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)
Rockford Holds Off Brighton Charge to Add to Title Streak
By
Perry A. Farrell
Special for MHSAA.com
June 12, 2021
NOVI – Overcoming a canceled season in 2020, Rockford made it eight straight Division 1 lacrosse titles with a 19-16 victory over Brighton on Saturday at Novi High School.
Only last’s year break due to COVID-19 has interrupted the Rams’ near decade-long dominance – although the Bulldogs made a strong attempt as the teams met in the championship game for the third-straight season.
“This is just a special group of young ladies,’’ said Rockford coach Mike Emery. “They’ve been through so much with the off-field stuff, COVID and the protocols. We lost our season last year. To be able to finish our season this year is just incredible.
"We’ve had a lot of great teams, and this team stacks right up there with them. This is one of my most rewarding seasons.”
Rockford (14-4) also had defeated Brighton (18-6-1) during the regular season 19-5.
“We had a lot of players under quarantine back then,’’ said Brighton coach Ashton Peters.
“I think they started to get a run on us in the beginning (this time). We came back and made it close, we just didn’t have enough time. I truly believe we could have won, but they scored five straight points and we couldn’t get back in it.’’
Rockford got on the board early on a goal by Chloe Dunham, who scored six goals total, with an assist from Mackenzie Delacher. Seconds later Isabelle Osborn, who tallied five goals, scored for the Rams to make it 2-0.
Osborn made it 3-0 less than one minute later with her second goal.
Brighton finally got on the board with a goal by Gabby Mainhardt. But Sydney Walsh made it 4-1 for the Rams, and seconds later Chloe Holmes tacked on another to make it 5-1.
Mainhardt scored her second to cut the deficit to 5-2.
Holmes scored her second for Rockford to make it 6-2. Ella Boose became the second player to score for Brighton to trim the deficit to 6-3.
Osborn scored her third goal of the game to make it 7-3, and Katherine Rodriguez scored seconds later to make it 8-3.
Sophie Mondro ended the streak for Brighton to reduce the lead to 8-4. Rodriguez scored her second for Rockford for a 9-4 lead.
Dunham scored her second as Rockford reached double figures, 10-5.
“We didn’t really know what to expect this year, and it kind of gave us a new perspective as far as what a privilege it is to be out here, and we love the game,’’ Dunham said. “We played that way today. We have a lot of balance and we trusted each other.’’
Mainhardt scored her third for the Bulldogs to make it 10-6. Osborn’s fourth gave Rockford an 11-6 lead, but Kaia Malachino closed the first half with a goal for Brighton.
After trailing 11-7 at halftime, Amanda Granader scored her second goal of the game to get Brighton within 11-8 early in the second half.
Walsh helped stem the tide with her second goal to make it 12-8.
Rodriguez scored her third to increase the Rams lead to 13-8. Dunham made it three straight goals for the Rams to extend the lead to 14-8.
Dunham’s fourth made 15-8 as Brighton’s offense wilted until Mainhardt scored back-to-back goals to make it 15-10. She finished with five goals. Dunham added her fifth with an assist from Osborn to put Rockford up six.
Dunham tacked on her sixth to increase the lead to 17-10 and Osborn’s fifth made it 18-10.
Two goals by Amaria Whitby got the Bulldogs to within five goals, 15-13.
With 1:09 left, the Bulldogs had cut the lead to 19-16 on Boose’s second goal as Rockford’s offense became turnover prone. But the Rams were able to hang on for the final minute-plus to close out the championship.
PHOTOS: (Top) Rockford’s Isabelle Osborn (15) considers her next move Saturday while Brighton’s Olivia Groce guards her. (Middle) Abbie Chaka (15) and Kelley Elizabeth (26) defend the Bulldogs’ goal.