Did you see that?
May 29, 2012
The last full week of May usually represents the calm before the storm, at least relatively speaking, that is the MHSAA Spring Finals.
Although the weekend is generally one of the calmest of the season, the week was again filled with local championships, plus the start of lacrosse Regional play.
Here’s our look at some of the highlights from May 21-26:
Track and Field
All Tech in the PSL: Detroit Cass Tech’s girls and boys teams swept the Detroit Public School League championships Thursday, finishing ahead of Renaissance atop the standings in both meets. The girls are the reigning MHSAA Division 1 runner-up and led by senior Kyra Jefferson, who will run at the University of Florida next season. The boys team has hints of the team that won the MHSAA Division 1 football championship in the fall – this team also is coached by Thomas Wilcher, and quarterback Jayru Campbell was among those who shined. (Detroit News)
Still Hornets, with a side of Cougars: In a matchup of two of the best in Michigan from Divisions 2 and 3, the Williamston boys and girls again won Capital Area Activities Conference White championship meet titles -- with Lansing Catholic's boys then splitting the overall league title with Williamston. The Hornets boys are ranked No. 3 in Division 2 and the Cougars are No. 1 in Division 3. Williamston and Lansing Catholic's girls are both ranked No. 5 in their respective divisions. (Lansing State Journal)
Soccer
Okemos claims Gold: The Lansing area boasts top-four ranked teams in all four divisions, and two met for the CAAC Gold Cup championship Thursday – with Division 1 No. 2 Okemos downing Division 2 No. 4 DeWitt 3-1. The CAAC Cup pulls teams from each of its four divisions into a series of tournaments, based on league standings, with the top teams from each division playing for the Golf Cup. To advance to the championship game, DeWitt downed Division 3 No. 3 Williamston in a semifinal, while Okemos beat Division 2 honorable mention Mason. (Lansing State Journal)
Lacrosse
Final countdown: Girls and boys teams statewide began Regionals, with those finishing up this weekend. Of the few early games, the most significant might’ve been in Division 2 girls, where No. 9 Farmington Hills Mercy defeated Ann Arbor Skyline 18-6. (Observor & Eccentric)
Golf
Best by the Bay: For the first time in 18 seasons, Essexville-Garber won the Bay County Invitational, which matches teams from the Bay City area including larger Bay City Central and Western. (Bay City Times)
Fennville
Wes remembered: When Fennville’s Class of 2012 walked Thursday, Wes Leonard was with them. This year’s commencement included a remembrance of the standout, who died on March 3, 2011, as a junior, of cardiac arrest moments after hitting the game-winning shot for his basketball team. Classmate and close friend Selena Beltran-Pena walked with an additional cap, for Leonard, with accompanied by Leonard’s younger brother Mitchell. (Holland Sentinel)
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].
Traverse City West Follows Another Lewandowski to 2nd-Straight Title
By
Andrew Rosenthal
Special for Second Half
February 28, 2022
BOYNE FALLS — Traverse City West’s two-year ski dynasty is bookended by two Lewandowski brothers.
Sophomore Caleb Lewandowski won the slalom championship Monday at the Division 1 Finals at Boyne Mountain to lead the Titans to the second of their first back-to-back ski team titles since the school opened in 1997. His older brother Aiden had led West's 2021 championship run with a giant slalom win.
Aiden also had won the respect of Rochester Adams senior Nathan Dehart, Monday’s GS winner. The two schools are separated by nearly a four-hour drive and 227 miles, but Dehart knew the Lewandkowski brothers well. He competed with Aiden in USSA Team Michigan events across the country.
“I’ve raced against (Aiden) for a long time,” Dehart said after he gave Caleb a celebratory carry at the finish line.
“I trained really hard to get into this situation, and I try to win every week. It feels good to finally win one my senior year.”
The two first-time Finals champions were runners-up in each-others disciplines, with Dehart edging Lewandowski in GS and Lewandowski racing past Dehart in slalom. They congratulated each other, they celebrated with each other on the podium, and Dehart even spent most of the awards ceremony hanging out with the Titans' boys team.
“I was trying to make it down, but also get a fast time. The team was doing really well, so I had to finish for them too,” Lewandowski. “I still have two more years to try and win some more.”
Traverse City West claimed the title over Traverse City Central by 36.5 points. The Titans should next season return several from a sophomore-heavy group, including Lewandowski.
A few seniors graduate — including all-state slalom finisher and captain Andy Hill — but West also returns several fast underclassmen. For example: TC West’s all-state sophomore Charlie Licht (3rd) wasn’t even on the Finals title roster last year. Juniors Luke Wiersma (fifth in GS, eighth in slalom) and Ben Schramski (seventh in GS, fifth in slalom) both had two all-state finishes.
“Any one of those top 4-5 boys could have won today,” TC West coach Ed Johnson said. “All of them skied where they needed to within their abilities. It was exciting to see Caleb win and then be able to have his teammates kind of stack up right behind him.”
Crosstown foe Traverse City Central finished runner-up to the Titans with a trio of all-state finishers. Asher Paul (eighth in GS, fifth in slalom) came home with two medals. Jace Rowell took third in GS, and Michael Booher claimed eighth in slalom.
The Trojans have now hit the 30 mark in boys skiing trophies, capturing their program’s 11th runner-up nod with 19 Finals championships. They finished fourth last year and have been runners-up in five of the past eight seasons.
It wouldn’t be fair to call the two schools rivals — well, at least for skiing. The two schools celebrated with each other for nearly a half hour.
Central coach Amy Kudary said the Trojans have been solid all year long and a runner-up nod to West is still a great accomplishment. The Trojans defeated the Titans at the Peppi Town Slalom meet earlier in the year — the biggest ski meet within the city limits of Traverse City.
“We knew that was a possibility, but still a lot of stars had to align to make it happen,” Kudary said.
Adams took third with a score of 90, led by Dehart’s all-state finishes. The Highlanders had a good showing in slalom, with Brayden Tapert (eighth) and Bryce Tapert (seventh) both landing in the top 10.
Individual all-state medalists not from the top-three finishing teams were Marquette’s Sam Dehlin (fourth in GS, fifth in slalom), Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern-Eastern’s JD Amann (sixth in GS), Hart’s Bryce Natter (ninth in GS, 10th in slalom), Clarkston’s Luke Farella (10th in GS) and Okemos’ Michael Benevegna (seventh in slalom).
PHOTO (Top) Traverse City West’s Caleb Lewandowski leans into a turn during a slalom run Monday at Boyne Mountain. (Middle) Rochester Adams’ Nathan Dehart pulls into the finish of a giant slalom run. (Click for more from Sports in Motion.)