10 to Remember from 2011-12
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
July 11, 2012
Second Half's mission in this, its first school year, was to tell the best stories behind the scores and highlights of MHSAA competition.
Of course, every score and especially every championship has a story behind it. The MHSAA awarded 127 team and many more individual championships in 2011-12. Obviously we can't reflect on them all. But these 10 performances were loaded with prestige, drama and accomplishment that made them incredible stories for high school sports fans regardless of hometown or allegiance.
10. Grand Ledge gymnasts earn No. 5
The Comets had to fend off a charge by Canton, but won their fifth-straight MHSAA team title by 0.825 of a point with a final score of 149.400. The fifth-straight title tied the record set by Ludington from 1975-79 and extended Grand Ledge's first-place streak to 75 consecutive events. The next day, senior Christine Wilson and junior Sara Peltier swept the Division 1 and 2 individual titles, respectively.
9. West Bloomfield's Erin Finn joins elite
The Lakers junior said after her Division 1 cross country win that she'd dreamt of winning that title since she learned how to walk. She finished fourth as a sophomore before winning the championship by a little more than a second. After establishing herself as one of the top distance runners in the country in competitions over the winter, Finn finished the school year by winning the 3,200-meter run at the Division 1 Track and Field Final.
8. More and more Morley Stanwood
The Mohawks girls pulled off a rare feat this school year -- after winning their second MHSAA volleyball title in the fall, they added a first-ever girls basketball championship. Both efforts were keyed by seniors Alexis Huntey and Bailey Cairnduf, who had the most and second-most kills in the Class C Volleyball Final and then combined for 45 points and 25 rebounds in the basketball championship game.
That argument was made after Lansing Sexton claimed its second-straight Class B boys basketball championship in dominant fashion. The Big Reds finished 27-1, their only loss by a point to Detroit Pershing, and have won 74 games over the last three seasons -- tied for sixth-most in MHSAA history for that long of a stretch. Guards Denzel Valentine (Michigan State), Anthony Clemmons (Iowa) and Bryn Forbes (Cleveland State) all signed to play at Division I colleges this fall, with junior Jalen Hayes and freshman Trevor Manuel likely joining them in a few years.
Coyotes junior Sami Michell established herself as one of the top hurdlers in MHSAA history at the Division 3 Final by becoming the first Lower Peninsula girl to win four events at a championship meet since Mason County Eastern’s Maria Shoup in 1979. She set Division 3 records in the 100 hurdles, 300 hurdles and long jump, and her 300 time also was the best in MHSAA Finals history, regardless of division or class. She also won the 200.
Top-ranked Grand Haven's latest run at an MHSAA championship seemed all but over when Grosse Pointe South led the Class A final by 18 points with just under 10 minutes to play. But Shar'Rae Davis' fullcourt sprint and score that began with 12 seconds to play gave the Buccaneers a 54-53 win and their first title. It was the third-longest comeback in MHSAA Girls Basketball Finals history.
Livonia Ladywood had been a favorite to win its first MHSAA title all season -- with four-year pitcher Briana Combs in the circle. But when Combs couldn't finish the Semifinal because of an injury, rarely-thrown sophomore Lauren Hayes stepped in. All she did was finish that game and throw a three-hitter against Saginaw Swan Valley in the Final, while also getting three hits and driving in two of the team's four runs in the championship win.
St. Johns senior Taylor Massa finished off one of the most celebrated careers in MHSAA wrestling history with his fourth championship and not one loss during his high school career. Massa claimed the title at 171 pounds this year to go with others at 145, 152 and 160. He became the 15th in MHSAA history to win four titles, ranks 20th with 221 wins and seventh in the national record book for consecutive victories.
Grosse Pointe South's girls running teams had arguably the most dominant school year in MHSAA history, first winning the Division 1 cross country title before doing the same this spring in track and field. And the Blue Devils did it with mostly the same nucleus contributing to both -- particularly juniors Hannah and Haley Meier, sophomore Kelsie Schwartz and freshman Ersula Farrow. Those four combined to run a national record time of 8:48.29 in the 3,200 relay at the Division 1 Final this spring.
1. Short walk, championship run
Second Half was created as a place to tell great stories, Cass Tech made it easy on the first day of the Football Finals. The Technicians arrived at Ford Field after a short walk from their school. They had never played in a Final before and were unranked entering the postseason. They arrived with a strong group of seniors, but also a freshman quarterback named Jayru Campbell who ended up throwing five touchdown passes in a 49-13 win over No. 2 and perennial powerhouse Detroit Catholic Central.
PHOTO: The Morley Stanwood girls basketball team prepares to celebrate as the final seconds tick off in the Mohawks' Class C Final win. (Click to see more photos from High School Sports Scene.)
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.)