Pair of Michigan School Sports' Best Receive National Accolades

By Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor

August 4, 2021

A pair of longtime and significant contributors to school athletics in Michigan have been recognized nationally as the best in their respective fields by the National High School Athletic Coaches Association.

Battle Creek St. Philip volleyball coach Vicky Groat was named national Coach of the Year in her sport, while recently-retired administrator Fred Smith was named national Athletic Director of the Year by the NHSACA.

Both were nominated for the national recognition by the Michigan High School Coaches Association. They received their awards at last week’s NHSACA Annual Conference in Lincoln, Neb.

Groat last season led St. Philip to the Division 4 championship, the program’s 11th Finals title with her as head coach. She ranks sixth in MHSAA history with 1,177 coaching wins (1,177-275-93) over 22 seasons. She also serves as principal and athletic director at her school.

Smith served 38 years total as a teacher, coach and administrator with stops at St. Joseph Lake Michigan Catholic, Comstock, Buchanan and Benton Harbor before retiring in 2017. He received a Citation from the National Federation of State High School Associations in 2019 for his various contributions not only in Michigan but nationally, especially in athletic director education and development.

Both Groat and Smith, coincidentally, are graduates of Battle Creek St. Philip. Both also have served on the MHSAA Representative Council, including Smith four years as vice president.

Additionally, Temperance Bedford volleyball coach Jodi Manore and longtime Warren De La Salle Collegiate lacrosse coach and athletic director Mike Jolly were inducted into the NHSACA Hall of Fame. Manore is the winningest coach in MHSAA volleyball history and all-time nationally as well with a record of 2,128-369-59 at Bedford from 1980-83 and again from 1990-2020. Jolly led the Pilots lacrosse program to a 215-105 record and also coached football, basketball and baseball. 

EGR's Newton Returns to Rink Amid Speedy Recovery from Double Lung Transplant

By Dean Holzwarth
Special for MHSAA.com

January 22, 2025

EAST GRAND RAPIDS – The last thing Chris Newton wanted to do was miss any time away from the hockey rink this season.

West MichiganBut when the East Grand Rapids hockey coach received a 3 a.m. phone call last month, he knew it was inevitable.

Newton also knew he would be receiving the possibility for a longer life and an opportunity to continue his lifelong passion.

Newton, who was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis at 4 months old, received news that a set of donor lungs was available, and he began the process of undergoing a second double lung transplant. 

“I get a call and it was a 616 number so I knew exactly what it was, but I was totally shocked,” Newton, 35, said. “I definitely didn’t go back to sleep after that, and my mom was there visiting and everyone was surprised that it happened so quickly. If they find a good set, you can’t pass on it.”

Newton, a former Farmington High School goalie and assistant coach, had his first double lung transplant eight years ago.

“It was always in the cards that I would need one,” said Newton, a senior on the 2007-08 team that reached the Division 2 Semifinals and later an assistant coach for his dad, the late Bill Newton, with the 2013-14 Falcons squad that won the Division 3 title.

“I have a weird CF gene, and I don't qualify for the really good medicine they make that has made a difference in a lot of people's lives. A transplant was my only option as my health was decreasing pretty rapidly. And then, after eight years, you get rejection and they call it CLAD (chronic lung allograft dysfunction). The body starts rejecting lungs even though they had been good for like six years.” 

Newton directs his players on the bench during a game.Newton was diagnosed with CLAD two years ago, and it started slowly progressing.

He re-listed for another transplant in November, and 14 days later received the good news. It was two days after he collected his 100th career coaching victory.

“In comparison, the first time it was a 3½ month wait,” Newton said. “I had surgery on Dec. 10 at Corewell Health, and I came back to practice on Jan. 6. I missed two weeks of hockey with the three-week break we had, so it worked out.

“I feel great, and it's crazy to be back so quickly, but I feel good. The other sickness I have is coaching. I’m almost addicted to it when it's hockey season, and it’s really the only thing I think about. It’s what I do during these months, and it’s how I’m wired. When it happened, it was like this is perfect timing. I’m barely going to miss anything.”

The EGR hockey community has supported Newton throughout his transplant and recovery, and his players were motivated to give their best effort with their coach on the mend.

“Obviously it's been a long road for him, and it’s not the first time he has had this double lung transplant,” EGR senior center James Albers said. “It’s been pretty incredible, and all the guy wants to do is just coach hockey. He puts in all the fight, so I think the guys rally around him and want to do it for him, get big wins.

“We didn’t talk about it, but we wanted to play our best hockey for him because all he wants to do is show up at the rink for us. I have people at school ask me all the time how he’s doing, and it’s awesome to tell them that he looks incredible and is back on the ice after only a month.”

Senior Owen Stropkai has been on the varsity since his freshman year and has become close with his beloved coach.

“It’s great to have him back, and the positivity that he brings is awesome,” Stropkai said. “Every day it's a new level, and our team pushes for him. What he's been going through is horrible, but we think of him every day and grind together for him. He’s a great guy.”

Grant Newton, EGR’s associate head coach and no relation, took over the program in Chris Newton’s absence.

“We have a really good relationship, and we are close off the ice,” Chris Newton said. “I coached him at Farmington when we won a state championship, and he has helped me get the program to where it is.

“I went to him this summer, and we had a plan in place. I made sure he was comfortable taking over for me, and he did a great job.”

Chris Newton, whose family includes wife Jessie and sons Liam (6) and Carter (3), has transformed EGR into a perennial powerhouse the past few years.

Newton takes a photo with members of this season’s EGR team.The Pioneers have made back-to-back appearances in the Division 3 Final. They lost to Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood 3-2 in triple overtime last year and suffered a 3-2 loss to Flint Powers Catholic in 2023. 

EGR reeled off seven straight wins to open this season and is currently 12-3-1 and tied for first in the Ottawa-Kent Conference Rue despite heavy graduation losses last spring.

“The one thing that is great about this team is we haven’t stopped what we've been doing the last two years when we’ve had success,” Chris Newton said. “We’re sticking to details and making it more about the program than individuals.

“Our motto this year is being uncommon. I wanted that way back in the summer before this even happened. The motto has stuck to me, that I'm uncommon, but I wanted our kids to compete and be uncommon daily, and they’ve done that. It’s been a great group to be around and a group I wanted to get back to as quickly as I could.”

Chris Newton was blessed to have a superb transplant team help him navigate the process.

“The people there were great, and my surgeon was absolutely incredible,” he said. “They are good and talented people, and the nursing staff made it way easier than I expected.

“Obviously, no guarantees or anything, and everything is going well right now,” he added. “I’m still being seen a lot and being tested, but no number can be put on it. Eight years was a good run with the first set, but you just don’t know. I don’t have a crystal ball as to what will happen.”

Dean HolzwarthDean Holzwarth has covered primarily high school sports for Grand Rapids-based WOOD-TV for five years after serving at the Grand Rapids Press and MLive for 16 years along with shorter stints at the Ionia Sentinel and WZZM. Contact him at [email protected] with story ideas for Allegan, Kent and Ottawa counties. 

PHOTOS (Top) East Grand Rapids hockey coach Chris Newton instructs his team during a practice. (Middle) Newton directs his players on the bench during a game. (Below) Newton takes a photo with members of this season’s EGR team. (Photos by Grant Newton.)