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)
Utica United Completes Championship Run with Narrow Final Victory
By
Perry A. Farrell
Special for MHSAA.com
February 28, 2025
ALLEN PARK – A first-time participant in the MHSAA Division 1 Boys Bowling Final at Thunderbowl Lanes, football powerhouse Belleville attempted to add a championship trophy in a different sport.
But Utica United did not allow that to happen Friday.
The Utica team – a cooperative made up of bowlers from Eisenhower and Utica High – was more consistent and prevailed 3-1, winning the deciding game 174-169.
The lineup of Zachary Kukuk, Evan Cicotte, Marco Mazza, Kingston Corpuz and Dylan Harnden proved too much.
“To win a singles and now a team title is great,’’ said Harnden, last year’s Division 1 Singles Final winner. “I thought the guys bowled great today. We knew all the teams here were good. We knew Belleville was going to be good and Wayne Memorial.
“We stayed focused. Being a senior makes this extra special.’’
Belleville dominated Livonia Churchill in the semifinal, advancing to the with a sweep. It took Utica United five games to dispose of Wayne Memorial.
Utica then opened the final with a 212-203 win to take Game 1 and kept the pressure on with a 216-182 victory in game 2.
“The fresh oil in the finals was a challenge, but we stayed consistent,’’ Mazza said.
The Tigers finally broke through in Game 3, prevailing 223-213. But Utica then finished the match with the narrow victory in Game 4.
Coach Phil Roberts completed his 15th and last season leading the Tigers.
“I’ll be 81 before the start of next season, so it’s time,’’ he said.
Grandville edged Davison 3,715 to 3,714 during qualifying to claim the top seed heading into match play. Utica was third at 3,707 and Belleville fourth at 3,486.
Grandville’s bracket run was short-lived. After winning the first game of their first match, the Bulldogs dropped the final three and were eliminated by Livonia Churchill.
Davison also fell in its bracket opener, losing the first two games to Wayne Memorial, rallying to tie the match but then losing the decider.
Utica stopped Jenison, 3-2, in another quarterfinal to set up a showdown with Wayne Memorial. Belleville defeated Hudsonville 3-1, setting up a semifinal with Churchill.