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].
Country Day Lands 1st Finals Win with Last-Minute Goal in Division 2 Rematch
By
Steve Vedder
Special for MHSAA.com
June 10, 2023
ROCKFORD – The last thing the Detroit Country Day girls lacrosse team needed was to be reminded of recent history.
Which goes a long way in understanding Saturday's stunning 13-12 win over rival East Grand Rapids in the Division 2 Final at Rockford.
The Yellowjackets' Hadley Keating scored with just nine seconds left as Country Day denied the Pioneers a fourth-consecutive Division 2 title and ninth overall. The game featured eight ties and five lead changes.
The championship game was another gem over two seasons after EGR knocked off Country Day 12-11 in overtime in last year's Final. Country Day thumped the Pioneers 18-5 late in this year's regular season. While those results were varied, neither was necessarily on the minds of Yellowjackets players, said junior Emma Arico, who scored five goals.
"We knew we couldn't take them lightly," said Arico, who scored the tying goal with 1:04 left. "It's a whole new team, a whole new atmosphere. We just wanted to focus on us and trust one another.
“I can't express how much I love my teammates and how Hadley won the game with her goal. We fought through adversity, and the last minute was made for us."
The championship was the first for No. 1-ranked Country Day, which finished. 18-1. East Grand Rapids (16-10) had won in both 2021 and 2022, as well as 2019 before the 2020 season was lost to COVID-19.
The Pioneers had taken a 12-11 lead with 1:43 left on a goal by MC Millman.
EGR coach Meggan Loyd said she liked her team's position with less than two minutes left.
"I was feeling confident. The girls have practiced (for close games). Draws were a big point, and unfortunately we didn't enough of them," said Loyd, who said the players had really discounted the 13-goal loss to Country Day late in the season. EGR had just lost back-to-back games to Division 1 finalist Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern/Eastern.
"I think we were more prepared, that we had improved offensively. We're a young team (seven seniors) and we needed more practice time to see about what worked and what didn't work."
Neither team could manage more than a few minutes of momentum. EGR scored the game's first three goals, Country Day six of the next seven, and the Pioneers four of the next five for a 12-11 lead with 1:43 to go.
Keating, an all-stater who has more than 160 career goals, agreed her teammates couldn't dwell on last year's devastating loss – at least to a degree.
"We used that as motivation, for sure," said Keating, who thought the game-winner was simply taking advantage of what was given by the defense. "It was definitely a gritty draw, and Emma came up with it. We wanted to take advantage of that. We had the last shot; we're lucky to have so many shooters and talented players who were willing to work for this."
Fifth-year Country Day coach Emma Kuehl, whose lineup included just one senior in defender Aunvil Mahajan, said she didn't expect less than another classic contest with EGR.
"They came out prepared. They had just played Forest Hills Northern/Eastern (in the teams' first meeting) and were probably fatigued," she said. "We needed possession on the last goal and finished well. We didn't feel like playing another overtime game with them. We just wanted to finish on top. It was a lot of goals to little goals the first time we played, and East probably pushed the envelope against us today."
Country Day averaged 22 goals per game during the Regional before a 19-10 win over Ann Arbor Skyline in the Semifinal. The Yellowjackets closed the season with a 14-game winning streak.
Mary Pavlou had four goals for Country Day. Millman and Vivian LaMange both had four goals, and Olivia Shaw scored three for EGR.
"It feels amazing, just a lot of hard work," Kuehl said. "Every year in my five years here we've taken a step forward. This is for the alumni and all the support they've given us. It wasn't about revenge, it's about evolving as a team. I'm ecstatic; we played fun lacrosse this spring.”
PHOTOS (Top) Detroit Country Day claims its Division 2 championship trophy Saturday. (Middle) The Yellowjackets’ Hadley Keating (18) sends a shot toward the Pioneers’ goal. (Below) Country Day’s Emma Arico (16) and EGR’s Kailee O’Connor battle for possession. (Click for more from Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)