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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].
Marquette, Jeffers, Reigning D3 Champs Sweep UP Boys Titles
By
John Vrancic
Special for MHSAA.com
October 23, 2021
MARQUETTE — The Marquette boys team achieved a three-peat here in Saturday’s Upper Peninsula Division 1 Cross Country Finals, placing four in the top seven and scoring 32 points.
They were followed by Sault Ste. Marie with 48 and Houghton with 75.
“Marquette is probably the best team we’ve had up here in 20 years,” said Sault coach Jim Martin. “We knew they were going to be tough. We also had a real good team this year, probably our best team in a decade.”
Marquette junior Carson Vanderschaaf was crowned individual champion for the first time by covering the 3.1-mile course at Gentz’s Homestead Golf Course in Chocolay Township in 16 minutes, 45.1 seconds. He was followed by Houghton senior Eric Weiss (17:04) and Gladstone junior Drew Hughes (17:23.7) on a sunny and seasonably cool day.
“I wanted to stay up front and see what happened,” said Vanderschaaf. “My legs just felt good today.
“We have good team dynamics. We all train together. I don’t really know what this means at this time, but I’m looking forward to track next spring. This is a big confidence builder right now. It was real nice weather for running. I was afraid it would rain (as forecast by the Weather Channel).”
Hughes was undefeated this season prior to Saturday.
“I was really nervous coming in here, but I did better than last year,” he said. “Anxiety plays a big part. I cut 12 seconds off from my freshman year on this course. I still had a good day.”
Painesdale Jeffers placed four in the top five and earned its first Division 2 team title with 22 points, followed by Ironwood with 50 and Manistique at 62.
For the Jets, this marked their first title since 2009 when they were crowned Division 3 champs.
“We got some fast boys here today,” said Jeffers coach Sam Kilpela. “We moved up to D-2 and last year we were runners-up. It felt weird jumping up to D-2. The start was real fast, but the guys ran smart.
“We have a real young team, and our middle school crew is strong.”
Jeffers senior Simone Barp won a Finals for the first time at 18:30.1, followed by freshman teammates Benton Rajala (18:37.1) and Brit Heinonen (18:40.5). West Iron County senior Landon Sundelius (18:44) and Jeffers junior Tavin Larson (17:50.1) finished fourth and fifth, respectively.
“Tavin has been running since middle school,” said Kilpela. “In the last couple years we started getting competitive.”
Dollar Bay kept its Division 3 crown with 57 points, followed by Stephenson with 63 and Brimley with 77.
“We have fun running on the tough courses,” said Dollar Bay coach Matt Zimmer. “Then you get on a golf course and you think it’s going to be an easy course and it really isn’t.
“The Copper Country conferences were well represented. Both of our teams ran very well. We have three girls who have been with us since junior high. We’ve become a family. There’s absolutely a lot of camaraderie, and it’s a family atmosphere.”
Ewen-Trout Creek senior Jonah Nordine retained his individual title at 17:15.7, followed by former teammate and Dollar Bay junior Nik Thomas (17:16.6) and Munising freshman Trevor Nolan (17:47.1).
“I’m pretty happy with my time,” said Nordine. “I really tried to push it in the first mile. I ran a little more conservatively in the second mile, then tried to pick it up in the third.
“This is a pretty big confidence builder, I guess. I was a little nervous coming in here because Nik beat me in the (Copper Mountain) conference race last week. That definitely motivated me for the U.P. Finals.”
Thomas was happy with his and the team’s success.
"I’m so proud of our team,” he said. “After the girls took second, it woke us up. We knew we had to do our part. It’s real competitive in our area. It’s just a great day for our school.
“It was so cool running with Jonah again. At 2½ miles, we were just talking about how great it was to be running together again. We weren’t really running against each other. We were running with each other.”
Click for full results: Division 1 | Division 2 | Division 3
PHOTOS (Top) Painesdale Jeffers’ Simone Barp leads a group of runners including Ironwood's Joey Lauzon (143), Hancock's Jan Baaslrud (138), and teammate Ben Gilroy (154) during the Division 2 Final. (Middle) Marquette's Carson Vanderschaaf celebrates finishing first in the Division 1 race at Gentz's Homestead Golf Course. (Below) Ewen-Trout Creek's Jonah Nordine (246) edges Dollar Bay's Nik Thomas at the finish line. (Photos by Cara Kamps. Click to see more from RunMichigan.com.)