Did you see that? (10/29-11/4)
November 5, 2012
We had champions upon champions upon champions last week, whether they were winners of MHSAA Finals in cross country and soccer, Districts in volleyball or league champs in swimming and diving.
Girls cross country
Favorites make good: Reigning individual champions Erin Finn of West Bloomfield, Julia Bos of Grand Rapids Christian and Kirsten Olling of Breckenridge all repeated Saturday at Michigan International Speedway, with Macomb Lutheran North's Gina Patterson joining the group. Second Half talked to all four. (Division 1) (Division 2) (Division 3) (Division 4)
Boys cross country
Taking two titles: Highland Milford and Concord won both the MHSAA Lower Peninsula team championships in their respective divisions Saturday and also had the top individuals in those races. Second Half provided same-day coverage from every race. (Division 1) (Division 2) (Division 3) (Division 4)
Soccer
Headed west: A year after Detroit-area teams claimed all four MHSAA LP boys soccer championships, Grand Rapids area teams took back three. East Kentwood, Hudsonville Unity Christian and Grand Rapids South Christian won titles, while Hamtramck Freedom International kept one on the east side of the state with its first Finals win. Second Half covered them all. (Division 1) (Division 2) (Division 3) (Division 4)
Volleyball
Hang that banner: Bay City John Glenn won its first volleyball District championship in the 47-year history of the school, beating Essexville-Garber in four sets to claim a Class B title. John Glenn had to come back after dropping the first game. (Bay City Times)
Hang that banner, part II: Three Rivers also won its first volleyball District championship, downing Vicksburg in four games to claim the Class B championship. (Sturgis Journal)
Copper Kings, once again: After finding itself only two points from the District championship in 2011, and then giving up the final five to lose it, Calumet defeated rival Houghton in three games to take back the trophy after two straight Houghton wins. The Copper Kings are ranked No. 4 in Class C. (Houghton Daily Mining Gazette)
West Iron ends near-decade of dominance: Iron River West Iron County had last won a District title in 2002, before nine straight by rival Iron Mountain. But the Wykons knocked out the Mountaineers in a Semifinal and came back from match point to score the final five and beat Ironwood for a Class C championship. (Escanaba Daily News)
Swimming and Diving
Holland still rules: Coming off their first MHSAA championship in 2011, the Dutch continue to roll and piled up seven O-K Green records in winning that league championship meet. Cassie Misiewicz and Holly Morren each set two individual marks. (Holland Sentinel)
Double Dow: Midland Dow won the Saginaw Valley League championship meet with 638 points, more than double that of the runner-up. The title was Dow's seventh straight. (Midland Daily News)
Wrestling
Longtime Napoleon coach steps down: Todd Anderson announced his resignation after running the program since 1990-91. His father Don Anderson started the program in 1967. (Jackson Citizen-Patriot)
Tennis
Forman is Mr. Tennis: Troy senior Brett Forman, the MHSAA Division 1 champion at No. 1 singles as a sophomore and runner-up this fall, was named Mr. Tennis by the Michigan High School Tennis Coaches Association. He finished his career with a 77-8 record. (Oakland Press)
Story of the Week
Kirsten fights on: A little more than a year ago, doctors found cancerous tumors throughout Kirsten Longstreth's body, including multiple in her lungs. But the Beaverton senior had fought back to nearly knock the cancer completely out, and while continuing to play sports including volleyball this fall. (Midland Daily News)
Potter's House's Osterink, Hillsdale Academy Earn 1st Finals Wins
November 6, 2021
BROOKLYN — Lezawe Osterink’s arrival among the state’s elite was deferred for a year.
He was ready to make a run at the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 4 cross country championship in 2020, but was unable to run at Regionals after breaking his collarbone on a training run.
Who says cross country isn’t a contact sport?
The junior from Wyoming Potter’s House showed up Saturday at Michigan International Speedway as a different runner than the one who had a respectable 55th place as a freshman in 2019.
Osterink completed an undefeated season by winning the Division 4 race in 15:50.60. He won by 23.76 seconds ahead of Concord senior Jonathan Mikovits.
Last year, Osterink was on track to get to MIS when he won the Pre-Regional meet.
“I broke my collarbone before Regionals, then I got COVID,” he said. “That was kind of a big disappointment. I couldn’t run at all. We were going to try to push it and try to win state that year.”
Osterink won all 13 races in which he competed this fall, giving him a 14-race winning streak going back to last season.
After racing at MIS as a freshman, he began to dream about becoming a Finals champion.
“I didn’t know if it would become realistic,” Osterink said. “I put in a lot of work. Our coach knows what he’s doing. I had good teammates to train with. That’s what I would say got me here.”
Osterink reached the mile mark in 5:03.3, giving him a 4.6-second cushion over Mikovits. The lead increased to 7.6 seconds when Osterink hit a two-mile split of 10:10.1.
“I could feel myself running away,” he said. “I was surprised. They went out good. They stuck with me for a while. I was scared of the guy behind me. I didn’t look back, but people who were there said he was close, so I had to keep hammering the whole time.”
In the team competition, Hillsdale Academy grouped its second through fifth runners only 13 seconds apart to win with a score of 154 points.
Senior Emil Schlueter gave Hillsdale Academy a low stick with his eighth-place finish in 16:49.75, good for sixth among team runners. Two eighth-graders scored for the Colts: Cole Bates (64th, 17:56.70) and Grayson Rorick (72nd, 18:02.22). Also scoring were sophomore Thomas Holm (51st, 17:49.17) and freshman Vincent Reagle (69th, 17:59.71).
It was the first MHSAA team championship for the Colts, whose best finishes were 10th-place showings in 2010 and 2018.
Concord had three runners in the top 22, but had to count runners who were 75th and 159th overall.
PHOTOS Potter’s House’s Lezawe Osterink approaches the finish of the Division 4 Final at Michigan International Speedway. (Middle) Hillsdale Academy’s Thomas Holm (844) and Adrian Lenawee Christian’s Grant Long (764) push down the final stretch. (Click for more from RunMichigan.com.)