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)
Gerber Sets Pace as Traverse City Central Girls Take Back Division 1 Title
By
Nick Cooper
Special for MHSAA.com
February 25, 2025
HARBOR SPRINGS – Unseasonably warm weather was the only thing that was different from past years at the MHSAA Division 1 Girls Skiing Final, as Traverse City West and Traverse City Central both found themselves atop the standings.
After a series of skilled runs, Central earned the championship Monday at Nub’s Nob thanks in large part to the outstanding skiing of Quinn Gerber.
“The girls were just dialed in,” said Traverse City Central head coach Amy Kudary.
Her crew delivered 31 points in the slalom and 29 in the giant slalom giving the team a combined 60 points, which was 33 better than second-place Traverse City West’s 93 points. Marquette finished third with 97 followed by Clarkston (163), Birmingham (201), Fenton/Linden/Lake Fenton (220.5), Canton (224), Holly/Oxford (240) and Brighton (257).
The championship was the fourth-straight won by either Traverse City Central or West, and Central's first since 2022 after finishing runner-up to the Titans the last two seasons.
Traverse City Central was piloted by Gerber’s giant slalom victory, where she blazed the slopes with a combined time of 54.18. TC West’s Summer Lewandowski took second place with a time of 54.43, while Estelle Dehlin secured third place with a time of 54.47.
Finishing in the top 10 and earning first-team all-state honors were Gerber, Lewandowski, Marquette’s Estelle Dehlin, Fenton/Linden/Lake Fenton’s Maddy Flack, Holly/Oxford’s Finley DeCubber, TC Central’s Avery Taggart, Berkley/Troy Athens’ Tessa Rontal, Clarkston’s Cameron Thomas, Canton’s Rhiana Savoie and TC Central’s Kellan Kudary.
While Gerber also finished in second place in the slalom with a combined time of 73.58 it was Grand Haven’s Neave Rewa who took home the championship with a time of 72.05.
“I came here hoping to do my best and being able to do that is really cool. It's a pretty cool feeling,” said Rewa.
Rewa’s team did not qualify for the Final but Rewa, also a gifted soccer player, was not without her teammates.
“I have two teammates here. It’s cool to have them watch me; it’s really nice,” said Rewa.
TC Central’s Taggart finished in third in slalom notching a time of 74.13.
Taking first-team all-state honors in slalom were Rewa, Gerber, Taggart, Birmingham’s Bianca Srock, Dehlin, Savoie, Marquette’s Lucy Stern, Rontal, TC West’s Olivia Bageris and Dillyn Mohr.
“Our team did really well, it was a good day. I had a pretty good season overall,” Gerber said.
Next season’s championship race could be similarly entertaining – both Gerber and Rewa are juniors with one more year to compete.
Click for full results. Click to watch NFHS Network broadcasts: Slalom | Giant Slalom
PHOTOS (Top) Traverse City Central’s Quinn Gerber finishes a giant slalom run Monday at Nub’s Nob. (Middle) Canton’s Lucy Savoie races the slalom course. (Below) A skier breaks past a gate also during the slalom. (Click for more from Tori Burley – photos to be added throughout this week.)