Did you see that?
June 4, 2012
Saturday annually is the busiest high school sports day on the MHSAA calendar.
The Spring Finals match began with Girls and Boys Track and Field and Girls Tennis Finals at sites all over both peninsulas. There were Regionals for both boys and girls lacrosse, which finish up this weekend. And, of course, there were Districts galore for softball, baseball and girls soccer.
Here's our sampling of some of the highlights:
Girls Track and Field
19 records fall: It was quite day across the seven MHSAA Girls Track and Field Finals, with 19 records broken, and two athletes – Reed City’s Sami Michell and Norway’s Dani Gagne – winning four individual events apiece. (Second Half)
Coast to coast: The Grosse Pointe South 3,200 relay was responsible for one of two all-Finals records, and ran a time of 8:48.29 that also surpassed the national record for that event (but may or may not stand as the national record, depending on what other times were run and will be submitted after this spring.) (Detroit Free Press)
Boys Track and Field
LP filled with first-time champs: Lake Orion in Division 1, Auburn Hills Avondale in Division 2 and Lansing Catholic in Division 3 won their first MHSAA team championships. Also, nine records fell across the state. (Second Half)
Quite a comeback: Marquette trailed Gladstone by 27 points at the Upper Peninsula Division 1 Final with four events to run. But the Redmen outscored Gladstone 42-0 over those events to win their third straight championship. (Marquette Mining Journal)
Girls Tennis
Southeast sweep: Detroit suburban schools claimed all four MHSAA Lower Peninsula team championships – Grosse Pointe South in Division 1, Birmingham Seaholm in Division 2, Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood in Division 3 and Bloomfield Hills Academy of the Sacred Heart in Division 4. (Second Half)
Freshman reigns: Utica freshman Davina Nguyen beat both the first and second seeds on her way to claiming the individual championship at No. 1 singles in Division 1. Nguyen was seeded fifth. (Macomb Daily)
Boys lacrosse
Cranbrook comes out on top: Cranbrook-Kingswood, ranked No. 3 in Division 2, emerged from a Regional that also included No. 4 Haslett/Williamston and No. 5 East Grand Rapids, beating the latter 8-4 in the Final. (Bloomfield Patch)
Girls lacrosse
EGR plays to top ranking, again: Rivals East Grand Rapids and Grand Rapids Catholic Central met in one of the multiple close Regional Finals, with the top-ranked Pioneers downing No. 2 GRCC one more time, 11-9. (Grand Rapids Press)
Baseball
It’s Holt, again: The Rams claimed their second championship in a week over rival Grand Ledge – both have been ranked in Division 1 this season. Two weeks ago, Holt split with the Comets to win the Capital Area Activities Conference Blue. Standout Justin Alleman gave up two hits and struck out 18 as Holt also won Saturday to claim a District title. (Lansing State Journal)
Softball
In the end, it’s Mattawan: The season-long battle for statewide Division 1 and Kalamazoo-area supremacy was decided in part at Saturday’s District at Portage Central. Reigning MHSAA champion Mattawan emerged as the winner from a field that included top-ranked Portage Central – which was upset by Kalamazoo Loy Norrix in a semifinal. (Kalamazoo Gazette)
Soccer
AAGR moves on: Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard, No. 8 in Division 3, shut out No. 7 Jackson Lumen Christi 3-0 in the Division 3 District final at Brooklyn Columbia Central (AnnArbor.com)
Century of School Sports: MHSAA Work Guided by Representative Council
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
December 3, 2024
One of the most common misconceptions about the MHSAA over its 100-year history is that all decisions regarding school sports in Michigan are made by the staff in the East Lansing office.
The MHSAA truly is an organization built upon its membership, with its Representative Council the legislative body that has produced the rules and tournament schedules currently in place to provide structure in athletics for more than 750 high schools and hundreds more middle schools across the state.
The Representative Council is the 19-member legislative body of the MHSAA. All but five members are elected by member schools. Four members are appointed by the Council to facilitate representation of females and minorities, and the 19th position is occupied by the Superintendent of Public Instruction or designee.
The Council considers all proposals brought before it from MHSAA sport and other appointed committees that meet throughout the year, and also makes decisions on a variety of eligibility rules, postseason tournament and operational issues. The Council regularly considers 30 committee proposals during its Spring meeting alone, along with a handful of others during Fall and Winter meetings which otherwise are primarily opportunities for discussion of topics that may come up for action at a later date.
Eight representatives are elected across four regions – two apiece from the Northern Lower Peninsula, Southeastern Michigan, Southwestern Michigan and the Upper Peninsula – and also based on school enrollment, with one representative from each of those regions from the larger Class A and B-sized schools and one representative from each region from the smaller Class C and D-sized schools. There are also two statewide at-large positions, two representing junior high/middle schools, and elected representatives from Detroit Public Schools and private and parochial schools.
All Representative Council members must be representatives of a member school, as faculty or board of education members. Every Council candidate must have superintendent or principal approval in writing and be qualified for the position for which that person is running.
Elections take place every fall after names of candidates are submitted and published to the MHSAA Website by April 15 the preceding spring. Ballots are mailed to schools in September and must be postmarked no later than two weeks after they were sent by the MHSAA office. A Board of Canvassers appointed annually counts the ballots, which must be signed by the principal and superintendent of that member school (except for private and parochial schools, which require signature by the principal only).
Council members are selected by majority vote.
Terms for elected Council representatives are two years long. Appointed members also serve two-year terms and may not serve longer than two successive terms.
The Council meets three times annually. Council officers – president, vice president and secretary-treasurer – are elected during the Fall meeting for the full Council.
Five members of the Council also convene monthly during the school year to form the MHSAA’s Executive Committee, which reviews appeals of Handbook regulations by member schools. Those five include the three elected officers.
Previous "Century of School Sports" Spotlights
Nov. 26: Finals Provide Future Pros Early Ford Field Glory - Read
Nov. 19: Connection at Heart of Coaches Advancement Program - Read
Nov. 12: Good Sports are Winners Then, Now & Always - Read
Nov. 5: MHSAA's Home Sweet Home - Read
Oct. 29: MHSAA Summits Draw Thousands to Promote Sportsmanship - Read
Oct. 23: Cross Country Finals Among MHSAA's Longest Running - Read
Oct. 15: State's Storytellers Share Fall Memories - Read
Oct. 8: Guided by 4 S's of Educational Athletics - Read
Oct. 1: Michigan Sends 10 to National Hall of Fame - Read
Sept. 25: MHSAA Record Books Filled with 1000s of Achievements - Read
Sept. 18: Why Does the MHSAA Have These Rules? - Read
Sept. 10: Special Medals, Patches to Commemorate Special Year - Read
Sept. 4: Fall to Finish with 50th Football Championships - Read
Aug. 28: Let the Celebration Begin - Read
PHOTO The MHSAA Representative Council and Executive Director Mark Uyl (front row, far right) take a group photo during its Spring Meeting in May. (Photo by Jon Ross.)