and decided to come out. I’m really glad I did.”
Just like his basketball teammate Scheibert. “I’m at a loss for words,” Scheibert said. “This was the first year for the two of us. We just came out for the fun of it, never realizing we would get in this position.”