DeBoer Looks to Steer Sailors to Breslin
February 18, 2016
By Dean Holzwarth
Special for Second Half
CUTLERVILLE – Jenn DeBoer remembers the thrill of playing in the MHSAA Class B Final when she was a sophomore.
The South Christian standout would like nothing better than to revisit that feeling in her final season.
DeBoer, a 5-foot-7 point guard, is currently leading the Sailors toward what they hope is another extended postseason run.
South Christian is 16-1 with three games remaining in the regular season before Districts tip off in March.
“That was a lot of fun, and obviously it was different because I was a sophomore and I knew that I had two more years after that,” DeBoer said. “But this year it’s a big goal for all of us seniors. We’ve talked about how we want to get back there and end our senior season strong.”
Led by DeBoer and a cast of veteran senior teammates, the Sailors have displayed the potential to make some noise in the MHSAA tournament.
They’re seeking an Ottawa-Kent Conference Gold title and currently own a perfect 7-0 mark in league play. Their championship hopes hinge on upcoming showdowns with Wayland and Grand Rapids Catholic Central.
“It’s been a blast so far,” DeBoer said. “I couldn’t ask for a better senior season. Our team chemistry is so amazing, and the other seniors and I get along so well. Obviously, winning has been fun too, and it’s probably one of the best teams I’ve been on.”
DeBoer, a four-year varsity player who committed to Division II Grand Valley State University before her junior season, has been the floor general of this year’s squad.
She has contributed in every aspect of the game, averaging 16.8 points, 6.0 assists, 4.6 rebounds and 3.8 steals per contest.
First-year South Christian coach Kim Legge has watched DeBoer improve and mature throughout the past years.
“She has made strides because of her work ethic, and she always wants to learn,” said Legge, a longtime assistant under recently-retired coach Jim DeBruyn.
“She’s like a sponge, and she’s been to a point guard camp the past two summers. That has really helped with her decision-making and leadership skills.”
DeBoer recently established two new school records for her 3-point shooting prowess.
During a recent win over Hastings, she set a new mark for career 3-pointers that had stood since 2003 while also surpassing the single-season record.
DeBoer toppled Leah Pettinga’s career record of 93 3-pointers made. She currently has 45 on the season.
“It’s a huge honor to have the record now,” DeBoer said. “I knew I was pretty close because I focus on shooting 3s. It’s my favorite thing to do, and that’s just what I do. I wasn’t sure if I would ever make it, so it is definitely really cool to know that I have the record now.”
Legge didn’t know DeBoer was approaching the milestone until a few weeks ago, but she wasn’t surprised by the accomplishment.
“Anything that girl puts her mind to she seems to get done,” Legge said. “I got clued in a couple games before that she was getting close, but she would have never said anything to me. That’s how she is. She is so humble. It was a goal of hers, but it never would’ve come out of her mouth.”
DeBoer said the transition from DeBruyn to Legge wasn’t a difficult one.
“They both have similar coaching styles, but coach Legge is a lot more centered on defense so our defense this year has really picked up,” she said. “We have done a lot of the same things we’ve been doing in the past.”
DeBoer’s early commitment to the Lakers has allowed her to enjoy a stress-free final two seasons. It’s allowed her to focus strictly on helping her team succeed instead of lamenting over which college to choose.
“The pressure has been off, and I’ve been able to focus on my last basketball season at South,” DeBoer said. “The last four years have gone by pretty fast, and it doesn’t feel like I’m a senior until I think about it and look at old pictures. In a couple months I will be graduating, but I’m trying to enjoy high school while I’m still here.”
DeBoer is anticipating the jump to college, but is committed to ending her career on a high note.
“I’m definitely looking forward to playing in college next year, but I would really like to have a good ending to this season,” DeBoer said. “If we keep working hard, then I think we will do pretty well in the postseason.”
Legge isn’t one to look ahead, but with a starting line-up consisting of all seniors, expectations are high for the remainder of the season.
“We have a hard road ahead of us the last week of conference (play) and I don’t feel like we have peaked,” she said. “I really focus on what my team needs to do to grow on a day-to-day basis. Every coach in the state hopes their team makes a tournament run, and at this point of the season, it’s a goal of ours.”
Dean Holzwarth covered primarily high school sports for the Grand Rapids Press and MLive for 16 years and more recently served as sports editor of the Ionia Sentinel and as a sports photojournalist for WZZM. Contact him at [email protected] with story ideas for Allegan, Kent and Ottawa counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) Grand Rapids South Christian's Jenn DeBoer defends against Grand Rapids Catholic Central earlier this season. (Middle) DeBoer, 4, is one of a cast of experienced teammates hoping to finish with another Finals run; she takes the floor with Markayla Vander (24) and Sydney DeYoung (22). (Photos by Tracy DeYoung.)
Leland's Glass Childress Selected as 11th Michigan Inductee Into NFHS Hall of Fame
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
March 9, 2026
More than two decades have passed since Alisha Glass took her final swing at a volleyball in a Leland High School uniform, and yet her accomplishments for her small-town school in Northern Michigan remain among the most notable in that sport’s history not just statewide, but at the national level.
Glass, now Alisha Glass Childress – who went on to star on three Penn State national championship teams and help the U.S. national team to a bronze medal at the 2016 Olympics – will have her record-setting high school career enshrined this summer as one of 12 honorees announced today as this year’s inductees into the National High School Hall of Fame by the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS).
Childress will be inducted as part of the 43rd Hall of Fame class at a ceremony during the NFHS summer meeting June 29 in Salt Lake City. The rest of the class is made up of four more athletes, three coaches, two game officials, one former state association administrator and one former fine arts educator. Childress was nominated by the Michigan High School Athletic Association.
She will become the Hall of Fame’s 11th inductee from Michigan, joining the MHSAA’s first full-time Executive Director Charles E. Forsythe (inducted 1983), River Rouge boys basketball coach Lofton Greene (1986), Warren Regina athletic director, softball and basketball coach Diane Laffey (2000), Fennville basketball and baseball standout Richie Jordan (2001), Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett boys and girls tennis coach Bob Wood (2005), Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook hockey standout Jim Johnson (2007), Owosso football, basketball and baseball all-stater Brad Van Pelt (2011); Vermontville Maple Valley baseball national record holder Ken Beardslee (2016), retired MHSAA Executive Director John E. “Jack” Roberts (2022) and Dearborn Heights Robichaud football, basketball and track & field star Tyrone Wheatley (2024).
“My high school career at Leland, surrounded by such an amazing support system and community, was the essential first chapter of my story. It cultivated the grit and the fundamental love for the game that allowed me to reach the highest levels of athletics,” Childress said. “I’m proud of every medal and trophy, but I’m just as proud of the roots I planted back in high school that made them all possible.”
Childress graduated from Leland in 2006 with national high school career records of 3,584 kills, 680 blocks and 937 aces, and 296 aces for one season as a junior. Her aces records still stand, her career kills record stood until broken in 2024 by Shelby’s Navea Gauthier, and she remains third on the career blocks list. Glass continues to hold MHSAA records for single-season and career aces and also for her 48 kills in Leland’s 2005-06 Class D Final win over Battle Creek St. Philip. Childress also led Leland to a Class D runner-up finish in 2004-05 and the Semifinals in 2003-04. (All three tournament runs took place while girls volleyball was still played during the winter season before moving to the fall to begin the 2007-08 school year).
Childress earned the Miss Volleyball Award and Gatorade Player of the Year Award for Michigan as a senior, and her name is listed 19 times throughout the MHSAA girls volleyball record book. She also made Michigan's Class D all-state first team on the basketball court as both a junior and senior, averaging 18 points and 11 rebounds per game as a junior and 16 points, 10 rebounds and 3.7 blocked shots per game as a senior while leading her basketball team to Class D Quarterfinals both of those seasons.
“As our staff researched our first 50 years of female sports for our ‘Title IX at 50’ celebration during the 2021-22 school year, they told stories of several standouts who went on to collegiate, Olympic and professional stardom – and Alisha Glass stands out even among the greats,” MHSAA Executive Director Mark Uyl said. “Taking into account everything she accomplished individually and with her teams, and not just in volleyball but basketball as well, it’s a strong argument that Alisha Glass continues to set the bar as not only our state’s best female athlete all-time, but arguably the most accomplished volleyball player in national high school history. We are thrilled that she will be inducted into the National High School Hall of Fame.”
Also during high school, Childress played on the 2004 and 2005 USA youth national volleyball teams and helped the 2004 team to the North, Central America and Caribbean Volleyball Confederation (NORECA) championship, and was named Best Server at that event. After high school, she started all four seasons at national power Penn State and set the Nittany Lions to three straight NCAA championships, being named to the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) All-America first team twice and second team once.
Childress continued her career professionally and internationally, playing professionally in the United States and Puerto Rico, Italy, Turkey, Poland and Brazil and being named USA Volleyball Indoor Female Athlete of the Year for both 2013 and 2014. She led the U.S. national team to bronze at 2016 Olympics and was named Best Setter of the tournament, after being selected as an alternate for the 2012 Olympic team.
Most recently, Childress played for the Pro Volleyball Federation's Vegas Thrill in 2024 and 2025 and played in the league's first All-Star Match last season. She’s currently the head coach of the San Diego Mojo of Major League Volleyball and last summer also completed her first season as a coach with Athletes Unlimited. She previously served as an assistant coach with the Stanford University women’s volleyball program from 2019-21 – including during the team’s run to the Division I national title in 2019 – and also served as an assistant for the gold medal-winning U.S. national team during the 2018 Pan American Cup.
Childress is the daughter of Laurie Glass, who retired from coaching Leland after the 2023 season and ranks seventh in MHSAA girls volleyball coaching history for victories with a career record of 1,259-410-124. Glass led Leland to three Class D championships and five runner-up finishes. Childress’ grandfather Larry Glass ranks on the MHSAA girls basketball coaching victory list with a 388-110 record and led Leland to three straight Class D titles from 1980-82. He also coached the Northwestern University men’s basketball team for six seasons.
Additionally, Childress is married to past Stanford basketball star Josh Childress, who went on to play eight seasons in the NBA and several more overseas. They have three daughters, Maya, Mina and Amara.
The National High School Hall of Fame was started in 1982 by the NFHS. The 12 individuals were chosen after a two-level selection process involving a screening committee composed of active high school state association administrators, coaches and officials, and a final selection committee composed of coaches, former athletes, state association officials, media representatives and educational leaders. Nominations were made through NFHS member associations. Also chosen for this class were athletes Joe Carter (Oklahoma), Jordan Larson (Nebraska), Krissy Wendell-Pohl (Minnesota) and Patrick Willis (Tennessee); sport coaches Jan Barker (Texas), David Gentry (North Carolina) and Flo Valdez (New Mexico); game officials Burney Jenkins (Kentucky) and Mary Lou Thimas (Massachusetts), former state association administrator Steve Savarese (Alabama) and former fine arts educator Craig Ihnen (Iowa).
For more on this year’s Hall of Fame class, visit the NFHS Website.