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)
Title IX at 50: Guerra/Groat Legacy Continues to Serve St. Philip Well
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
September 14, 2021
Nearly 100 years of MHSAA history have yielded plenty of multiple-generation coaching families, and a number of those have guided multiple generations of athletes to great success.
But what Battle Creek St. Philip volleyball coaches Sheila Guerra and her daughter Vicky (Guerra) Groat have accomplished is unmatched among coaching legacies – with their individual accomplishments also stacking up well with the rest of the state’s legends on the volleyball sideline.
Last season’s five-set win over Auburn Hills Oakland Christian in the Division 4 title decider gave the Tigers 21 Finals championships in the sport – more than twice the next program on the list. The championship match appearance was St. Phil’s 30th – also more than twice as many as the next most successful team.
Guerra took over the program to start the 1981-82 season (when volleyball was still played during the winter) and finished in 1997 with a record of 862-180-46, with those 862 victories still ranking 25th on the all-time MHSAA volleyball coaching wins list. She led the Tigers to nine Class D championships, including four straight from 1992-96, and two runner-up finishes.
Groat – who graduated from St. Phil in 1985 – followed her mom taking over for the 1997-98 season, leading that team to a Class D runner-up finish, but then stepping away after 1998-99. She returned a season later and has run her record to 1,179-275-93 heading into this fall – with the sixth-most wins in MHSAA history. She’s led 11 teams to Finals championships, 10 in Class D and last season’s in Division 4, plus six more runner-up finishes. The Tigers won a record nine-straight titles beginning with the final winter season of 2006-07 through the fall of 2014.
Second Half's weekly Title IX Celebration posts are sponsored by Michigan Army National Guard.
Previous Title IX at 50 Spotlights
Sept. 7: Best-Ever Conversation Must Include Leland's Glass - Read
Aug. 31: We Will Celebrate Many Who Paved the Way - Read