Performance of the Week: Dundee's Blake Cosby

December 12, 2024

Blake Cosby headshotBlake Cosby ♦ Dundee
Junior ♦ Wrestling

Cosby finished 3-0 and was named outstanding wrestler for the upper weights at the Grappler Gold Invitational after claiming the championship at 150 pounds and leading Dundee to the team title. The 150-pound bracket included the top-ranked wrestlers at that weight by Michigan Grappler in all four divisions, and the Division 3 top-ranked Vikings finished ahead of Division 2 No. 1 Lowell and Division 4 No. 1 Hudson among others in a field that included multiple Division 1 contenders as well.

Last season’s Division 3 individual champion at 144 pounds, Cosby clinched last weekend’s bracket title with an 8-3 decision against Hartland junior Dallas Korponic, the reigning Division 1 champion at 132 pounds. Cosby also finished Division 3 runner-up at 144 as a freshman and brought a combined 81-2 career record into this season. Dundee as a team will be pursuing an eighth-straight Division 3 team championship. Just a junior, Cosby already has committed to sign with Michigan.

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@mhsaasports 🤼POW: Blake Cosby #tiktalk #questiontime #outerbanks #payday #timetravel #pepperoni #steak #chocolatemilk #part2 #performanceoftheweek #mistudentaid #fyp #MHSAA ♬ Monkeys Spinning Monkeys - Kevin MacLeod & Kevin The Monkey

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Previous 2024-25 honorees

Dec. 4: Keaton Hendricks, Zeeland West football - Report
Nov. 29:
Kate Simon, East Grand Rapids swimming - Report
Nov. 22:
Ella Kokaly, Essexville Garber volleyball - Report
Nov. 15:
Caroline Bryan, Grosse Pointe South swimming - Report
Nov. 8:
Kaylie Livingston, Whitmore Lake cross country - Report
Oct. 25:
Oliver Caldwell, Grand Rapids West Catholic tennis - Report
Oct. 18:
Alex Graham, Detroit Cass Tech football - Report
Oct. 11:
Victoria Garces, Midland Dow cross country - Report
Oct. 4:
Asher Clark, Bay City John Glenn soccer - Report
Sept. 26:
Campbell Flynn, Farmington Hills Mercy volleyball - Report
Sept. 19:
TJ Hansen, Freeland cross country - Report
Sept. 12:
Jordan Peters, Grayling soccer - Report
Sept. 6:
Gabe Litzner, Sault Ste. Marie cross country - Report
Aug. 30:
Grace Slocum, Traverse City St. Francis golf - Report

(Photos courtesy of the Cosby family.)

Grand Blanc's Fisher, Caledonia's Olsen Lead Past MHSAA Standouts at Olympics

By Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor

August 15, 2024

Several past Michigan high school athletes participated during the recent Olympics in Paris – and several did so only a few years after starring for their high schools in MHSAA competition.

Among those who graduated from Michigan schools, Grand Blanc’s Grant Fisher and Caledonia’s Alena Olsen provided the most memorable finishes this month.

Fisher, a two-time Lower Peninsula Division 1 cross country champion and five-time champion at Track & Field Finals, won bronze medals in the Olympic 5,000 and 10,000-meter races.

After high school, Fisher went on to win NCAA championships at Stanford, and he still owns the all-MHSAA Finals record in the 1,600 (4:00.28), run in 2015 as a senior. His 14:52.5 in 2014 remains the sixth-fastest 5K time in MHSAA cross country championship history.

Olsen played volleyball and soccer at Caledonia, graduating in 2014, and was part of the bronze medal-winning U.S. rugby team in Paris. She began playing that sport as a freshman at Michigan, where she was a two-time All-America selection.

Also competing this month for the United States were the following (with high school graduation year in parentheses):

  • Heath Baldwin, Kalamazoo Hackett Catholic Prep (2019) – Track & Field (10th in decathlon)
  • Adam Coon, Fowlerville (2013) – Wrestling
  • Freddie Crittenden, Utica (2013) – Track & Field (sixth in 110 hurdles)
  • Aaron Cummings, Grand Haven – Rugby (also played football, wrestled and ran track at Grand Haven)
  • Andrew Evans, Portage Northern (2009) – Track & Field
  • Hobbs Kessler, Ann Arbor Skyline (2021) – Track & Field (fifth in 1,500)
  • Grace Stark, White Lake Lakeland (2019) – Track & Field (fifth in 100 hurdles)
  • Abby Tamer, Dexter (2021) – Field Hockey (also played soccer at Dexter)

Additionally, Devin Booker was a member of the gold medal-winning men’s basketball team; he played as a freshman at Grandville before moving to Mississippi. Cindy (Ofili) Sember from Ann Arbor Huron ran the 100 hurdles for Great Britain, Udodi Onwuzurike from Bloomfield Brother Rice ran the 200 meters for Nigeria, Alex Rose from Ogemaw Heights threw the discus for Samoa, and Myles Amine from Detroit Catholic Central wrestled for San Marino.