By Jason Wesseldyk
Sports Editor
OTSEGO—Caleb Wesseldyk started his athletic career at Otsego High School by winning a team state championship in boys cross country. He finished it by earning All-State in diving.
For those achievements, among others, Wesseldyk was named the Male Senior Athlete of the Year for the OHS Class of 2025.
“Being named Senior Athlete of the Year was a big honor,” Wesseldyk said. “We didn’t know who was going to get it until (OHS athletic director John Kubiak) announced it at our awards ceremony, so I found out when everybody else did.
“I worked really hard at my running and diving when I was in high school, so to be recognized for that hard work with this award was really nice.”
Wesseldyk earned 12 varsity letters at OHS, with four each in cross country, swim & dive and track & field.
His interest in running began in elementary school, when he took part in the Mileage Club program. As part of that program, students can opt to run during two of their lunchtime recesses each week and accumulate miles during the school year.
“I had a lot of fun in Mileage Club,” Wesseldyk said. “So when I found out I could keep running by doing cross country in middle school, I just kept going.”
Wesseldyk started diving in sixth grade. Prior to that, he was involved in gymnastics at Branch Gymnastics in Kalamazoo, even earning a state championship in rings when he was in fifth grade.
Due to the time demands of gymnastics, he decided to give up the sport when he entered middle school and transitioned to diving.
“A lot of divers started out in gymnastics, so I thought I’d give it a shot,” he said. “The dive coach, Bonnie Wallace, came and watched me when I was in sixth grade and she ended up coaching me the next seven years.”
In addition to Wallace, high school swim coach Darryl Belton had a big impact on Wesseldyk both athletically and personally.
“Coach Belton is amazing,” Wesseldyk said. “He always believed in me and encouraged me. Weather I had a good meet or a bad meet, he always had something positive to say.”
One of those not-so-good meets came at the Division 3 State Finals Wesseldyk’s junior year. Entering his 11th and final dive of the competition, Wesseldyk was in eighth place—the final position for All-State.
But he had a “balk” on his final dive, which resulted in a deduction that dropped him to 12th place.
“That was tough day,” Wesseldyk said. “But as soon as he saw me, Coach Belton gave me a hug and said that wasn’t going to happen again next year. That I would be All-State as a senior.”
And Belton was right, as Wesseldyk finished sixth at the State Finals as a senior.
“Earning All-State was a big goal of mine,” Wesseldyk said. “To get that medal meant a lot to me. It showed me that even when I face challenges, I need to keep showing up and keep putting in the work.”
In addition to his All-State honors, Wesseldyk was a two-time conference champion in diving and currently holds the pool record for both six-dive and 11-dive competitions.
Being a varsity runner on the state-title-winning team as a freshman was among Wesseldyk’s favorite memories from cross country.
“That was the first state title for boys cross country, so that was cool,” he said. “Plus my older brother Colin was on the team, so sharing that with him is something we’ll always remember.”
Wesseldyk also won an individual Wolverine Conference title in cross country and as an individual regional runner-up. He has the third-fastest 5k time in school history.
In track, he was a multiple-time conference and regional champion. That including winning regional titles in the 1,600, 3,200 and 4×800 relay as a senior.
He was also Academic All-American in diving his senior year and Academic All-State in cross country for three years.
Wesseldyk will continue his running career on the cross country and track teams at Cornerstone University, where he plans to pursue a degree in design and innovation engineering.
