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)
Iron Mountain Pair Climb Into Michigan's All-Time Hoops Elite
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
August 10, 2021
Johnson and Wonders led the Mountaineers to the Division 3 Final in 2019, and Wonders brought them back this past season. Iron Mountain also was 21-1 when the 2019-20 season ended early because of COVID-19.
Wonders, who graduated this spring, closed his career with 2,286 points, 13th most in MHSAA history. He twice made the record book for points scored in one quarter and against Ironwood on Feb. 18 also tied the state record with seven 3-pointers in the first quarter. He averaged 26 ppg over 88 games and four seasons and is continuing his career at Southern Illinois.
Johnson, a senior in 2020, led Iron Mountain to a combined 91-8 record with four seasons worth of contributions now reflected in the MHSAA record book, where he’s listed eight times. He made the career scoring list with 2,076 points, he’s seventh on the career 3-pointers list with 285, tied for seventh on the career free throws list with 518 and also made the career steals list with 248. His career free throw shooting percentage of .812 ranks 11th. Johnson played this past season at Bay College.
See below for more recent record book additions for boys and girls basketball, boys lacrosse, volleyball and wrestling.
Boys Basketball
Joe Liedel’s senior season was cut short by COVID-19 in 2020 before he could make a run at the MHSAA’s career 3-point record. But the Erie Mason standout still be recalled among the state’s top shooters – short and long-range – of all-time. Liedel’s 2,202 career points sit 16th on that list, while his 334 3-pointers are second for a career and just six shy of the record. He’s also on the career free throws list with 342 (85 percent success), and he connected on 88 percent of his attempts from the line as a senior. Liedel also made the career steals list with 243. He’s continuing at Detroit Mercy.
Adrian Lenawee Christian drilled 17 3-pointers in a 75-28 win over Battle Creek Academy on Feb. 13 of this past season. Gavin Sluss let the effort with seven.
It took 46 years to make it in to the record book, but Detroit Denby’s Vincent Rush has been credited for 21 assists against Detroit Osborn on Jan. 24, 1975. His total at the time would have been the record and stood for two seasons.
Benzie Central earned a record book entry with 16 3-pointers in its March 11 win over Onekama. Benzie connected on 43 percent of its tries (16 for 37) in the 83-42 victory.
Senior Carter Foerster helped Lake Fenton to a District Semifinal win over Chesaning on March 25 with 34 points total – including 22 during the third quarter to make the single-quarter scoring list. He will play college football at Lawrence Tech.
Girls Basketball
Sarah Marvin made her most powerful impact on high school sports as a Finals record setter in both shot put and discus again this past spring. But her four-season basketball career was similarly memorable as she finished with six MHSAA record book listings. Most recently added were career entries for 400 made free throws, 462 assists and 1,017 rebounds, all over 84 games. Marvin will continue her track & field throwing career at Michigan.
Boys Lacrosse
Ted Campbell and Drew Zyskowski were among those who played major roles as East Grand Rapids finished this spring as Division 2 champion. Zyskowski, a sophomore, was added to the record book with 44 assists and 85 points, while Campbell made the single-season goals list with 65 during his senior campaign.
Volleyball
A junior hitter and sophomore setter led Cadillac to a successful 2019, as the team finished 41-10-2. Macy Brown made the records with 831 kills over 132 games, while setter Renee Brines made the single-season assists list with 1,344. Brown is a freshman at University of New Haven (Conn.), and Brines will sign with Northwood.
Wrestling
Chayse LaJoie wrestled in four Division 2 individual championship matches over four seasons for Gaylord and won two Finals titles, and he was added to the record book for his 197 wins (with only four losses) before graduating in 2000. He had 18 technical falls as a senior and concluded his career with 60, both also making the records.
PHOTOS: Marcus Johnson, left, and Foster Wonders were standouts on Iron Mountain’s 2019 team and throughout their varsity careers.