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].

Today in the MHSAA: 2/23/26

By Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor

February 23, 2026

1. GIRLS SWIMMING & DIVING Marquette won its fifth-straight MHSAA Final behind four first places from Kaytlin Roell – MHSAA.com

2. BOYS SWIMMING & DIVING The Sentinels ran their Finals championship streak to seven – MHSAA.com

3. BOWLING The Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central girls won their first Regional championship in this sport and also had the singles champion at their Division 4 events – Monroe News

4. BOYS BASKETBALL Flint Elite downed Flint Hamady 55-51 in the Genesee Area Conference championship game – WJRT

5. BOYS BASKETBALL St. Joseph Michigan Lutheran clinched the Berrien-Cass-St. Joseph Conference championship with a 55-54 win over St. Joseph Our Lady of the Lake – St. Joseph Herald-Palladium

6. INDIVIDUAL WRESTLING Gavin Woodcox set a Mancelona wins record in advancing from his Division 4 Regional – Traverse City Record-Eagle

7. BOWLING The Division 1 No. 2 Macomb Dakota girls made a late move to get past No. 5 Macomb L’Anse Creuse North and win their Division 1 Team Regional – Macomb Daily

8. COMPETITIVE CHEER Allen Park Cabrini advanced to Regionals for the first time during Division 4 District competition – Southgate News-Herald

9. ICE HOCKEY No. 5 Calumet advanced to a Division 3 Regional Final with a 4-3 win over No. 10 Painesdale Jeffers – Houghton Daily Mining Gazette

10. BOWLING Twins Delaney Vanier and Jameson Vanier won Regional titles in Division 2 – Flint Journal

Also of note …

BASKETBALL Petoskey’s girls defeated Alpena  to win the Big North Conference title outright, and Harbor Springs Harbor Light Christian’s boys won the Northern Lakes Conference with a 63-60 win over Burt Lake Northern Michigan Christian – Petoskey News-Review

BOYS BASKETBALL Central Montcalm downed White Cloud to clinch the outright title in the Central State Activities Association White – Greenville Daily News

BOYS BASKETBALL Fruitport capped a repeat Ottawa-Kent Conference Silver title run with a 65-42 win over Grandville Calvin Christian – Grand Haven Tribune

BOYS BASKETBALL Hillman clinched the North Star League Little Dipper co-championship with Posen with a win over Au Gres-Sims – Alpena News

GIRLS BASKETBALL Reed City’s Morgan Hammond reached 1,000 career points during a win over Howard City Tri County – Big Rapids Pioneer