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)
Jackson ‘Just Gives Best,’ Proves Best of All in Finals Stunner
By
Dean Holzwarth
Special for MHSAA.com
March 26, 2021
ROCKFORD – The Jackson Area gymnastics team entered Friday’s MHSAA Team Final at Rockford High School with no expectations.
They left with a shocking victory.
Jackson won the program’s first Finals by the slimmest of margins over runner-up Rockford/Sparta.
The senior-led squad finished with a team score of 144.775, while Rockford/Sparta ended the day with a 144.5.
“It’s unbelievable,” an emotional Jackson coach Marcy Miller said. “We just had no idea, and we didn’t want to know the scores. We just came in here trying to do our best, and we told the girls we didn’t want to be in last place. That was it.”
Jackson had never finished in the top 10 at the Finals. Its best previous finish was 12th – which made the win that much more surprising, as well as satisfying.
“We had no expectations coming in,” Miller said. “It’s been a hard year and a hard week, and they only got to practice two days. We just wanted to come here and have fun and I’m so proud of them. I could not ask for a better group of girls.”
The Finals victory was spearheaded by a talented core of four seniors: Cara Fries, Abi Grimm, Kaelin Schiffer and Amelia Hamlin.
“We didn’t look at any other scores, and we were in the dark as far as where we were versus where the other teams were,” Fries said. “I think in the end that turned out well when we were competing. When they were announcing the scores, I was just hoping that we had done it.”
Balance beam was the event that propelled Jackson to the top.
It scored a team total of 36.825 on that apparatus, which was the highest of the 14 teams competing.
“They stayed on the beam, they stuck beam and they were confident on the beam,” Miller said. “And they just took that confidence into everything they did today. Our seniors were great leaders, and not only are they fantastic gymnasts, but they are good humans and that’s more important than anything else.”
Jackson had placed runner-up at Regionals to Rockford/Sparta, trailing by five hundredths of a point.
“This feels awesome, and we had no idea coming in what to expect because we had never placed anywhere near the top,” Hamlin said. “This is the first time for us, and we were all just shocked. After each meet, we just wanted to do better and better and we came here and put it all out there and it paid off.”
Added Grim: “I just wanted the team to come in here and have fun and leave it all on the equipment. Last year we didn’t get a state finals, so the fact that we got one this year is really amazing.”
Schiffer said it was a memorable meet.
“It’s pretty cool to win the first one, and we accomplished everything we could’ve dreamed of,” she said.
Rockford/Sparta was seeking its first Finals’ win since 2017. The team won three consecutive titles from 2015-17 and placed runner-up in 2019 to Farmington.
“We are so thrilled with our second-place finish,” Rockford/Sparta coach Michelle Ankney said. “We came out and bettered ourselves from Regionals on two of our events and just did what we could. I’m very proud of where we ended up.”
Rockford/Sparta graduated six seniors from a year ago, when the Finals was canceled due to the pandemic.
“All of these girls were brand new to state competition, so they did great,” Ankney said. “We will graduate only one senior, so we will be back next year.”
Ankney, whose team was led by Lacey Scheid, said the opportunity to compete this season was a blessing.
“We kept our fingers crossed for a season,” she said. “I was a little nervous all week that something was going to happen, so to get to the end was a huge relief. We competed today, and they had so much fun.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Jackson Area claimed its first Team Finals championship Friday in part because of a meet-best 37.725 on floor exercise. (Middle) Rockford/Sparta finished runner-up overall and also broke 37 points on floor. (Click for more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)