LocalSportsJournal.com

West Michigan’s first-ever Varsity Blues Athletic Sports Awards Show is hitting the Frauenthal Theater’s stage in downtown Muskegon on Feb. 17 at 6 p.m.

Nick Bultema was All-State in soccer, basketball, and baseball for Western Michigan Christian.

The evening celebrates the excellence of the incredible student-athletes from the Greater Muskegon area.

Attending Saturday’s awards can happen through purchasing tickets at the Frauenthal’s box office in downtown Muskegon or by click here to buy online. 

Coaches, athletic directors and even some area sports enthusiasts have consulted with LSJ staff members to come up with nominations for the best athletes in each sport for the current school year.

The inaugural event’s Nick Bultema 3-Sport Athlete Award has three nominations.

Ryann Robins, Holton
Kyle Stratton, Whitehall
Jaxson Whitaker, Reeths-Puffer

Robins has been a leader at Holton all four years, playing volleyball, basketball and softball. She is president of Student Council, a member of the National Honor Society, a Superintendent Advisory Board Member and College Ambassador.

Stratton is no stranger to West Michigan sports fans as he was the starting quarterback for the Vikings this past season and was a starter since his sophomore year. He is also starts on the basketball squad. In baseball, Stratton has been a starter since his freshman year. He is a National Honor Society member and a member of the Peer Assistant Program.

Reeths-Puffer’s Whitaker is an Academic All-State basketball player, a leader on the baseball team as well as the football squad. The senior is a member of the National Honor Society, belongs to the IMPACT Leadership Group, PALS, Mentoring Program, is a Peer Tutor, part of the RP Student Leadership, and a youth basketball coach in his spare time.

Why did we pick Nick Bultema’s name for this award?

The grandson of Muskegon High School three-sport standout, Harry Bultema, Nick Bultema was a 1999 graduate of Western Michigan Christian where he earned All-State honors in soccer, basketball and baseball.

The three-sport All-State honors is a feat that had not been done since Muskegon High’s Bennie Oosterbaan did it in football, basketball and baseball during his 1922-23 season.

Bultema was tenacious on all of the playing surfaces at WMC. His 1999 Warrior basketball squad won the Class D basketball state championship when he sank the game-winning free throw with no time remaining on the clock at Michigan State University’s Jack Breslin Student Events Center.

Bultema helped lead WMC’s soccer teams to state runner-up finishes in 1998 and 1999. In baseball, the left hander was an intimidating pitcher at 6-3. He went on to star at Muskegon Community College and moved on to Grand Valley State University.