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: 2/26/24

By Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor

February 26, 2024

1. WRESTLING All four 2023 champions – Detroit Catholic Central, Lowell, Dundee and Hudson – repeated at the weekend’s 2024 Team Wrestling Finals – MHSAA.com

2. COMPETITIVE CHEER Rochester Hills Stoney Creek edged Adams by less than a point to win their Division 1 Regional – Oakland Press

3. COMPETITIVE CHEER Allen Park outpaced Gibraltar Carlson by just more than two points to win their Division 2 Regional – Southgate News-Herald

4. BOYS SWIMMNG & DIVING Lower Peninsula Division 1 top-ranked Ann Arbor Pioneer held on against No. 2 Saline to win the Southeastern Conference Red championship – Saline Post

5. HOCKEY No. 9 Flint Powers Catholic advanced to a Division 3 Regional Final with a 4-3 triple-overtime win over No. 8 Jackson Lumen Christi – WJRT

6. BOWLING Macomb Dakota swept girls and boys Regional team championships; Dakota’s girls are ranked No. 2 in Division 1, and the boys are No. 4 – Macomb Daily Girls | Boys

7. BOYS SWIMMING & DIVING Bay City John Glenn won the Independent Swim Conference title, ending Essexville Garber’s championship streak at three – Bay City Times

8. BOYS SWIMMING & DIVING Midland Dow held off Grand Blanc to win the Saginaw Valley League title; they are honorable mentions in LPD2 and LPD1, respectively – Midland Daily News

9. BOWLING Zeeland’s Rylee Smith clinched her Division 1 Regional singles title with a 300 in her final game – Holland Sentinel

10. BOYS SWIMMING & DIVING Owosso finished a season sweep of the Flint Metro League – Owosso Argus-Press

Also of note …

GIRLS BASKETBALL Bark River-Harris downed Munising 52-31 to clinch the Skyline Central Conference Large schools title – Escanaba Daily Press

GIRLS BASKETBALL Hart clinched a third-straight league title outright by downing Holton in the West Michigan Conference Rivers – Ludington Daily News

BOYS BASKETBALL Parker LePla reached 1,000 career points in Goodrich’s 57-52 win over Lake Fenton in the Flint Metro League Tournament final – Mid-Michigan Now