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)
Owosso Softball Rallies for School's 1st Finals Title
By
Perry A. Farrell
Special for MHSAA.com
June 19, 2021
EAST LANSING – Owosso High School sports hadn’t done much on the state finals level over the last couple of years – until Saturday.
Surviving two Marysville homers and two errors, junior pitcher Macy Irelan kept the Vikings at bay enough to lead the Trojans to an 8-5 victory that clinched the Division 2 softball championship at Michigan State’s Secchia Stadium.
The championship was Owosso's first MHSAA Finals title in any sport.
Irelan won all 37 games for the Trojans (37-3) this season, but none bigger than Saturday’s.
“We fell behind, but we wanted to come back to show we deserved this,’’ said Irelan, who had an 0.55 ERA coming into the game. “It was a good team win. How the game worked out and how it went, we were going to do our best.’’
No-hit through two innings with four strikeouts, Marysville’s hitters looked like they were in for a long morning against Owosso’s Irelan.
That all changed in the third inning when pitcher Kirsten Smith helped her own cause with a three-run homer.
“I can’t tell you how many years this game took off my life,’’ said Owosso coach JoEllen Smith, who has led the program to 808 wins since taking over in 1983. “That was a huge emotion. Then we had a couple of plays that went against us. Our kids muscled through it. Postseason has been huge for us. They’ve never given up.’’
Owosso got on the board first on an RBI double up the centerfield gap by first baseman Reyn Tuttle in the first inning. Jamie Maier stretched the lead to 2-0 on a blast over the centerfield field fence to lead off the second.
Irelan had the Marysville hitters under control until the third inning. She gave up singles to Brandi Bassett and Avery Woodard before Smith stunned Owosso with a three-run homer over the centerfield fence to give the Vikings a 3-2 lead.
“Give Owosso credit; their pitcher is tremendous,’’ said Marysville coach Ryan Rathje. “We got some hits off her and put the ball in play. Owosso has some strong bats throughout their lineup. They were able to come up with some key hits, and they had some good defensive plays.’’
Marysville (31-7) – making its first championship game appearance since 1991 – continued to pound the ball, getting a homer from Callie Perrin to make it 4-2 in the fourth inning. Avery Wolters followed with a double. An error made it 5-2 and it would’ve been worse, but the Vikings had a runner thrown out at home.
Owosso began its comeback in the bottom of the fourth inning, leading off with three-straight singles followed by Madyson Rainey’s hit driving in a run to make it 5-3. Irelan came through with a double to center to tie the game at 5-5 with Marysville still looking for the inning’s first out. Owosso then took a 6-5 lead on a bounce-out to complete the four-run rally.
The Trojans added two more runs in the fifth inning. Kendall Anderson doubled and scored when Sydney Somers laced a singled to center. A throw trying to catch Somers at second went into the outfield, and she eventually scored as well.
Marysville led off the seventh inning with consecutive hits to put runners at first and third. But Irelan got two pop flies and a strikeout to seal the victory.
PHOTOS: (Top) Owosso catcher Karley Kincaid gets a tag down as a Marysville runner reaches for the plate. (Middle) The Trojans celebrate after the last out of Saturday's Division 2 Final.