Performance of the Week: Rochester's Aubrey Hillard
February 7, 2025
Aubrey Hillard ♦ Rochester
Senior ♦ Competitive Cheer
Hillard is finishing a highlight-filled four-year varsity career with a leading role for one of the most accomplished competitive cheer programs in state history. She and her teammates took a significant step toward another big finish Saturday by clinching a third-straight Oakland Activities Association Red championship. The top-ranked Falcons posted a score of 790.26 in their final league competition, edging No. 2 Stoney Creek by 52 hundredths of a point, with No. 3-ranked Adams finishing third.
Rochester finished third to those two at the 2024 MHSAA Division 1 Final after winning the 2023 Division 1 championship – with Hillard making the all-state second team that season as a sophomore. Primarily a gymnast growing up, Hillard turned her focus fully to competitive cheer as a freshman in 2022 and helped Rochester to a fifth-place Finals finish that season. Hillard also earned academic all-state last year as a junior.
@mhsaasports 📣POW: Aubrey Hillard #competitivecheer #leaguechamps #3peat #part1 #highschoolsports #tiktalk #interview #performanceoftheweek #mistudentaid #fyp #MHSAA ♬ original sound - MHSAA
@mhsaasports 📣POW: Aubrey Hillard #caitlynclark #paigebueckers #veggies #100grand #redheart #part2 #performanceoftheweek #mistudentaid #fyp #MHSAA ♬ Monkeys Spinning Monkeys - Kevin MacLeod & Kevin The Monkey
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MHSAA.com's "Performance of the Week" features are powered by MI Student Aid, a division within the Department of Lifelong Education, Advancement, and Potential (MiLEAP). MI Student Aid encourages students to pursue postsecondary education by providing access to student financial resources and information. MI Student Aid administers the state’s 529 college savings programs (MET/MESP), as well as scholarship and grant programs that help make college Accessible, Affordable and Attainable for you. Connect with MI Student Aid at www.michigan.gov/mistudentaid and find more information on Facebook and Twitter @mistudentaid.
Previous 2024-25 honorees
Jan. 31: Wyatt Spalo, Reed City wrestling - Report
Jan. 24: Olivia Flynn, Harbor Springs basketball - Report
Jan. 17: Levi Rozema, Holland Christian swimming - Report
Jan. 10: McRecco McFadden, Burton Bentley basketball - Report
Dec. 18: Nash Leonard, Bay City Western hockey - Report
Dec. 11: Blake Cosby, Dundee wrestling - Report
Dec. 4: Keaton Hendricks, Zeeland West football - Report
Nov. 29: Kate Simon, East Grand Rapids swimming - Report
Nov. 22: Ella Kokaly, Essexville Garber volleyball - Report
Nov. 15: Caroline Bryan, Grosse Pointe South swimming - Report
Nov. 8: Kaylie Livingston, Whitmore Lake cross country - Report
Oct. 25: Oliver Caldwell, Grand Rapids West Catholic tennis - Report
Oct. 18: Alex Graham, Detroit Cass Tech football - Report
Oct. 11: Victoria Garces, Midland Dow cross country - Report
Oct. 4: Asher Clark, Bay City John Glenn soccer - Report
Sept. 26: Campbell Flynn, Farmington Hills Mercy volleyball - Report
Sept. 19: TJ Hansen, Freeland cross country - Report
Sept. 12: Jordan Peters, Grayling soccer - Report
Sept. 6: Gabe Litzner, Sault Ste. Marie cross country - Report
Aug. 30: Grace Slocum, Traverse City St. Francis golf - Report
(Photos courtesy of the Rochester athletic department.)
Performance of the Week: Battle Creek Harper Creek's Ella Laupp
November 14, 2025
Ella Laupp ♦ Battle Creek Harper Creek
Sophomore ♦ Swimming
Laupp won the 200-yard freestyle in a school record 1:56.54 and the 500 in 5:21.86, and also swam on winning 200 medley (1:55.26) and 400 freestyle (3:44.79) relays as Harper Creek won the Southwestern & Central Conference championship meet – locking up the program’s first league title since 1983. Laupp’s 200 free time ranks 30th on the state’s “top times” list for all divisions and fourth in Lower Peninsula Division 3 this fall.
After finishing fifth in the 200 and eighth in the 100 freestyle at the MHSAA LPD3 Finals as a freshman, Laupp should score well again at next weekend’s meet; her best 500 time this season (5:15.84) ranks third on the LPD3 top times list and 29th statewide, and she also ranks sixth in LPD3 with a top 100 free of 53.53. Laupp first broke the school’s 200 freestyle record as a freshman and also owns the school record in the 500 after earlier this season surpassing the previous best posted by Lindy Maroney in 1987; Maroney went on to international fame and swam solo across the English Channel in 1991.
@mhsaasports 🏊POW: Ella Laupp #swimming #harpercreek #highschoolsports #performanceoftheweek #MHSAA ♬ Bright and fun upbeat pops, Kids, Animals, Pets, Fun, Cute, Happy, Playful, Upbeat(1465232) - SAKUMAMATATA
@mhsaasports 🏊POW: Ella Laupp #funfacts #tiktalk #performanceoftheweek #highschoolsports #MHSAA ♬ Girly and cute synth pop - SAKUMAMATATA
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MHSAA.com's "Performance of the Week" features are powered by MI Student Aid, a division within the Department of Lifelong Education, Advancement, and Potential (MiLEAP). MI Student Aid encourages students to pursue postsecondary education by providing access to student financial resources and information. MI Student Aid administers the state’s 529 college savings programs (MET/MESP), as well as scholarship and grant programs that help make college Accessible, Affordable and Attainable for you. Connect with MI Student Aid at www.michigan.gov/mistudentaid and find more information on Facebook and Twitter @mistudentaid.
Previous 2025-26 honorees
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 submitted by the Laupp family.)