Former Zeeland West varsity football coach John Shillito receives the Division 4 state championship trophy after the Dux defeated Detroit Martin Luther King 42-22 on Nov. 30, 2024. Shillito retired in January as the Dux head coach after 20 seasons and five state titles.
By Greg Chandler
Zeeland Record
The retirement of an iconic football coach and top-level performances by both the Zeeland High boys and girls swimming teams highlighted the top sports stories covered in the Zeeland Record in 2025.
On Jan. 7, John Shillito announced his retirement as varsity football coach at Zeeland West High School, ending a 41-year coaching career. Shillito established the Dux football program when he came to West in 2004 as a history teacher.
A year later, West debuted its varsity team, with immediate success, posting a 9-2 record. In their second season, in 2006, the Dux went 13-1 and won the state Division 4 championship with a 22-0 victory over Coopersville. It would be the first of five state titles for West under Shillito’s leadership.
Shillito’s retirement announcement came a little more than a month after the last of his five state championships, a 42-22 victory over Detroit Martin Luther King in the 2024 Division 3 title game at Ford Field in Detroit.
“It’s something we’ve been thinking about for a little while. It felt like for me personally, and for the program, that the time was right (to retire). I’ve been doing this a long time,” Shillito said in an interview with the Zeeland Record shortly after his retirement announcement.
In 20 seasons as coach of the Dux, Shillito led his teams to a record of 186-45, a winning percentage of .801. Overall, Shillito retired with 340 coaching victories, factoring in stints at Comstock Park, Muskegon Orchard View and East Kentwood before coming to Zeeland.
West didn’t have to go far to find Shillito’s successor. About a month after Shillito’s retirement announcement, West hired Jeff Bolhouse, who had been the junior varsity coach for the Dux for the past two decades, to take over the varsity program.
Bolhouse largely kept in place Shillito’s run-heavy Wing-T offense that was so successful all these years, but then added a new wrinkle during the course of the season, at times going to a single-wing attack where the running back would get a direct snap and run with the ball.
The Dux posted an 8-4 record in Bolhouse’s first season against a gauntlet of a schedule that included two state finalists (Hudsonville Unity Christian and Grand Rapids West Catholic). West upset a 9-0 Niles team in a first-round playoff game, then romped to a district final win over St. Joseph on the road. The Dux playoff run came to an end in the regional, when Lowell came from behind to beat West, 36-34.
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Swimmers Soar at State Finals
Both of Zeeland’s high school swimming teams brought home trophies during the year, as both the boys and girls teams finished fourth at the Division 1 state finals.
In March at the Holland Aquatic Center, Zeeland posted its best finish at the boys’ state finals since 2016. Zeeland entered the final event, the 400-yard freestyle relay, trailing Detroit Catholic Central by one point in the battle for fourth place and a trophy.
The team of Gibson Meyering, Hudson Kosten, Eli Elders and Owen Stevens delivered a time of 3:08.03, edging out the Shamrocks by 0.58 seconds.
Stevens, who now swims at the University of Louisville, won his fifth career individual state title with a record-breaking performance in the 500-yard freestyle, swimming a time of 4 minutes, 23.65 seconds. Stevens won the 500 free for the third straight year, breaking the previous Division 1 record of 4:24.84 that had been held by Nick Arakelian of Livonia Stevenson in 2014. His time was the second-fastest in state history.
“It’s awesome. I’ve been looking at that record for four years … I felt great during that race and I wasn’t going to back down,” Stevens said after the meet.
Stevens narrowly missed a second three-peat in the 200-yard individual medley, finishing second with a personal best of 1:48.38, but was edged out by 0.14 seconds.
Andrew Skaggs broke the Zeeland program’s longest-held record in the 100-yard breaststroke as he finished second in a time of 56.54. Skaggs’ time broke the previous record that had been set by Justin Barkel in 2006.
In November, the Zeeland girls swimming team matched the boys’ performance from eight months earlier, finishing fourth at the Division 1 meet at Oakland University in Rochester. It was Zeeland’s best finish at the girls’ finals since 2012.
Zeeland’s performance came without a single first-place finish. However, the team used its depth of place in the top four in eight of the 12 events, including all three relays, to pile up enough points to claim a trophy to take back to the west side of the state.
Zeeland had four runnerup finishes, two of them by Madison Ensing, who won the 50-yard freestyle and 100-yard freestyle at last year’s state finals. Ensing, who will swim next year at the University of Arizona, missed repeating in the 50 free by .01 second, even though she swam faster than when she won state last year.
Natalie Lauritzen finished second in the 200-yard freestyle in 1:51.39. Zeeland’s other runnerup finish came in the 200-yard freestyle relay, as Madison Ensing, Molly Meyering, Paige Davis and Ariyah Gettings swam a 1:36.47.
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Using the Portal
The transfer portal has become a fact of life in college athletics, and several Zeeland-area athletes made use of the portal to find new homes to continue their athletic careers this year.
West graduate and former Mr. Basketball finalist Merritt Alderink moved closer to home, transferring from Indiana State to Eastern Michigan. Alderink played in 13 games for the Sycamores as a freshman, averaging 2.5 points per game. In a social media post, he thanked his Indiana State coaches, teammates and the Terre Haute community for their support.
“The lessons learned, the effort to battle to get better alongside my teammates, and the genuine relationships will stay with me forever,” Alderink said.
As of Dec. 22, Alderink had played in 11 games for the Eagles, averaging 2.3 points per game. He scored a season-high six points Nov. 14 against Indiana University-Indianapolis and on Dec. 2 against Butler, and grabbed a season-high five rebounds Nov. 21 against Oakland University.
East graduate Nathan Claerbaut followed his coach, Andy Bronkema, about 40 miles east along M-20 from Ferris State University, where he played three seasons for the Bulldogs, to Central Michigan University, where he is currently the Chippewas’ starting center.
As a junior at Ferris, the 7-foot-tall Claerbaut ranked among the top shot blockers in NCAA Division II, rejecting 78 shots in 34 games.
Claerbaut has made an impact in the middle for CMU so far this season. Through Dec. 22, he was averaging 13.2 points and 6.8 rebounds per game. He has scored in double figures in 11 of the Chippewas’ 13 games and has had three double-doubles – 12 points and 14 rebounds against South Alabama Nov. 13, 20 points and 11 boards against Coppin State Nov. 14, and a career-high 31 points and 12 rebounds versus Olivet Dec. 17.
Former West softball standout Carly Sleeman entered the portal after a record-setting sophomore season at Central Michigan, where she earned All-Mid-American Conference honors. Sleeman is now at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, where she will play catcher for the Wildcats this spring.
Last spring, Sleeman broke the CMU single-season record for RBIs with 50 and tied the school record for most home runs in a season with 17, while starting every one of the Chippewas’ 51 games behind the plate.
Sleeman led the Chippewas last season in nearly every statistical category and was up among the MAC leaders in multiple offensive categories. She ranked second in the conference in both home runs (17) and RBIs (50). She also hit .373 and had a slugging percentage of .737 (ranking second in the MAC) and an OPS (on-base + slugging percentage) of 1.238 (second in the MAC). In addition, she threw out 16 runners attempting to steal.
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Other Highlights
• West graduate Carson Gulker accounted for 131 yards of offense as he helped Ferris State defeat Harding (Ark.) 42-21 Dec. 20 for its second straight NCAA Division II national championship and fourth in five years. Gulker, a redshirt junior, caught a 14-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter for the game’s final score. He caught three passes for 52 yards, rushed for 41 yards on seven carries and completed both of his pass attempts for 47 yards.
• East’s Emme Meyering broke the Chix softball program’s record for home runs in a career, finishing with 32 homers before graduating in May. Meyering will be playing softball this spring for Grace College of Winona Lake, Ind.
• West softball standout Madison Wyckoff played in the Michigan High School Softball Coaches Association Division 1 All-Star Game July 15 at Davenport University. She just missed a home run in her first plate appearance, doubling off the left-field wall.
Wyckoff will play this spring at Saginaw Valley State University, an NCAA Division II school.
• East varsity baseball coach Matt Sattler picked up his 300th career victory in early May as the Chix swept a doubleheader from Grand Rapids Covenant Christian. East finished second in the O-K Black Conference with a 14-4 league record and an overall mark of 21-11.
Zeeland Record
The retirement of an iconic football coach and top-level performances by both the Zeeland High boys and girls swimming teams highlighted the top sports stories covered in the Zeeland Record in 2025.
On Jan. 7, John Shillito announced his retirement as varsity football coach at Zeeland West High School, ending a 41-year coaching career. Shillito established the Dux football program when he came to West in 2004 as a history teacher.
A year later, West debuted its varsity team, with immediate success, posting a 9-2 record. In their second season, in 2006, the Dux went 13-1 and won the state Division 4 championship with a 22-0 victory over Coopersville. It would be the first of five state titles for West under Shillito’s leadership.
Shillito’s retirement announcement came a little more than a month after the last of his five state championships, a 42-22 victory over Detroit Martin Luther King in the 2024 Division 3 title game at Ford Field in Detroit.
“It’s something we’ve been thinking about for a little while. It felt like for me personally, and for the program, that the time was right (to retire). I’ve been doing this a long time,” Shillito said in an interview with the Zeeland Record shortly after his retirement announcement.
In 20 seasons as coach of the Dux, Shillito led his teams to a record of 186-45, a winning percentage of .801. Overall, Shillito retired with 340 coaching victories, factoring in stints at Comstock Park, Muskegon Orchard View and East Kentwood before coming to Zeeland.
West didn’t have to go far to find Shillito’s successor. About a month after Shillito’s retirement announcement, West hired Jeff Bolhouse, who had been the junior varsity coach for the Dux for the past two decades, to take over the varsity program.
Bolhouse largely kept in place Shillito’s run-heavy Wing-T offense that was so successful all these years, but then added a new wrinkle during the course of the season, at times going to a single-wing attack where the running back would get a direct snap and run with the ball.
The Dux posted an 8-4 record in Bolhouse’s first season against a gauntlet of a schedule that included two state finalists (Hudsonville Unity Christian and Grand Rapids West Catholic). West upset a 9-0 Niles team in a first-round playoff game, then romped to a district final win over St. Joseph on the road. The Dux playoff run came to an end in the regional, when Lowell came from behind to beat West, 36-34.
—————
Swimmers Soar at State Finals
Both of Zeeland’s high school swimming teams brought home trophies during the year, as both the boys and girls teams finished fourth at the Division 1 state finals.
In March at the Holland Aquatic Center, Zeeland posted its best finish at the boys’ state finals since 2016. Zeeland entered the final event, the 400-yard freestyle relay, trailing Detroit Catholic Central by one point in the battle for fourth place and a trophy.
The team of Gibson Meyering, Hudson Kosten, Eli Elders and Owen Stevens delivered a time of 3:08.03, edging out the Shamrocks by 0.58 seconds.
Stevens, who now swims at the University of Louisville, won his fifth career individual state title with a record-breaking performance in the 500-yard freestyle, swimming a time of 4 minutes, 23.65 seconds. Stevens won the 500 free for the third straight year, breaking the previous Division 1 record of 4:24.84 that had been held by Nick Arakelian of Livonia Stevenson in 2014. His time was the second-fastest in state history.
“It’s awesome. I’ve been looking at that record for four years … I felt great during that race and I wasn’t going to back down,” Stevens said after the meet.
Stevens narrowly missed a second three-peat in the 200-yard individual medley, finishing second with a personal best of 1:48.38, but was edged out by 0.14 seconds.
Andrew Skaggs broke the Zeeland program’s longest-held record in the 100-yard breaststroke as he finished second in a time of 56.54. Skaggs’ time broke the previous record that had been set by Justin Barkel in 2006.
In November, the Zeeland girls swimming team matched the boys’ performance from eight months earlier, finishing fourth at the Division 1 meet at Oakland University in Rochester. It was Zeeland’s best finish at the girls’ finals since 2012.
Zeeland’s performance came without a single first-place finish. However, the team used its depth of place in the top four in eight of the 12 events, including all three relays, to pile up enough points to claim a trophy to take back to the west side of the state.
Zeeland had four runnerup finishes, two of them by Madison Ensing, who won the 50-yard freestyle and 100-yard freestyle at last year’s state finals. Ensing, who will swim next year at the University of Arizona, missed repeating in the 50 free by .01 second, even though she swam faster than when she won state last year.
Natalie Lauritzen finished second in the 200-yard freestyle in 1:51.39. Zeeland’s other runnerup finish came in the 200-yard freestyle relay, as Madison Ensing, Molly Meyering, Paige Davis and Ariyah Gettings swam a 1:36.47.
—————
Using the Portal
The transfer portal has become a fact of life in college athletics, and several Zeeland-area athletes made use of the portal to find new homes to continue their athletic careers this year.
West graduate and former Mr. Basketball finalist Merritt Alderink moved closer to home, transferring from Indiana State to Eastern Michigan. Alderink played in 13 games for the Sycamores as a freshman, averaging 2.5 points per game. In a social media post, he thanked his Indiana State coaches, teammates and the Terre Haute community for their support.
“The lessons learned, the effort to battle to get better alongside my teammates, and the genuine relationships will stay with me forever,” Alderink said.
As of Dec. 22, Alderink had played in 11 games for the Eagles, averaging 2.3 points per game. He scored a season-high six points Nov. 14 against Indiana University-Indianapolis and on Dec. 2 against Butler, and grabbed a season-high five rebounds Nov. 21 against Oakland University.
East graduate Nathan Claerbaut followed his coach, Andy Bronkema, about 40 miles east along M-20 from Ferris State University, where he played three seasons for the Bulldogs, to Central Michigan University, where he is currently the Chippewas’ starting center.
As a junior at Ferris, the 7-foot-tall Claerbaut ranked among the top shot blockers in NCAA Division II, rejecting 78 shots in 34 games.
Claerbaut has made an impact in the middle for CMU so far this season. Through Dec. 22, he was averaging 13.2 points and 6.8 rebounds per game. He has scored in double figures in 11 of the Chippewas’ 13 games and has had three double-doubles – 12 points and 14 rebounds against South Alabama Nov. 13, 20 points and 11 boards against Coppin State Nov. 14, and a career-high 31 points and 12 rebounds versus Olivet Dec. 17.
Former West softball standout Carly Sleeman entered the portal after a record-setting sophomore season at Central Michigan, where she earned All-Mid-American Conference honors. Sleeman is now at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, where she will play catcher for the Wildcats this spring.
Last spring, Sleeman broke the CMU single-season record for RBIs with 50 and tied the school record for most home runs in a season with 17, while starting every one of the Chippewas’ 51 games behind the plate.
Sleeman led the Chippewas last season in nearly every statistical category and was up among the MAC leaders in multiple offensive categories. She ranked second in the conference in both home runs (17) and RBIs (50). She also hit .373 and had a slugging percentage of .737 (ranking second in the MAC) and an OPS (on-base + slugging percentage) of 1.238 (second in the MAC). In addition, she threw out 16 runners attempting to steal.
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Other Highlights
• West graduate Carson Gulker accounted for 131 yards of offense as he helped Ferris State defeat Harding (Ark.) 42-21 Dec. 20 for its second straight NCAA Division II national championship and fourth in five years. Gulker, a redshirt junior, caught a 14-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter for the game’s final score. He caught three passes for 52 yards, rushed for 41 yards on seven carries and completed both of his pass attempts for 47 yards.
• East’s Emme Meyering broke the Chix softball program’s record for home runs in a career, finishing with 32 homers before graduating in May. Meyering will be playing softball this spring for Grace College of Winona Lake, Ind.
• West softball standout Madison Wyckoff played in the Michigan High School Softball Coaches Association Division 1 All-Star Game July 15 at Davenport University. She just missed a home run in her first plate appearance, doubling off the left-field wall.
Wyckoff will play this spring at Saginaw Valley State University, an NCAA Division II school.
• East varsity baseball coach Matt Sattler picked up his 300th career victory in early May as the Chix swept a doubleheader from Grand Rapids Covenant Christian. East finished second in the O-K Black Conference with a 14-4 league record and an overall mark of 21-11.
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