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: 5/24/23

By Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor

May 24, 2023

1. TRACK & FIELD The Lower Peninsula Division 2 top-ranked Shepherd girls and No. 9 Gladwin boys won Jack Pine Conference meet titles, both ahead of LPD3 top-ranked teams from Clare – Mount Pleasant Morning Sun

2. SOFTBALL Division 2 top-ranked Gaylord finished a second-straight perfect season in the Big North Conference and third-straight title run with a sweep of Alpena – Petoskey News-Review

3. GIRLS TENNIS LPD4 No. 4 Traverse City St. Francis clinched the Lake Michigan Conference championship just ahead of No. 9 Elk Rapids – Traverse City Record-Eagle

4. BOYS GOLF LPD1 No. 2 Brighton won its first league title in this sport since 2007, shooting a 293 to finish a championship run in the Kensington Lakes Activities Association – Livingston Daily Press & Argus

5. TRACK & FIELD The Tri-County Conference season finished with a combined five league champions – the LPD3 No. 9 Adrian Madison, Erie Mason and Ottawa Lake Whiteford girls, and Mason and LPD3 No. 4 Whiteford boys. Additionally, Onsted’s boys and Ida’s girls clinched Lenawee County Athletic Association titles – Adrian Daily Telegram

6. TRACK & FIELD The Brownstown Woodhaven girls won their third-straight Downriver League meet, while the Allen Park boys won their first championship as part of the conference – Southgate News-Herald

7. SOFTBALL Division 1 No. 4 Farmington Hills Mercy downed Dearborn Divine Child 1-0 in eight innings to claim the Detroit Catholic League Bishop title, and Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett won the Cardinal final 9-1 over Waterford Our Lady of the Lakes – Detroit News | Oakland Press

8. SOFTBALL Division 2 honorable mention Big Rapids swept Newaygo to complete a 20-0 run in the Central State Activities Association – MI Sports Now

9. TRACK & FIELD Monroe Jefferson’s LPD2 No. 5 girls and boys teams finished repeat runs in the Huron League – Monroe News

10. SOFTBALL Division 2 honorable mention Muskegon Oakridge swept Montague, with an incredible six home runs in an inning in the second game, to finish a perfect run through the West Michigan Conference Lakes – CatchMark SportsNet

Also of note …

TRACK & FIELD Centreville finished a sweep of Southwest 10 Conference championships – Sturgis Journal

SOFTBALL Division 2 honorable mention New Boston Huron clinched a share of the Huron League title with a 4-3 eight-inning win over Milan – Monroe News

SOFTBALL/BASEBALL Beal City’s teams both swept LeRoy Pine River to clinch shares of Highland Conference championships; Beal City softball shared with Division 3 top-ranked Evart, which swept Manton. Beal City baseball is No. 5 in Division 4 – Mount Pleasant Morning Sun | Big Rapids Pioneer

TRACK & FIELD The Lake City boys and LPD3 No. 6 McBain girls finished repeats in the Highland Conference – Cadillac News

SOFTBALL Division 2 No. 3 Essexville Garber finished an outright title run in the Tri-Valley Conference Red with a sweep of Alma – Bay City Times

BASEBALL Homer and Jonesville split to also share the Big 8 Conference championship – Jackson Citizen Patriot

BASEBALL Division 2 No. 8 Bay City John Glenn swept Bridgeport to complete an outright title run in the TVC Red – Bay City Times

GIRLS TENNIS Flushing won the top two singles flights on the way to a Flint Metro League team title – WJRT

TRACK & FIELD The Kingsley girls and Benzie Central boys won Northwest Conference titles – Traverse City Record-Eagle

TRACK & FIELD The Midland Dow girls and Saginaw Heritage boys are Saginaw Valley League champions – Midland Daily News