Kieran Whitlam is ready to take the next step — and more — in his track and field career.

The Lutheran North senior became a two-time Macomb County champion in the pole vault when he cleared 13 feet, 9 inches on a misty and chilly Wednesday at Fraser.

The Macomb County High School Invitational Track Meet of Champions was the sixth meet this season in which Whitlam cleared 13 feet. The only county vaulter to reach that plateau in 2025, Whitlam is focused on the state Division 2 finals that will be at Hamilton next week — and then he’ll start preparing to be a decathlete at Michigan State.

“I’m going to try,” he said. “I’m going to work very hard.”

Whitlam is developing his ability in the javelin throw. He has some experience in the discus throw, the long jump and sprints.

“I have to learn the hurdles from scratch,” he said.

Whitlam, who has vaulted 14-0 indoors, went 13-7 in an outdoor meet at Hartland on April 12 and reached 13-0 for the fifth time this season when he won the regional at North Branch on May 17.

He said “mental toughness” has been key to his success.

“I do a lot of reading, a lot of self study, taking information from psychology books,” he said. “That has helped me regulate my own mind.”

At the county meet, Whitlam vaulted 13-6 before clearing 13-9 and resetting the Lutheran North record.

“He had a good day,” said Wes Whitlam, Kieran’s coach and father. “It was a bad day to have a good day. The weather didn’t cooperate with us today, but he had a good day with the results. We’re very proud of him.

“He was in a good mindset. He made sure he was relaxed. He played with the weather. He came in hot; he made sure he was aggressive. We’re happy to end it on a high note.”

Wes Whitlam said Kieran’s time with the Inversion Vault Club last winter provided valuable experience.

“He’s been around people that are better than him, and that’s really catapulted him — no pun intended,” the father said.”He surrounds himself with high caliber athletes that are reaching the heights he’s reaching. That’s helped him get to this new level.”

Wes Whitlam didn’t accept credit for his son’s success.

“This is actually all him,” the elder Whitlam said. “He has worked really, really hard.

“He’s data driven. He has done a good job of coaching himself.”

Lutheran North, second overall, was the highest-finishing Division 2-3-4 team.

The Mustangs won the 4 by 400-meter relay with a team of Jack May, Vasilios Kirchhoff, Will Haskins and Roman Cody. They finished in 3 minutes, 31.96 seconds.

Dakota won the team championship behind senior hurdler Christopher Dotson and a pair of relay teams.

Dotson won both hurdles events, finishing the 110-meter race in 15.10 seconds and the 300 in 40.77.

Dotson’s heat for the 300 hurdles was run a second time after officials stopped the first attempt after some runners had gone about 100 meters.

“This was mainly a workout for me, so re-running it wasn’t a big deal,” said Dotson, the top seed for the longer event.

The Cougars scored 98.5 points, 22 more than Lutheran North.

Like girls champion Romeo, Dakota went undefeated in conference dual meets and then won division, regional and county meets.

“We all want to get better,” Dotson said. “I’ll miss a lot of these people. I love ‘em all, from the coaching staff to my individual teammates.”

James Nash, Tra Von Palmer, Micah Mikanga and Cory Franklin took Dakota to a first-place finish in the 4 by 100 relay. They finished in 43.75.

Palmer, Mikanga, Dotson and Franklin won the 4 by 200 relay in 1:30.38.

Dakota had top-three finishes in three other events.

Eisenhower runners won three events. Trey Richardson won the 100 in 10.86; Jack Barrette the 400 in 51.13 and Colden Gray the 800 in 2:00.60.

Richardson slipped out of the starting blocks and scraped his shoulder and back after doing a forward somersault when he fell after crossing the finish line.

But he couldn’t have been happier.

“I’ve never run sub-11,” Richardson said. “It feels really good to do it in the last meet of the season.

“(After the start) I really powered through it and did my best to hold my top-end speed.”

Tayden Redding of Michigan Collegiate continued his unbeaten streak in the high jump.

The senior jumped 6-2 to go seven-for-seven in 2025 meets. Last year, Redding won all 11 meets he entered, including the state Division 3 finals.

Other field event winners were Dominic Weatherly of L’Anse Creuse in the shot put (55-10); Cameron Gramzow of Anchor Bay in the discus throw (158-7) and Jonathan Carter of Utica in the long jump (21-6).

Michael Brown of Ford won the 200 in 22.41, and Harper Wesley of Utica and Xavier Solgot of L’Anse Creuse North won the 1600 and 3200 with respective times of 4:28.74 and 9:59.84.

“I love to compete,” Wesley said. “I just wanted to get the job done.”

Wesley, Charlie Curtis, Luke Morehouse and Gavin Frandle won the 4 by 800 relay in 8:19.52.

Carter, a senior who plans to walk on at Alabama A&M, didn’t start the long jump until last season.

“He’s really a great athlete,” Utica coach Megan Berry said.

Carter also ran the 100 and 200 and on the 4 by 200 relay this season.

“It’s too bad I can’t run him in five or six events,” Berry said. “It’s nice that I can move him around from meet to meet.”

Carter surpassed 21 feet in his two most recent meets, including a Division 1 regional where he qualified for the state finals. His county mark was a PR.”He’s been peaking at the right time,” Berry said. “We’re really happy about that.”

Fraser, the meet host for the first time, finished third with 52 points. Utica and Chippewa Valley completed the top five.

Romeo won the girls meet. South Lake, sixth overall, finished first among Division 2-3-4 teams.

Medals were awarded to the top eight in each event.

Coaches use results to determine first- through third-team all-county berths for boys and girls.

At Fraser: May 21, 2025

Boys team scores

Dakota 98.5, Lutheran North 76.5, Eisenhower 63, Utica 60, Michigan Collegiate 50, Anchor Bay 40, Chippewa Valley 32, Romeo 31.5, Fraser 28, L’Anse Creuse 28, Ford 23.5, Lake Shore 23, Stevenson 22.5, De La Salle 21.5, L’Anse Creuse 20, Warren-Mott 12, Lakeview 11, Cousino 8, Fitzgerald 3, Clintondale 3, Sterling Heights 2, Mount Clemens 2, Center Line 2, South Lake 1, Michigan Math and Science 1.

Medalists

Shot put: Dominic Weatherly, LC, 55-10. Tyler Torey, Dakota, 49-9.25. Anthony Presnell, DLS, 47-8.5. Michael Plater, Warren-Mott, 47-5.25. Cameron Gramzow, AB, 47-4.5. Caleb Stanberry, Fraser, 46-9.5. Dewayne Williams III, DLS, 46-2.75. Brendan Meehan, Dakota, 45-5.

Shot put adaptive: Luke Bowman, AB, 19-1. Johnny Osborn, Sault Ste. Marie, 17-8. Cooper Shain, LCN, 12-7.5.

Shot put middle school: Colten Pojeta, Kennedy, 13-8.

Discus: Cameron Gramzow, AB, 158-7. Dominic Weatherly, LC, 148-7. Andrew Starrs, Luth North, 146-0. James Taylor, LS, 141-1. Trevor Siemen, Romeo, 140-3. Brendan Meehan, Dakota, 139-0. Keegan Dunne, CL, 136-6. Jackson Sines, Fraser, 134-8.

High jump: Tayden Redding, MiC, 6-2. Myron Mayberry, MiC, 5-11. Alfonzo Egula, Dakota, 5-9. Gabriel Romano, Dakota, 5-6. Jarel Smith, Stev, 5-6. Greg Glaser, Luth North, 5-6. Deondra Mapp Jr. 5-6. Corey Holmes, LC, 5-6. Donovan Ray, LC, 5-6.

Long jump: Jonathan Carter, Utica, 21-6. Ryan Varner, Eis, 21-2.5. Eric Lindquist, Utica, 20-11. Tayden Redding, MiC, 20-2.25. Alfonzo Egula, Dakota, 20-1.5. Myron Hardy, Fitz, 20-0.5. Trent Westover, SH, 19-4. Greg Glaser, Luth North, 19-0.

Pole vault: Kieran Whitlam, Luth North, 13-9. Jackson Sines, Fraser, 12-0. Logan Morell, LS, 11-6. Ben Kapanka, Eis, 11-0. Nathan Wilson, Lakeview, 11-0. Bennett Ogilvy, Ford, 10-6. Anthony Yuquilima, Romeo, 10-6. Aaron Royster, Dakota, 10-6.

3200 relay: Utica (Charlie Curtis, Luke Morehouse, Gavin Frandle, Harper Wesley) 8:19.52. Lutheran North 8:22.96. Eisenhower 8:25.10. Dakota 8:29.31. Anchor Bay 9:01.78. Ford 9:07.77. Stevenson 9:10.72. Chippewa Valley 9:24.31. .

110 hurdles: Christopher Dotson, Dakota, 15.10. Jonah Konarz, AB, 15.18. Caleb Moore, MiC, 15.25. Sam Silva, Luth North, 15.90. Kobe Coverdill, LCN, 15.94. Kingston Magnotte, Stev, 16.10. Nolan Viviano, Eis, 16.14. Enrique Rembert, LC, 16.29.

100 dash: Trey Richardson, Eis, 10.86. Michael Brown, Ford, 10.91. Micah Walker, DLS, 10.93. Dallas Harris, Lakeview, 11.11. Dalton Drogosh, DLS, 11.15. Will Jones-Terrell, CV, 11.16. Chris Walker, MClem, 11.20. Donte Federson, MiC, 11.22.

100 adaptive: Cooper Shain, LCN, 17.06. Owen Moerdyke, South Lyon, 17.35. Johnny Osborn, Sault Ste. Marie, 24.95.

100 adaptive (middle school): Colten Pojeta, Kennedy, 29.06.

800 relay: Dakota (Tra Von Palmer, Micah Mikanga, Christopher Dotson, Cory Franklin) 1:30.38. Chippewa Valley 1:31.60. Utica 1:33.72. Michigan Collegiate 1:33.99. L’Anse Creuse 1:34.08. Lutheran North 1:34.43. Lake Shore 136.53. Michigan Math and Science 1:39.19.

1600: Harper Wesley, Utica, 4:28.74. Owen Perry, Romeo, 4:30.49. David Mann, Stev, 4:31.56. Lucas LaMilza, Dakota, 4:32.23. James Brickel, Romeo, 4:32.63. Joshua Macri, Luth North, 4:33.28. Luke Morehouse, Utica, 4:34.53. Noah Redman, Dakota, 4:34.84.

400 relay: Dakota (James Nash, Tra Von Palmer, Micah Mikanga, Cory Franklin) 43.75. Chippewa Valley 44.13. Lutheran North 44.15. Michigan Collegiate 44.29. L’Anse Creuse 44.68. Fraser 45.30. Utica 45.49. South Lake 46.13.

400 dash: Jack Barrette, Eis, 51.13. Gavin Shade, Romeo, 51.92. Gavin Frandle, Utica, 52.03. Roman Cody, Luth North, 52.61. Dylan Wheeler, LS, 52.89. Amare Smith, Warren-Mott, 53.23. Myron Mayberry, MiC, 53.30. Joseph Avolio, Luth North, 53.72.

400 adaptive: Cooper Shain, LCN, 1:22.88. Johnny Osborn, Sault Ste. Marie, 1:26.93. Owen Moerdyke, South Lyon, 1:27.90. Luke Bowman, AB, 1:29.61.

300 hurdles: Christopher Dotson, Dakota, 40.77. Kingston Magnotte, Stev, 41.18. Nolan Viviano, Eis, 41.69. Mario Carducci, CV, 42.34. Antonio Billings, Warren-Mott, 42.53. Kobe Coverdill, LCN, 42.53. Bryce Hill, Clint, 42.98. Sam Silva, Luth North, 43.17.

800: Colden Gray, Eis, 2:00.60. Charlie Curtis, Utica, 2:00.97. Brandon Ziehmer, AB, 2:01.18. Nicholas Milosavlevski, Dakota, 2:01.34. Cameron Martin, Fraser, 2:01.78. Brady Slone, Fraser, 2:01.94. Henry Terrien, Romeo, 2:02.61. Joshua Macri, Luth North, 2:02.92.

200: Michael Brown, Ford, 22.41. DaJuan Woodley, MiC, 22.70. Micah Mikanga, Dakota, 23.00. Dominik Kozlowski, Chippewa Valley, 23.03. Will Haskins, Luth North, 23.10. Isaac Miller, Luth North, 23.34. Dallas Harris, Lakeview, 23.49. Carlzell Huffman, Fraser, 23.57.

200 adaptive: Cooper Shain, LCN, 37.69. Owen Moerdyke, South Lyon, 37.81. Luke Bowman, AB, 39.93. Johnny Osborn, Sault Ste. Marie, 44.87.

200 adaptive (middle school): Colten Pojeta, Kennedy, 56.53.

3200: Xavier Solgot, LCN, 9:59.84. Braden Cinato, Cou, 10:02.05. Joshua Macri, Luth North, 10:02.91. Andrew Scheloske, Dakota, 10:08.32. Drew Pietraszkiewicz, Eis, 10:09.70. Marek Unger, Romeo, 10:12.35. Anthony Frei, Eis, 10:13.45. Jacob Giovannini, Dakota, 10:16.40.

1600 relay: Lutheran North (Jack May, Vasilios Kirchhoff, Will Haskins, Roman Cody) 3:31.96. Anchor Bay 3:32.58. Lake Shore 3:35.59. Fraser 3:41.76. Dakota 3:44.03. L’Anse Creuse North 3:45.15. Chippewa Valley 3:46.17. Clintondale 3:52.74.