Taylor Trillium Girls Hoist 1st Title Trophy, Grass Lake Boys Add to Collection
By
Tim Robinson
Special for MHSAA.com
March 4, 2023
BATTLE CREEK — Joe Slaven had a good idea his girls bowling team could do something special in Friday’s Division 4 team championship at M-66 Bowl.
“I talked to our athletic director, and I told her I noticed we don’t have a trophy case,” he said. “She said, ‘If you win a state title, we’ll build you one.’”
As of Friday afternoon, Trillium AD Deanna Doede has another item on her to-do list after Trillium bested Beaverton 1,074-1,051 to win the school’s first state championship.
It wasn’t easy. After finishing first in qualifying, Trillium eked past Allen Park Cabrini by two pins, 1,016-1,014, to get to the final, and trailed Beaverton by 13 pins after Baker play.
The final was closely contested for six frames before it all came together.
“Their adrenaline kicked in for the first five frames of the final,” Slaven said. “But around the seventh frame, they settled in.”
Slaven had scheduled his team so it would be ready for tournament pressure.
“I got them in tournaments with Division 1 schools, and we won some of those tournaments, came in second. came in fourth. I wanted them to see the big picture, the big dance. and they showed up today.”
His daughter, Abbey, didn’t celebrate until the last pin fell.
“You never know in bowling,” she said. “We’ve been down a lot in other matches, or it seemed like it, and then we come back and perform our best. So you never really know in bowling.”
Joe Slaven, meanwhile, extols both his team’s talent, but also their demeanor.
“What I’m most proud of is, yes, we won a state championship, but I’m most proud of is the way they represent their school, and the way they represent themselves.” he said. “These girls are so coachable, so athletic, so smart.”
And likely to contend again, too: Most of Trillium’s bowlers should be back next year.
Alivia Schmer led Trillium with a 179, while Emily Yagley rolled a 172.
Ellie Minkin paced Beaverton with a 176.
If winning a title was a first for Trillium’s girls, it was more of the same for the Grass Lake boys, who won for the third time in four years Friday, defeating New Lothrop 1,253-1,123.
Grass Lake was the Division 4 runner-up last season, won the Division 3 title in 2021 and took the Division 4 crown in 2020.
And it’s not inconceivable to think they’ll be back next year, with just one senior on this season’s roster.
In fact, Warriors coach Jeff Wyers was so confident in his team’s overall talent that he gave sophomore Tyler Paul his first varsity start Friday.
“These kids work their butts off,” the fifth-year mentor said. “These kids, the camaraderie they have, they work together and they never give up. If one guy is off, the others pick him up. These guys are amazing.”
The Warriors had their challenges during the day, but won all three matches by comfortable margins, including the final, taking a 73-pin lead after Baker play and never looking back.
“It feels great knowing we have a buffer,” co-captain Cayden Dewitt said. “So if we miss, we miss. And (if) we win, it feels amazing.”
Grass Lake also has a strong team chemistry.
"Our coach does a really good job of projecting a good positive environment onto everything,” co-captain Brice Sandoval said. "Even in practice or just open bowling with no coaches, there’s good vibes, good energy, and we seem to turn it on when we need it most, and it works out for us.”
Sandoval led Grass Lake with a 198, while Dewitt rolled a 193. Cole Bradshaw led New Lothrop with a 204.
Swartz Creek Girls Complete Championship Climb with Historic Sweep
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
February 28, 2025
WATERFORD —Swartz Creek girls bowling coach Mike Vanderkuur has never had to look far to try and emulate the state’s gold standard.
Ever since starting the middle school bowling program for Swartz Creek 12 years ago and taking over as head coach of the high school team seven years later, Vanderkuur has soaked up everything league rival and neighbor Flint Kearsley did en route to winning nine Division 2 titles over the last 11 seasons.
“It’s always been my goal to do what Kearsley has done,” Vanderkuur said. “It was definitely where I wanted to get to.”
Vanderkuur and Swartz Creek arrived Friday during the Division 2 Team Final at Century Bowl, finishing first out of the qualifying block and then rolling to its first championship.
The Dragons finished their run with a three-game sweep of Cedar Springs in the final, winning 148-138, 223-115 and 201-196 in the best-of-five Baker game format.
Vanderkuur and his bowlers were obviously emotional afterward, reflecting on the fact they spent years together through the middle school program and on the high school team working for this moment.
“Every one of these girls besides two started in sixth grade,” Vanderkuur said. “They’ve stuck, stuck and stuck all the way up.”
As it advanced, Swartz Creek felt like it was destined for a championship match against Kearsley, but the bracket didn’t pan out that way.
In the semifinals, Cedar Springs earned a four-game win (146-162, 172-157, 188-158, 175-148) over Kearsley to set up the matchup with Swartz Creek, which defeated Sparta 210-148 in the fifth game of a semifinal match.
But in its first appearance in the championship match, Cedar Springs couldn’t muster the same energy against Swartz Creek.
“Honestly, I just think our girls ran out of steam,” Cedar Springs head coach Crystal Morales said. “I think the energy was pretty much out. It kind of fell apart at the end.”
Swartz Creek had a score of 3,337 out of the qualifying block, well ahead of No. 2 seed Bay City John Glenn’s total of 3,196.
The Dragons then earned a four-game win over Mason in the quarterfinals.
Swartz Creek was a bit surprised to not see Kearsley in the championship match, but didn’t let up against Cedar Springs.
“I dreamt of it,” said Swartz Creek senior Kaidance Gates-Leonard. “I wish the older girls (before) would have made it. But we do good every year, and we deserve it.”
Morales said the main goal for her team was to make it out of the qualifying block, and Cedar Springs managed to do that by 74 pins as the No. 7 seed.
The Red Hawks then got hot, starting with a four-game win over John Glenn in the quarterfinals before knocking off Kearsley.
“After the first individual game, I didn’t think we were in the cut,” Morales said. “That last (individual game), we pulled a 934, and I was like ‘We might have just pulled ourselves in this.’
Kearsley was the third seed out of the qualifying block and defeated Three Rivers in the quarterfinals in four games.
Sparta recorded a five-game win over New Boston Huron in the other quarterfinal.