Performance of the Week: Otsego's Liam Smith
March 19, 2026
Liam Smith ♦ Otsego
Senior ♦ Swimming
Smith capped his high school career Saturday with his fourth Lower Peninsula Division 3 Finals championship in the 100-yard butterfly and third in the 200-yard individual medley. He also set the meet record in the IM in the prelim and then again in the championship race at 1:47.38 – which also ranks among the top times in the race in Finals history, all divisions.
Smith’s winning time of 47.80 in the butterfly was the second-fasted in LPD3 Finals history, and he also swam on the eighth-place 400 relay and 10th-place 200 medley relay as Otsego finished ninth as a team. He also led the Bulldogs to a seventh place and two 11th-place team finishes during his career. He will continue next season at University of Florida, which is ranked No. 4 in Division I with the NCAA Championships at the end of this month.
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Previous 2025-26 honorees
March 12: Jack Sayen, Houghton hockey - Report
March 5: Devin Patrick, St. Clair Shores Lake Shore - Report
Feb. 26: Madison Nieuwenhuis, Plainwell wrestling - Report
Feb. 20: Sophie Ramey, Allen Park competitive cheer - Report
Feb. 13: Cam Ryans, Grand Rapids Northview basketball - Report
Feb. 6: Melanie Kolnitys, Midland Dow basketball - Report
Jan. 29: Stella Musialowski, Huron Valley United gymnastics - Report
Jan. 22: Baylor Perkins, Grand Blanc swimming - Report
Jan. 15: Delaney Vanier, Flint Kearsley bowling - Report
Jan. 8: Stevie Hall, Detroit Cass Tech basketball - Report
Dec. 18: Ethan Martha, Ishpeming Westwood basketball - Report
Dec. 11: Louis Smith, Three Rivers wrestling - Report
Dec. 4: Traverse Smith, DeWitt football - Report
Nov. 28: Elizabeth Eichbrecht, West Bloomfield swimming - Report
Nov. 20: Brady Kieff, Blanchard Montabella football - Report
Nov. 13: Ella Laupp, Battle Creek Harper Creek swimming - Report
Nov. 7: Hunter Eaton, Charlevoix cross country - Report
Oct. 31: Stephen Gollapalli, Lansing Christian tennis - Report
Oct. 23: Talya Schreiber, Pickford cross country - Report
Oct. 16: Avery Manning, Dexter golf - Report
Oct. 9: Brady Van Laecke, Hudsonville football - Report
Oct. 2: Sarah Giroux, Flat Rock volleyball - Report
Sept. 25: Sam Schumacher, Portage Central tennis - Report
Sept. 18: Kaylee Mitzel, Saline field hockey - Report
Sept. 11: Natasza Dudek, Ann Arbor Pioneer cross country - Report
Sept. 4: Kate Posey, Big Rapids golf - Report
(Photos provided by the Smith family.)
MHSAA Student Advisory Council Names Members from Class of 2027
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
May 5, 2025
Eight student-athletes who will be juniors at their schools during the 2025-26 academic year have been selected to serve two-year terms on the Michigan High School Athletic Association’s Student Advisory Council.
The Student Advisory Council is a 16-member group which provides feedback on issues impacting educational athletics from a student’s perspective, and also is involved in the operation of MHSAA championship events and other programming. Members of the Student Advisory Council serve for two years, beginning as juniors. Eight new members are selected annually to serve on the SAC, with nominations made by MHSAA member schools. The incoming juniors will join the group of eight seniors-to-be appointed a year ago.
Selected to begin serving on the Student Advisory Council in 2025-26 are: Nichole James, Detroit Edison; Mia McGregor, Mio; Camryn Siegers, Holland Christian; Lucy Weber, Fenton; Brody Hammer, Middleville Thornapple Kellogg; Sam Bentley, Ypsilanti Lincoln; Mason Mireles, Hartford; and Joey Smokevitch, Johannesburg-Lewiston.
Those eight new members were selected from 125 applicants, the second largest group of applicants in the 20 years of the council. The first Student Advisory Council was formed for the 2006-07 school year. With the addition of this class beginning this summer, members will have represented 148 schools from 53 leagues plus independent schools that do not play in a league. Combined, the new appointees have participated in 11 MHSAA sports, and six will be the first SAC members from their respective schools.
The Student Advisory Council generally meets eight times each school year, and once more for a 24-hour leadership camp. In addition to assisting in the promotion of the educational value of interscholastic athletics, the Council discusses issues dealing with the 4 S’s of educational athletics: scholarship, sportsmanship, safety (including health and nutrition) and the sensible scope of athletic programs. There also is a fifth S discussed by the group – student leadership.
This school year, the Council handed out championship trophies at Finals events, led sessions during four Sportsmanship Summits, provided feedback to the MHSAA Representative Council on proposed rule changes, worked on a mental health initiative, and wrote the script for a public service announcement on adult spectator sportsmanship that was included in broadcasts throughout the last school year.
The new additions to the SAC will join the Class of 2026 members who were selected a year ago: Itzel Albarran, Bronson; Harper Barnhart, Brownstown Woodhaven; Diamond Cook, Southfield Christian; Henry Ewles, Pontiac Notre Dame Prep; Cole Haist, Big Rapids; Frannie Keeley, Jenison; Trey LaValley, Romeo; and Ethan Stine, Bridgman.