The stage was set at the 2022 Michigan D1 Regional meet. There were high winds, and even higher tensions. Track athlete and Holland Alumni, Levi Honderd lined up for the 200m dash. The starter prompts everyone into their starting position. There’s a long silence, the gun fires. Honderd shoots out into the first curve. With a lot at stake, and no room for error, Honderd needs to take first place. Blitzing around the curve, surpassing his competition in the final stretch, Honderd pulled away to take first and a first-class ticket to state. Honderd credits his training with Pillar Sports Performance as part of his success on the track.

   Emulating as the pillars to success, Pillar Sports Performance serves West Michigan athletes to improve athletic performance. Though considered to be training for track and field Pillar continues to help ALL athletes. 

   West Ottawa Coach Luke Currens, founder and owner of Pillar Sports Performance, is dedicated to changing athletes’ lives and making them the best version of themselves. “I wanted to create a gym for athletes to come and train but also get pushed mentally, physically, and spiritually,” Currens said. Currens believes in hard work and strives to push his athletes in all areas of life; however, he also believes in connecting with each and every athlete on a personal level. From giving life advice to athletic advice, Currens shows that he wants his athletes to be successful in their sport as well as successful in life.

   Pillar translates to success, and the message with Pillar is to develop your body and mind to support any endeavor, whether in life or on the field. “As a pillar can hold up a house, we also want to have our body be a foundation that holds up everything that we do from a strength aspect but also from a personal aspect,” Currens said. As an athlete for any sport, the body must be able to support itself, and one of Pillar’s goals is to ensure that the body, no matter the conditions, can hold up whether on the court, field, or track. 

  West Ottawa Jr. Garrett Mulder, a Pillar athlete, has been a recent addition to Pillar’s ever growing roster and believes Pillar has really changed his life. “I no longer am content with just being decent. Because of Pillar, I push myself harder than ever to achieve my goals,” Mulder said. The epiphany Mulder had is a big aspect of Pillar, helping athletes realize what they have in themselves and setting goals that require hard work. 

   The desire to do better and take their athleticism to the next level is what Currens wants his athletes to do. But not everyone initially believes in Currens training style.

   Since Currens is a track coach from West Ottawa, many believe that Pillar would by extension be a track oriented resource. However this isn’t the case. Pillar is for everybody no matter what sport they play. “I believe that speed is king and if you train speed it’s beneficial for every single sport… it helps build athletes’ capacity to be able to be more explosive and powerful with all their movements,” Currens said. 

   A fast and capable athlete is more versatile in any sport than an athlete who can’t keep up. Honderd can attest to that claim, not only was he a track athlete at Holland but he also played soccer and had success there. “Speed is that strength that makes you stand out in your sport… speed is connected with every sport,” Honderd said. Due to his exceptional speed, he would blaze past defenders and get wide open goals, it made him stand out and very few competitors could stop Honderd. 

   Pillar is welcoming to all those who want to get better and Currens is very open to those who give it a chance. Honderd believes Currens to be more than just a coach. “He was more than a coach, he was a friend… when I needed him the most, he had an answer to all my questions and gave me all the supplies I needed to be a successful sprinter,” Honderd said. Honderd has trained with Pillar since Pillar began and credits part of his success to it. After training with Pillar, he saw seconds drop off his times and went from a nobody to running track for Ashland University, a high D2 college in Ohio.

   “Pillar is for those who want to be successful,” Mulder said. If you want to be successful in your sport and in life then Pillar is the way to go. Pillar isn’t just a sports performance training, Pillar is a lifestyle. Pillar is a family.