Did you see that?
May 21, 2012
Track and field, tennis and lacrosse teams have begun their marches toward MHSAA championships, but a number of sports are making offseason news as well.
Here's our sampling of some of the most intriguing from all over the state last week.
Track and Field
Setting up a showdown: In perhaps the most notable race of last week’s Regionals, Birmingham Seaholm’s Aubrey Wilberding edged Southfield’s Latipha Cross in the 400-meter dash in Division 1 at Farmington. Wilberding ran the race in 56.48 seconds, 19 hundredths of a second faster than Cross, who set an all-Finals record in the race in 2011. Click the link next to each Regional site for results. (MHSAA)
Soccer
Shooting for 67: Lake Fenton sophomore Jordan Newman scored a combined eight goals in the semifinal and championship games of the Genesee Area Conference tournament to lead her team to the championship. She has 54 goals this season – only 13 shy of the MHSAA single-season record with Districts beginning next week. (Tri-County Times) (Flint Journal)
KVA belongs to Kalamazoo Christian: The Kalamazoo Valley Association soccer championship came down to two of the top teams statewide in Division 4 – and No. 2 Kalamazoo Christian edged No. 3 Kalamazoo Hackett Catholic Central 1-0 in the final. The two were flip-flopped in the rankings heading into the game. (Kalamazoo Gazette)
Athletes of the Year
Pinning down a major award: St. Johns wrestler Taylor Massa and Rochester Hills Stoney Creek's Gabby Yurik received the annual Michigan Student-Athlete of the Year Awards from the Detroit Athletic Club, from a group of nominees including Holland's Courtney Bartholomew, Birmingham Marian's Jaynie Pulte, Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett's Madison Ristovski, Plainwell's Lauren Saar and Charlotte's Raychel Wolever, and Grand Blanc's Zachary Carroll, Saginaw Heritage's Evan Chiplock, Bay City Western's Matt Costello, Lowell's Gabe Dean and Oxford's Prescott Line.
Golf
Plymouth rocks: The Wildcats topped a field that included 17 state-ranked teams in claiming the East Lansing Invitational with a two-round score of 595. The tournament was played at Michigan State University’s Forest Akers West and East. Scroll to the bottom of link for full results. (Michigan Interscholastic Golf Coaches Association)
Tennis
Match points: Five of the top seven ranked teams in Division 2 emerged from two suburban Detroit Regionals to advance to the Division 2 Finals: No. 1 Birmingham Marian, No. 2 Bloomfield Hills Andover, No. 3 Birmingham Seaholm and co-No. 7s Bloomfield Hills Lahser and Farmington Hills Marcy. Click next to each Regional site to see who qualified for their respective Finals. (MHSAA)
Softball
Perfect, again: Breckenridge’s Sam Willman threw her fifth perfect game this season, striking out 18 and 64 for the day as her team won the Montrose Snowball Tournament on Saturday. She also threw a perfect game two days before. (Midland Daily News)
Stacking numbers: Decatur senior pitcher Erika Southworth won her 100th game last week, then notched her 1,000th strikeout two days later. (Kalamazoo Gazette)
Basketball
Detroit mourns coach: Southeastern High girls coach Lisa Blackburn died Saturday at the age of 52. She was a former Detroit Pershing star who went on to play at the University of Detroit. (Detroit News)
Stolz legacy ends: Longtime Okemos boys basketball coach Dan Stolz retired with a record of 428-99 and a winning percentage of .812 in 18 seasons at Okemos and five at Williamston. Stolz took over the Chieftains program from his father Stan, who coached the varsity from 1968-93. (Lansing State Journal)
Wrestling
New coach at St. Johns: The reigning three-time Division 2 MHSAA team champion now will be coached by assistant Derek Phillips, who was promoted last week to take over for the recently-resigned Zane Ballard. (Lansing State Journal)
Media
Longtime editor announces retirement: The state’s print media will wave good-bye to another valuable member when longtime Escanaba Daily Press sports editor Denny Grall retires in two months. He’s been putting pen to paper for 42 years and is especially legendary across the Upper Peninsula. (Escanaba Daily Press)
Editor's note: Did we miss something? Comment below and tell us about it. Is there an event coming up that we should make sure to note? Comment or e-mail [email protected].
Pederson Wins Memorably, Ontonagon Ascends Again in 'Phenomenal' Fashion
By
Jason Juno
Special for MHSAA.com
May 30, 2024
ESCANABA – Big Bay de Noc’s Camryn Pederson carded an 89 on Thursday to win the Upper Peninsula Division 3 Final individual champion and become the first U.P. champion to clear 90 since 2019.
“It feels really good,” she said. “I tried my best to golf as good as I could today, and I’m really glad that it came out the way it was. It’s a good way to end my senior year.”
She said she liked the open course that was low on hazards at the Escanaba Country Club. And she did most things well during her round Thursday.
“I think I minimized my putts. I only one or two-putt most of the holes,” Pederson said. “And my drives were really good.”
She became the second golfer from Big Bay de Noc to win a U.P. Finals individual golf title. Samantha Guertin won Division 3 in 2006 with a 90.
Pederson’s team was seeking its first title since 2005 after finishing runner-up last year, but finished second to a school where girls golf has pretty much always been strong – Ontonagon.
When the MHSAA first separated the U.P. Finals into separate classes, Ontonagon won the first 10 Class C-D championships, from 1978 to 1987. When Class D got its own U.P. championship tournament, the Gladiators girls won the first four, part of a five-year run of titles from 1994 to 1998. When classifications changed again in 2001, and the name of the smallest group of schools changed from Class D to Division 3, Ontonagon didn’t stop winning, racking up seven more Finals championships.
On Thursday, the Gladiators made it eight wins in Division 3 and 23 overall.
Two of their golfers finished under 100 – runner-up Madyson Pantti carded a 94, and Sam Bailey had a 98. All five finished among the top 10 individuals. Summer Stites’ 100 was good for a fourth-place tie, and Olivia Lockhart and Shayna Stites tied for 10th with 108s.
It was the first U.P. Finals golf championship for all of them, including coach Jim Jessup. The Gladiators’ last team wins came with back-to-back titles in 2018 and 2019.
Ontonagon repeated as Copper Mountain Conference champion this year. The Gladiators had finished third last season at the U.P. Division 3 Final and outshot Big Bay de Noc on Thursday by eight strokes, 400-408. Ontonagon shot 36 strokes better than at last season’s Final, and every golfer shot under 110, which Jessup called “phenomenal.”
“I think the girls just worked really hard to better themselves,” he said. “Their stroke play was better, their consistency was better.”
Pantti improved her score by eight strokes from last year’s Final. The junior will have another shot at an individual championships in 2025, but she had a lot to be proud of this time with her runner-up finish that led the Gladiators to a team title.
“I’m really excited,” she said. “It was something that we’d been looking forward to all season. We’ve done good in a lot of our meets, and I thought this was a really good year for us.”
PHOTOS (Top) Big Bay de Noc's Camryn Pederson follows her drive on No. 4 on Thursday at Escanaba Country Club. (Middle) Ontonagon celebrates its latest girls golf Finals championship. (Photos by Jason Juno.)