Official's List of 'Favorite' Sports Grows with Dedication to Making Our Games Go
By
Tom Spencer
Special for MHSAA.com
April 8, 2022
Any season. Any MHSAA sport.
Well, almost any.
You name it, and likely Jeff Brunner has officiated it. He may even have been selected to officiate an MHSAA Final in the sport as well.
He first started as a baseball umpire right out of high school. Family and work life created a 20-year absence from officiating for the 1979 grad of Romeo High, where he had played baseball for the Bulldogs.
Brunner, a 20-year MHSAA registered official, is about to work his favorite sport – softball – again. But, the 60-year-old readily admits he loves games so much, the favorite sport can change regularly for him.
“It’s kind of whatever is in season,” Brunner said of naming a favorite. “I love the pace of the game of softball, and I am a big proponent of providing as may opportunities for girls to play sports, whatever that sport may be.
“For that reason I gravitated towards softball.”
He’ll have to wait though to get on the field. Both of his games were cancelled this week due to weather-related complications.
“Weather can create havoc with spring sports schedules – more so than any other season – so from an officiating standpoint, you have to count on some games being postponed or cancelled,” he acknowledged. “You just have to go with the flow and be ready to work when the weather allows.
“I feel a bit bad for softball and baseball players in particular, because those seasons are so short to begin with, and every contest date is important,” he went on. “When bad weather causes cancellations as a result of rain or the extension of winter, it makes the high school season that much shorter for the athletes.”
Brunner, a father of four grown children, is currently registered for softball, football, volleyball, swimming & diving and basketball. He once did lacrosse in addition to starting his officiating career with baseball.
“There is only so much time in the week,” he said. “I can’t do everything.
“I have at least one sport for each of the three sporting seasons,” he continued. “It’s fun.”
Brunner watched his three daughters grow up playing softball and competing in swimming. His son played baseball and competed in swimming. They all graduated from Traverse City St. Francis, swimming through a co-op program. His daughters were all pitchers for the Gladiators. Their first pitching coach was Dad.
His youngest daughter, Julia, just finished competing for Wayne State University at the 2022 Division II Women’s Swimming & Diving Championships in Greensboro, N.C.
It was his kids that got him into officiating, along with the extra money. But today, it’s just to be a part of a game.
“We were always around sports,” Brunner said. “I thought about officiating for a while.
“Originally I did it to maybe earn just a little bit of extra money, get a little bit of exercise, and kind of stay close to the game,” he continued. “Now, it is just plain fun — it’s fun to be around a game, whatever that game is.”
During his officiating career, Brunner has been selected to officiate MHSAA Finals in swimming & diving and football. He’s not likely to get the chance to umpire a baseball or softball Final as his other business obligations interfere with MHSAA spring postseason play.
While working a Final is a goal of most all MHSAA officials, Brunner said it is just another game once it starts. He sees the Final as a great experience for all coaches, participants, fans and officials.
“MHSAA always does a great job of putting on a Final,” he said. “It’s always special.
“You have a few butterflies prior the game or the meet, but once things start you started focusing on the game itself.
The longer Brunner officiate, whatever the sport is, he believes the key to making the right call often comes down to mechanics.
“Mechanics were drilled into me when I first started,” Brunner said. “A lot of making the right call in my opinion is having the right mechanics and knowing where to be.
“You need to be in a good position to make the call.”
Many veteran coaches have noticed Brunner prides himself on being in the right position, and more. It is noted game after game, season after season.
“Jeff Brunner is the consummate professional as an umpire,” said Dave Kennedy, Traverse City West’s varsity softball coach. “He is excellent with his calls and positioning, but he is most concerned about getting the call right.
“Every time I see I have Jeff as part of the umpiring crew for my games, I know the game is going to be very well officiated,” Kennedy continued. “We are lucky to have Jeff as one of our officials in Northern Michigan — he’s definitely one of the best.”
"As an umpire, Jeff's professionalism and easy demeanor are much appreciated,” Hawkins said. “He runs the games he works in such a way that the focus stays on the players.
“Jeff may not know every player on the field personally, but I'm convinced that Jeff takes on his job, which is a difficult one, for them – the players."
Brunner and his son Andrew’s high school baseball experiences made it easy for Jeff to jump into baseball — and the same was true for softball due to his pitching girls. Swimming & diving, though, has been perhaps the most challenging sport to learn how to officiate for Brunner.
Watching his four children compete in pools over the years was a big help. The physical aspect was much easier, but maybe not the rules.
“The hard part is knowing all the rules … knowing what is a legal stroke and what is not,” he said. “It was an easy transition — we had seen so many swim meets.”
Today Brunner is anxiously waiting to get back on the softball field. He’s got his gear ready in anticipation of calling his first pitch of the 2022 season.
Tom Spencer is a longtime MHSAA-registered basketball and soccer official, and former softball and baseball official, and he also has coached in the northern Lower Peninsula area. He previously has written for the Saginaw News, Bay County Sports Page and Midland Daily News. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Manistee, Wexford, Missaukee, Roscommon, Ogemaw, Iosco, Alcona, Oscoda, Crawford, Kalkaska, Grand Traverse, Benzie, Leelanau, Antrim, Otsego, Montmorency, Alpena, Presque Isle, Cheboygan, Charlevoix and Emmet counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Official Jeff Brunner has his eyes on the action while officiating a football game. (2) Brunner monitors a starting block during November’s MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 3 Swimming & Diving Finals at Calvin University. (3) Brunner and his wife Michelle support daughter Julie at March’s Great Lakes Interscholastic Athletic Conference championship meet. (4) Brunner’s gear sits ready for his first game this week before it was canceled due to bad weather. (Photos courtesy of the Brunner family.)
Mercy Adds to Championship Streak with Must-Win Victory in Final Relay
By
Brad Emons
Special for MHSAA.com
November 22, 2025
YPSILANTI – It takes a really good angler to reel in those Farmington Hills Mercy Marlins.
Grosse Pointe South had them on the hook for most of Saturday’s Lower Peninsula Division 2 girls swimming & diving championship meet at Eastern Michigan University’s Jones Natatorium. South led 301-297 entering the final event – the 400-yard freestyle relay – and needed to win it to clinch the program’s first Finals championship.
But the Marlins were able to hit the wall first as Avery Tack, Campbell Shore, Lyla Collins and Ella Hafner clocked a 3:26.05 to earn Mercy its third-straight Division 2 title and 14th championship overall, by a slim margin of 337-335.
South’s 400 relay quartet of Whitney Handwork, Quinn Ryan, Mischa Eng and Caroline Bryan made a valiant effort, settling for second place in 3:27.68.
“I not only think we were physically ready, but also mentally, we had our momentum going and we were ready to swim fast because we knew who we are and we were able to finish strong because we were in a good spot,” said Hafner, who swam Mercy’s anchor leg. “We had done it before, and we knew we could do it again”
Rounding out the top five team finishers were Birmingham Seaholm (260.5), Birmingham Groves (155.5) and Ann Arbor Skyline (155).
“It was fun,” said Mercy coach Michael Venos, who notched his sixth Finals title. “This is my 42nd year coaching, and these are still my favorite meets. Win or lose they left it all in the pool, and as a coach that’s all you could ever ask for.”
With a two-point differential in the final standings between the top two teams, every point scored was pivotal.
“Quite honestly, I hoped we’d tie,” Venos said. “I don’t think anybody deserved to lose this meet today. I was really hoping for a tie, and I thought that would be really cool because those South girls swam lights out all year. And you don’t want to get to a meet like this and go home disappointed.
“It was one of those team efforts again. I don’t know if we could have done it without the whole team. I just felt the girls pulled each other up and kept scratching and clawing.”
Meanwhile, for the Blue Devils it was their fourth runner-up finish over the last seven years.
“It was as close as it could possibly get, the whole way,” Grosse Pointe South coach John Fodell said. “I couldn’t be more proud of them. We were down on psych sheet at one time by 20 points and we just kept battling back, battling back the whole meet. We pulled off some upsets. It goes back and forth. Just battle the whole time, and that’s all you can ask of the girls. It was the whole team. Everyone was trying to move up one spot.”
The teams battled back and forth throughout the day, with South taking a 294-285 lead after piling up a 49-4 advantage in the 100 backstroke thanks to a first from Ryan (56.08), a third by Eng and a sixth from Corinne Stencel.
In the final individual event of the day, Birmingham Groves’ Vivian Chase and Birmingham Seaholm’s Payton Garn tied for first in the 100 breaststroke with times of 1:02.76. Mercy got a seventh (12 points) from Clare Hafner while Nicole McEnroe earned a second in the consolation heat (seven points).
Coming out of Friday’s prelims slightly faster, South’s foursome of Eng, Nicole McEnroe, Stencel and sophomore Ryan Quinn opened Saturday with a victory in the 200-yard medley relay (1:45.22) with Seaholm placing second (1:46.96).
Skyline junior Adrienne Schadler then defended her title in the 200 freestyle and broke her own Division 2 Finals record in the process with a time of 1:46.85.
In one of the premier matchups of the meet, Mercy junior Avery Tack defended her title in the 200 individual medley (2:04.64) by holding off Bryan (2:05.59).
The 50 freestyle final proved to be a thriller as well as South senior Whitney Handiwork (23.24) defended her title by a razor thin margin over South Lyon’s Emma Klotz (23.26).
The 1-meter diving final saw Rochester Adams junior Morgan Rea score 431.75 points to defeat out Grand Rapids Northview’s Katelyn Allen (400.65), Skyline’s Teagan McCallion (383.05) and defending champion Aubrey Yarger of Hastings (379.75).
“My freshman year I actually failed to dive, and I got last,” Rea said. “And then last year I had a back injury, so this is my first year back. I had trust in my training, definitely, through all my good coaches.”
Rea came through with three clutch three dives.
“Probably after my back one-and-a-half half I had a pretty good feeling, definitely,” Rea said. “I had pretty good confidence in my abilities to dive.”
Reigning champion Bryan and Stencel went 1-2 in the 100 butterfly for the Blue Devils with times of 54.59 and 56.44, respectively, to close the gap on Mercy, 179-170.
After finishing runner-up in the 50 freestyle, Klotz then came through with a victory in the 100 freestyle (50.70) to edge Handwork (50.92) and Tack (52.01). Klotz, headed to Bowling Green State University, brought home her first individual Finals title after finishing runner-up three times.
“I swam a best time (in the 50), which was great, and Whitney (Handwork) had a great swim again, so it was a really fun race,” Klotz said. “It fueled me for the 100 more. The past few years it’s been hard to come back being second in the 50, but I thought my mindset was a lot better.”
The tide then turned back in favor of the Marlins as they outscored South, 37-1, in the 500 freestyle as Skyline’s Schadler completed her individual repeat double with a D2 Finals record time of 4:48.50. Mercy’s Hafner was runner-up (4:49.90), but the Marlins also got a big fourth place from Collins (5:06.69).
In the 200 freestyle relay, South (1:34.61) edged Mercy (1:34.92) for first. The Blue Devils’ foursome included Handwork, Stencel, McEnroe and Bryan.
All of it built toward the dramatic finish in the final race.
“She was amazing,” said Mercy senior Clare Hafner, referring to her sister’s anchor leg on the 400 freestyle relay. I think she had a lot of challenges to overcome today. It was insane how she pushed through it. I’m so proud of her.
“We slipped up a little bit on the second relay (200 freestyle), but everybody knew we needed to win that last one to win the meet and pulled it together. All of those girls did amazing. I’m so proud of them. Even Gabriell (Mannino) in her 100 back (13th with four points), she moved up a spot, which really helped.”
For Mercy’s Violet Schwartz, who swam the 200 medley and 200 freestyle relays, along with the 100 butterfly (sixth), it was quite a send-off.
“As a senior in high school, what a better way to go out in a high school career with winning,” she said. “It’s really an honor. Just being with these girls is just the most amazing experience ever. They are so empowering. They all have the drive – that last relay was just amazing.”
Mercy senior 1-meter diver Sophia D’Orazio scored 11 points with an eighth-place.
“It was a little stressful, but having the whole team behind me really, really helped out, and I came out and finished my last dive to stick it and it was one of the best I’ve done,” she said. “It was really exhilarating today. This was my last diving meet today, and it was a great way to go out.”
And on the other side, it was bittersweet moment afterward for Handwork. Last year, Mercy scored 375.5 points, while South had 255, but this time the Blue Devils were right there.
“I think it’s just hard because of how hard we worked and how much we wanted it, but we are really still proud of ourselves,” Handwork said. “I mean, we closed a 120-point gap from last year, so there’s a lot to be proud of. I’m a senior, so I’ll come back and cheer them on. But yeah, I’m hoping they come back and swim even better.”
PHOTOS (Top) Farmington Hills Mercy’s Avery Tack swims to a championship in the 200 individual medley Saturday. (Middle) Caroline Bryan swims to first place in the 100 butterfly for Grosse Pointe South. (Below) Ann Arbor Skyline’s Adrienne Schadler races to a repeat and meet record in the 500 freestyle. (Click for more from High School Sports Scene.)