Did you see that? (10/15-10/21)
October 22, 2012
Three MHSAA fall sports came to an end over the weekend, and the tournament for a fourth has begun. Those finishes highlight the non-football best from the week that was Oct. 15-21.
Golf
Rankings play out: The Lower Peninsula girls season came to a close with all four top-ranked teams claiming championships. Plymouth won its first MHSAA title in any sport in Division 1, while Mona Shores became the first Lower Peninsula girls golf team to win four straight by doing so in Division 2. Ada Forest Hills Eastern made it two titles in three seasons by winning Division 3, and Lansing Catholic won its third straight in Division 4. Second Half covered them all. (Division 1) (Division 2) (Division 3) (Division 4)
Tennis
Dynasties continue: Three of four top-ranked teams also won MHSAA Lower Peninsula Boys Tennis Finals over the weekend, with the other champion hardly unfamiliar with first place. Ann Arbor Huron was ranked only No. 3 before winning Division 1 for the third time in five seasons. Midland Dow won its fourth straight Division 2 title and Ann Arbor Greenhills won its fifth straight in Division 4. But the biggest headline goes to Detroit Country Day, which tied Ann Arbor Pioneers’ dominance in 2002 with 39 points in claiming the Division 3 title. Second Half also covered all four of these Finals.(Division 1) (Division 2) (Division 3) (Division 4)
Cross country
One streak ends, another begins: The Upper Peninsula season came to an end with its Finals for three divisions. Calumet’s Tara Kiilunen led her team to the Division 1 girls title by winning the individual championship for the fourth consecutive season. On the boys side, Sault Ste. Marie won its first title in 11 years thanks to the individual Division 1 championship of freshman Parker Scott, who finished this season undefeated. Second Half covered all the races. (Girls Finals) (Boys Finals)
Soccer
Powers emerge in Division 1: Lower Peninsula Districts whittled the number of teams still alive down to 64 – 16 in each of four divisions. And the two toughest Districts to navigate were arguably in Division 1. Top-ranked East Kentwood beat Caledonia 6-0 to win that District, but only after the Falcons knocked out No. 2 Rockford in a semifinal and the Rams did the same to No. 7 Okemos in an opener. Rochester Stoney Creek, ranked No. 4, emerged from a district at Rochester that included No. 9 Utica Eisenhower and honorable mention Troy Athens by beating Rochester Adams 2-1 in the title game – after Adams upset Eisenhower in a semi. (Grand Rapids Press) (Oakland Press)
MHSAA Tournament Attendance Reaches 6-Year High, Topping 1.4 Million Spectators in 2022-23
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
November 8, 2023
The Michigan High School Athletic Association welcomed its highest spectator turnout in six years in 2022-23, as a total of 1,457,813 fans attended postseason competitions for which admission is charged – an increase of nearly 10 percent over the previous school year and the highest count since 2016-17.
The MHSAA annually tracks attendance for all sports except golf, skiing and tennis, as single tickets are not sold for those sports. The 2022-23 attendance totals included 1,008,070 spectators for boys and 449,743 for girls tournament events – and those totals also were six-year highs.
Three MHSAA Tournaments set records for total series attendance. Softball welcomed 47,696 fans, breaking the previous record set in 2016-17. Baseball counted 63,844 fans – including records at the District and Regional level – bettering the previous record set just a season before. Girls and boys bowling, with their tournaments conducted concurrently, counted 16,482 fans, breaking the record set in 2019-20 and with an all-time high for the Regional level.
Among other single-round record-setters, Individual Wrestling Regionals counted 10,782 spectators, the most for that level of that tournament since 2001-02. The Ice Hockey Semifinals & Finals drew 15,204 fans, besting the previous high from 2013-14. Girls Competitive Cheer Districts drew 13,374 spectators, their most since 2015-16, and Boys Lacrosse Regionals drew 2,586, besting that round’s record set the year prior.
Football remains the most-attended MHSAA Tournament sport and drew 381,396 spectators, the highest total since 2016-17 and an increase of 28 percent over 2021-22 Boys basketball attendance was next highest with 292,213 fans, an increase of five percent from 2021-22, and girls basketball ranked third and first among girls sports with 144,872 spectators – an increase of 2.4 percent from the previous season. Volleyball, the fourth highest-attended tournament series, missed its 2021-22 total by only 20 spectators, drawing 113,552.
Several more MHSAA Tournaments enjoyed attendance increases in 2022-23 over the previous year. Both individual and team wrestling series continued upward trends – the Individual Wrestling Tournament drew 44,767, its most since 2016-17 and an increase of 6.8 percent over 2021-22; and the Team Wrestling Tournament counted 37,018 spectators, its highest since the record turnout of 1999-2000 and an increase of 14.2 percent over the previous year. Track & field, with girls and boys meets conducted simultaneously, missed its record attendance of 2020-21 by just 41 spectators, improving five percent from 2021-22 with a total of 39,694.
Five more sports also enjoyed impressive overall attendance increases. Competitive cheer attendance was up 21 percent to 26,195 fans, and overall ice hockey attendance was up 19 percent to 56,168. Boys lacrosse was up 8.2 percent to 17,040, and girls lacrosse attendance rose 7.3 percent to 5,290 fans. Girls gymnastics was up 2.3 percent to 2,081 spectators.
The MHSAA is a private, not-for-profit corporation of voluntary membership by more than 1,500 public and private senior high schools and junior high/middle schools which exists to develop common rules for athletic eligibility and competition. No government funds or tax dollars support the MHSAA, which was the first such association nationally to not accept membership dues or tournament entry fees from schools. Member schools which enforce these rules are permitted to participate in MHSAA tournaments, which attract more than 1.4 million spectators each year.