Freyhof, Otsego Celebrate Finals Wins
November 7, 2015
By Bill Khan
Special for Second Half
BROOKLYN — Erika Freyhof didn't say a whole lot when talking about herself, even on the day she won the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 2 cross country championship.
What really got her to light up and open up was when the topic shifted to her team.
Hamilton's girls, who had three straight top-four finishes from 2009-11, were back in the Finals after missing out the last three years. Ending an even longer drought — like forever — was the Hamilton boys, who had never qualified for the Finals.
Even the modest finishes by those teams — 17th for the boys, 19th for the girls — couldn't dampen Freyhof's enthusiasm on Saturday at Michigan International Speedway.
"Our team made it, which was awesome," Freyhof said. "We had only six girls at our Regional, because one of them is injured, and we made it as a team. That's amazing. And the boys made it, which is like the first time in school history. So our whole cross country team was so excited. It was awesome."
And what about her championship performance?
"I really wanted to just go out and win," she said.
Freyhof has moved up the Division 2 ranks during her three trips to MIS. She was 15th in 19:07.6 as a freshman in 2013 and seventh in 18:45.4 as a sophomore last year.
"All of the ones in front of me last year were seniors," Freyhof said. "That was exciting when they graduated, so I could get a chance."
Her only loss in 12 meets this season was a second-place finish to Division 1 champion Madison Troy of Grandville in the Otsego Bulldog Invitational on Oct. 3.
There was only one senior in the top 11 of this Final, so there will be plenty of runners looking to build on their experience at MIS to take a shot at Freyhof's title next year.
Finishing second was Holland Christian sophomore Kayla Windemuller in 18:22.5. Linden junior Alia Frederick was third in 18:30.6.
"Last year I became the fastest freshman at my school," said Windemuller, who was 47th last season. "I just wanted to keep on improving. I figured out I love running. I just wanted to keep pushing myself to see what I could do. I started running in Girls on the Run in sixth grade. I ran in seventh grade, but I hated it so much I didn't want to do it again. Then someone convinced me to do it my freshman year."
Otsego won its first team championship by a comfortable margin, scoring 97 points. East Grand Rapids was second with 180, while two-time defending champion Grand Rapids Christian was third with 199. Linden was fourth with 205.
Otsego has moved up in the top three the last three seasons, placing third in 2013 and second in 2014. The Bulldogs returned six of their seven runners from last year's finals squad, while adding freshman Sydney Kubiak, who was the team's No. 4 runner on Saturday.
Leading Otsego from near the front of the pack were juniors Megan Aalberts (fifth, 18:38.8) and Sophia Hirzel (sixth, 18:42.1). Also scoring for the Bulldogs were sophomore Maddie Marciniak (27th, 19:02.8), Kubiak (39th, 19:19.4) and sophomore Gracie VerHage (45th, 19:26.5).
The MHSAA Cross Country Finals are sponsored by the Michigan National Guard.
PHOTOS: (Top) Hamilton’s Erika Freyhof cruises the final stretch on the way to her first MHSAA individual title (Middle) Otsego’s Sophia Hirzel finishing sixth overall, just behind teammate Megan Aalberts, as they led the Bulldogs to their first MHSAA team championship. (Click for more from RunMichigan.com.)
Concord Multi-Sport Standout Begins Senior Run to Finish Career with 20 Letters
By
Doug Donnelly
Special for MHSAA.com
August 20, 2026
It’s only August but Concord senior Haley Stimer has her mind on the softball season that starts in March – eight months from now.
“I don't know if we're going to have enough people,” she said. “I'm kind of worried about our numbers.”
For Stimer, having a softball season is how she will finish her career with a stunning 20 letters over her four years of high school. She enters her senior year with 15 varsity letters already on her jacket.
“It took a little bit to get into figuring out how to manage my time,” she said. “I feel like I’m pretty good at it now with communicating with teachers and coaches and everything.”
Stimer runs cross country and plays golf in the fall, plays basketball in the winter and dual-sports between track and softball in the spring. Except for a little bit of JV basketball her freshman season, she’s been on varsity teams her entire high school career.
“I guess I’ve just always played all of the sports,” she said. “When I was younger, I played basketball and softball and golf once in a while. I didn’t really know what I was getting myself into my freshman year.”
With the blessing of Concord athletic director Matt Lehman and all of her coaches, Stimer has set forth a remarkable career of steady success and showing up for everything possible.
“She is one of our top athletes in each sport,” Lehman said. “I've been at Concord for 33 years, and I don't recall anyone even close to (20 letters).”
Her cross country and golf coaches often coordinate practice times. In the spring, she floats between track and softball with ease.
“They have been really accommodating with what time we need to have practices,” Stimer said of Concord golf coach Mike Bauman. “He normally bumps it back until whenever we finish cross country.
“It can be a lot to figure out,” she added. “I have to watch practice times a lot, just to be sure. The hardest is probably with golf because there are days when you have to miss the entire school day for a meet.”
The Yellow Jackets currently have just two golfers on the girls team. The season began Tuesday at the East Jackson Scramble, and Stimer and teammate Mya Barrett combined to shoot an 82 and finish among the top 10. Unfortunately, they don’t have enough girls on the team to score in dual meets.
“It’s hard to get girls out for golf,” Stimer said. “My sophomore year there were only four of us, and the other three girls were seniors. Last year I had to find three more girls that would do it and two of them were seniors, so now it's just me and one other girl (Barrett).”
Stimer has been part of some outstanding basketball teams at Concord. Over the last three seasons Concord has won 66 games, two league titles, three District titles, two Regional titles and played in the 2025 Division 4 Semifinals when she started and stayed on the court all 32 minutes in a 34-24 loss to Ewen-Trout Creek.
Stimer admitted she’s never been a fan of running, but that hasn’t slowed her down. She qualified for the 3,200 and as part of the 3,200 relay for the spring’s Lower Peninsula Division 4 Finals. She led off the relay team that would finish fourth in 10:01.31, helping the Yellow Jackets finish seventh as a team at the meet.
Last fall she placed 29th at the LPD4 Cross Country Finals. As a freshman she was all-state in cross country, placing 13th with a time of 19:31.1, her personal best to date.
At one time basketball was her favorite sport, but she said she’s taking a stronger liking to golf recently. She might try golf in college. She has no idea at this point what she might want to study, although she said she is really strong in math and likes English. She finished her junior year at the top of her class with a GPA above 4.0.
Stimer, 17, has a younger brother who is going to be a sophomore this year and a sister, Hannah, who is a sophomore in college. The daughter of Bart and Kiersten said her parents and her sister often inspired her in athletics.
“I kind of followed in her footsteps because of all of the sports she did,” Stimer said.
Stimer admits there are some nerves starting her senior year. She’s on the Concord student council and National Honor Society and last year volunteered with some groups in school. Through a leadership class she helped organize a basketball camp for Concord elementary students. This year she is adding something else to the mix – she will be dual-enrolling at Jackson College, her first dive into college courses.
“I’ve taken AP courses, but not college before,” she said.
There’s a lot on her plate, she said, but she is still excited.
“I'm nervous because it's going to be a lot, I think, but I've always done it, so, I know I can do it this year too.”
Doug Donnelly has served as a news and sports reporter at the Adrian Daily Telegram and the Monroe News for 30 years, including 10 years as city editor in Monroe. He's written a book on high school basketball in Monroe County and compiles record books for various schools in southeast Michigan. He is now publisher and editor of The Blissfield Advance, a weekly newspaper. E-mail him at [email protected] with story ideas for Jackson, Washtenaw, Hillsdale, Lenawee and Monroe counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Concord’s Haley Stimer (1171) approaches the finish line during last season’s LPD4 championship race at Michigan International Speedway. (Middle) Stimer passes the ball during a basketball game against Hillsdale Academy. (Top photo courtesy of RunMichigan.com. Middle photo courtesy of Joseph Miller/JTV. Head shot courtesy of the Concord athletic department.)