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)
Cranbrook Makes Championship Dream Come True
By
Tim Robinson
Special for MHSAA.com
March 27, 2021
PLYMOUTH -- Six years is a long time, by any standard.
For Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood, six years between hockey championships felt like an eternity.
The drought ended Saturday, when the Cranes ended Calumet's bid for an unbeaten season with a 4-1 victory in the Division 3 Final at USA Hockey Arena.
"We did this for ourselves and for the seniors in past years who couldn't get here," senior Alex Ceritano said. "This was for them."
Cranes coach John LaFontaine won his first title in his second season as head coach, but deferred credit to his four captains -- Ceritano, Leyton Stenman, Jack Wineman and Isaac Cheli.
"This was a group of outstanding leaders," LaFontaine said. "I'll be honest. I had to do nothing. These guys took care of everything."
The Cranes took care of Calumet, too, allowing the Copper Kings only 10 shots for the game, including just one in the third period.
'They boxed them out, a lot of times," Cranbrook goalie Julian Zyvagin said. "They blocked a lot of shots before they got to me, and they made them dump the puck."
Meanwhile, the Cranbrook offense got going in the second half of the first period.
Nathan Hooker got things started with a power-play goal with 4:44 left in the period. Wineman scored on a breakaway with exactly two minutes left in the period to give Cranbrook a 2-0 lead over the stunned Copper Kings (17-1-1), who rarely trailed in a game this season.
"We were only behind in one game this year, for about 10 minutes," Copper Kings coach Dan Giachino said. "But we kept working. That's all you can do."
Cheli essentially put the game out of reach with a goal early in the second period. Tom Erkkila scored for the Copper Kings, but Ty Esterlione tacked on an insurance goal midway through the third period to seal the victory.
It was Cranbrook's ninth Division 3 crown.
It was Calumet's first trip to the Finals since 2018. The Copper Kings were among teams affected when last year's tournament was cancelled, turning back after having completed most of the 12-hour journey from Copper Country.
That they made the trip this year was a tribute to the work ethic by a team that lost 11 seniors last season.
"We have two-thirds of a new team this year," Giachino said. "Getting here was a tribute to our 10 seniors."
The chemistry which lifted Calumet back to the Finals also was evident on a Cranbrook team that lost in the Regional Finals last season.
"Our JV players from last year came in and impressed everyone," Ceritano said, "We came together so well. There were no problems at all this season."
Wineman, along with his teammates, savored the accomplishment afterward.
"It's been my dream since my freshman year," he said. "I came here (weighing) 90 pounds and I was 5-foot (tall). I've had great company, great teammates these last four years.
"We've been building toward this the last four years. I'm so happy my dream came true."
Click for the full box score.
PHOTOS: (Top) Cranbrook Kingswood players celebrate after clinching the Division 3 title Saturday at USA Hockey Arena. (Middle) Calumet goalie Aksel Loukus works to keep the puck out of his net during a scramble. (Click for more from Hockey Weekly Action Photo.)