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)
Grand Haven Makes Good on Season-Long Expectations by Completing Title Run
By
Jeff Bleiler
Special for MHSAA.com
June 6, 2026
BATTLE CREEK — The Grand Haven High School boys volleyball team has had the proverbial target on its back since entering the season ranked No. 1.
That target proved tough to hit.
The Buccaneers closed out a 41-1 season Saturday at Kellogg Arena with a 3-1 victory in the Division 1 Final over previously-unbeaten Lake Orion. Grand Haven’s 25-19, 25-11, 29-31, 25-18 victory gave the Bucs the first MHSAA Division 1 Finals trophy in boys volleyball.
“They accomplished exactly what they wanted when they started the year,” said Grand Haven coach Jim VanTol. “We knew we were the team to beat all year, and they came into every match knowing that. They got exactly what they came for and what they wanted. They practice hard, they play hard and they like each other, which helps a lot.”
Grand Haven was paced by the inaugural Mr. Volleyball Award winner Caleb Cryst and the power hitting of juniors Alfredo Ellis and Maddox Krugler and sophomore John Cryst.
In between the second and third sets, senior Caleb Cryst was presented with the Mr. Volleyball trophy.
“It’s so special,” he said. “Bringing (the championship) home with Maddox, Fredo, John, all of my teammates. I’ve played with them for years, and that’s our goal.”
VanTol said Cryst is the “perfect guy” to be awarded such an honor and not just because of his volleyball skills, which he will take to Defiance College next year.
“He’s not just a great volleyball player; he’s so good as a leader and motivator on the team,” Van Tol said. “He just loves volleyball and lives and breathes volleyball, and that trophy should go to a guy like that.”
In the opening set, Lake Orion showed why it entered the Final with an unblemished 23-0 record. With seniors Jan Ludvik and Kuba Wolski handling just about all of the outside hitting duties, the Dragons carved out an 18-14 lead.
John Cryst helped right the Grand Haven ship with three kills, and with the score tied at 19-19, he served the next six points with a kill by Caleb Cryst sealing it.
The Bucs then put on a clinic of how to stop Lake Orion’s attack by blocking just about everything that came their way from Ludvik or Wolski. Grand Haven rolled to a 20-6 lead en route to the 25-11 win.
“This is an incredible season to get to the last game of the season like this and be undefeated until today,” Lake Orion coach Tony Scavarda said. “We just wanted the opportunity to go up against the best team in the state. I think we made a good showing. We had one bad set, but other than that we were very competitive.”
Ludvik and Wolski got rolling in the third set, roaring out to a 17-9 lead on Ludvik’s sixth kill of the set.
“We said before the third set just to have fun, enjoy the moment and embrace it,” Ludvik said.
When it seemed as though a fourth set was moments away, Grand Haven punched back with senior Owen Jiang and Caleb Cryst combining for three block-kills that along with two Krugler kills made it 25-24 with senior Carson Moroney serving match point.
Ludvik’s falling away hit rolled along the top of the net and fell on the other side in-bounds to make it 25-25, and Lake Orion survived two more match-point serves as the score reached 29-29. A Grand Haven service error and a Ludvik kill gave Lake Orion life.
“It’s one of those things, every team we play pretty much knows where the ball is going but not every team can stop it,” Scavarda said. “They had the talent and size to slow us down out there. Our guys still got their kills when they needed to and kept us competitive. They definitely made it tough on us because they’re very good on the other side of the net.”
The fourth set was a back-and-forth affair with neither team nudging ahead by more than two points until the Bucs turned a 14-13 deficit into an 18-15 lead. They closed the match on a 12-4 run with a Lake Orion serve into the net ending the match.
Grand Haven had reached three straight state championships in boys volleyball (under the coaches association’s previous direction), falling short each time.
“I feel a lot of adrenaline. I don’t feel like it’s hit me yet,” Caleb Cryst said. “Winning that last point it’s kind of surreal. I’ve been on the opposite side of that the past three years, and to be here feels amazing.”
While Saturday marked the end of Cryst’s high school career, the Bucs return plenty — and will likely have that target etched squarely on their backs again next spring.
“Most of our power guys are back, and our youth program is very strong,” VanTol said. “Our eighth-grade class has two or three or four guys who will push these guys for starting spots.”
PHOTOS (Top) Grand Haven hoists its championship trophy Saturday afternoon at Kellogg Arena. (Middle) Lake Orion’s Cole Essmann (6) leaps to block a Grand Haven kill attempt.