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.)
Generations of Jonesville Reunite to Say Good-Bye to Old Field, Await New
By
Doug Donnelly
Special for MHSAA.com
November 11, 2025
As the old saying, and more recent song lyric goes, "Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end."
A new era of Jonesville football will begin next fall when the Comets begin playing on a new field at a new sports complex on the high school campus.
It’s a new beginning. But, before that new era was launched, the Comets had one final game on its old football field this fall – a nearly 75-year-old relic that sits just outside Jonesville Middle School.
“I have a lot of memories of playing on that field,” said Comets football coach Frank Keller. “It’s been home to a lot of big games, good times.”
The final home game on the field was Week 8 against Vandercook Lake. Keller temporarily relinquished his play-calling duties when his former head coach – and recent Michigan High School Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame inductee – Greg Morrison came to the sidelines for a series after some convincing from his former player.
Morrison showed he hadn’t lost his touch. The third and final play he called – “tight end delay” – went for a touchdown.
“It was one of his favorite plays,” Keller said. “He called it, and we scored. It couldn’t have gone any better. He got to call the last touchdown on the old field.”
About a year ago, an anonymous donor gave a $4 million donation to the school to build a new track and football field, along with an accompanying concession stand and restrooms. The field is in a picturesque spot, tucked among trees.
The donation came from a Jonesville family that has had four generations of athletes play sports for the Comets. Athletic director Jeff Turner said the family stepped forward when it became apparent it would be difficult for the district to pass a bond issue or a new tax to fund such a large-scale project.
"We are certainly grateful for them coming forward," Turner said. "We couldn't have done this without them. They wanted to help the school district and the community, and we are fortunate that we are able to build such a nice facility."
The track will be ready for events this spring. Sod was laid on the football field, inside the track, this fall and has been mowed a few times. New bleachers were constructed on both sides of the field recently, and the concession building is almost ready for business.
It’s a dramatic change for the district.
The current football field has been in use for decades and was home to league championship teams, playoff games and more great Jonesville memories.
“Growing up as a kid I always watched football games, there and I played there,” Keller said. “I have mixed feelings about it. It’s great to get a new facility, but sad to see the old one go.”
Morrison recalled a game during his coaching tenure when the opposing team hid in the nearby woods, and then just before kickoff came running onto the field.
Jonesville won by several touchdowns. Clearly the ploy didn’t exactly work out as intended.
“It was a great field to play,” Morrison said. “It was unique.”
These days, Jonesville is a Division 7 football school with an enrollment of 299 students. The Comets play in the Cascades Conference West and went 6-4 this season, falling in the first round of the playoffs.
The football team has been in the playoffs four of the past seven seasons, went 9-0 during the regular season in 2019 and has 16 playoff appearances.
Keller graduated from Jonesville in 1999. He was on the Comets varsity for three seasons, from 1996-1998. Turner is a Jonesville graduate as well. He said several past players, cheerleaders and band members returned to the field for its final game, stirring a lot of memories.
“I don’t know how much of the game I got to watch that night,” Turner said. “It was great to catch up with a lot of people I may not have seen in quite a while. It was great.”
Turner said the athletic complex will be great for the district.
“It looks wonderful,” he said. “Our kids are excited about running track this spring and playing on the new field. Everyone is excited about it.”
As with any new facility, the complex is creating a buzz around athletics at Jonesville.
“We’re hoping we get more kids out just because they want to play on the new field, maybe even get new kids to the school,” Keller said. “We’re hoping it helps bring in more kids. Track looks awesome. The whole facility looks great.
“For us to get a new facility like that is unbelievable.”
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) Jonesville players take the field for their final home game last month at their now former field. (Middle) Past Jonesville players line up with retired coach Greg Morrison during the final game. (Below) Jonesville’s new stadium sits under the lights and will be ready for the spring track & field season. (Photos courtesy of the Jonesville football program.)