Did you see that?
June 11, 2012
Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
The second weekend of this spring's MHSAA Finals is behind us, with four more champions awarded in girls and boys lacrosse.
Below is our sampling of what struck us most from last week's many highlights as we kick off the final week of the 2011-12 school year.
Girls lacrosse
Birmingham wins thriller: Birmingham United scored the last three goals in Saturday’s MHSAA Division 1 Final to edge Hartland 12-11 in overtime. (Grand Rapids Press)
East Grand Rapids ends perfectly: The Pioneers won their first girls lacrosse championship –17-6 over Okemos in Division 2 – and finished this spring 28-0. (Grand Rapids Press)
Boys lacrosse
Again, it’s Brother Rice: The Warriors continued their hold on the MHSAA Division 1 championship and handed Ann Arbor Pioneer its only loss this season with a 14-8 win Saturday. (Detroit Free Press)
Rangers come back for more: Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central scored the final four goals of the Division 2 Final to edge reigning champion Detroit Country Day 7-6. (Second Half)
Soccer
14 goals, 2 wins: Grandville Calvin Christian eliminated two other top-10 teams in Division 4 during last week’s Regional. The No. 4 Squires first defeated No. 8 St. Joseph Lake Michigan Catholic 7-0, then No. 2 Kalamazoo Christian 7-2 in the final. (Grand Rapids Press)
DeWitt returns: The No. 4 Panthers earned a Division 2 Semifinal matchup with Plainwell by beating No. 5 Grand Rapids Christian 1-0 in their Regional Final. DeWitt fell to Plainwell in a 2011 Semifinal, but returns a number of players from that team. (Lansing State Journal)
Softball
Decade of dominance: The Gladstone softball team earned its 10th-straight Regional championship with 7-0 and 6-2 wins over Tawas and Traverse City St. Francis, respectively. Gladstone won MHSAA championships in 2009 and 2004, and was ranked No. 7 heading into this postseason. (Escanaba Daily Press)
Fantastic first: Swartz Creek won its first Regional by downing Alpena 2-1 in a Division 1 Final at Saginaw Valley State University. The Dragons are 34-6 and also have set a school record this spring for wins. (Bay City Times)
Baseball
Brighton beat Brother Rice: The unranked Bulldogs downed the top-ranked Warriors 4-1 in the Regional Final at Novi. Brighton rode the arm of pitcher Colin Nash, who moved to 8-0 this season. (Detroit News)
Bears also take out No. 1: The top-ranked team in Division 2 also fell, thanks to No. 10 St. Joseph. The Bears downed Richland Gull Lake 6-5 in eight innings before beating Coldwater for the championship. (St. Joseph Herald-Palladium)
Golf
No 300 here: No. 2-ranked Plymouth and unranked Saline and Canton all broke 300 at the Division 1 Regional at West Shore Golf and Country Club in Grosse Ile. Plymouth won the title with a 296, but Saline was only two behind and Canton came in at 299. Canton’s Donnie Trosper, a freshman, won the individual championship with a 67. Saline had beaten those two teams in the District. (MHSAA)
Hoffman Adds To Record-Setting Day, Holland Christian Claims 1st Finals Win
November 1, 2025
BROOKLYN, Mich. — What’s up with all these incredible times being run by Michigan high school cross country girls this fall?
Times that once seemed unapproachable are being run fairly regularly by the top girls in the state. Times that once guaranteed a spot on the all-state podium are no longer fast enough.
Otsego senior Emma Hoffman won the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 2 championship with a time of 16 minutes, 50.1 seconds Saturday at Michigan International Speedway. It was a Division 2 record and the fourth-fastest time ever at MIS, but only the second-fastest time on a day in which Ann Arbor Pioneer sophomore Natasza Dudek ran a course-record 16:09.5.
Dudek’s time is the fastest in the nation this year and Hoffman’s 16:20.6 in her home invitational is fourth.
Gaylord senior Katie Berkshire was second with a time of 17:03.0 that ranks third in Division 2 history and 11th overall at MIS.
“It’s crazy to have that happen here,” Hoffman said. “Michigan’s getting really, really good at running. Cross country times are getting crazier and crazier every year.
“Watching girls from our state and other states hit those times it’s like, ‘Why not me? Why can’t I do that?’”
It was a surreal race in which Hoffman had a large lead over Berkshire, who in turn had a large lead over a talented pack of runners with sub-18 credentials.
“My coach preaches all the time to get out hard and relax,” said Hoffman, who won 10 of 11 races this season, the only loss being to Dudek. “So, I just knew going into this to just continue that. All season it’s been a lot of solo races. I just had to get out hard. Why change it on a day you don’t need to change it?”
Hoffman was second at the Finals as a freshman and junior, taking 17th as a sophomore.
Berkshire was 5.6 seconds behind Hoffman at the mile and 9.9 seconds back at the two mile. She kept pushing ahead, hoping to reel in one of the nation’s top runners.
“I was just trying to close that gap,” Berkshire said. “It was really hard to. I don’t know if I really succeeded in that or not. I tried to keep the mindset of, ‘Hey, I could win, so I’m going to keep pushing myself forward.’ I didn’t win, but I think it’s just the motivation of trusting myself and I can keep going. I’m just going to try my hardest. If it doesn’t work out, it doesn’t work out, but at least I can say I gave everything I had.”
Hoffman hoped to take home two championships, but her team finished second in a close battle with fourth-ranked Holland Christian – which scored 113 points to beat top-ranked Otsego by six.
It was the first MHSAA Finals championship for the Maroons, whose best finish was third place last season.
Avery Engbers was sixth in 18:05.0, Eliana Stob 17th in 18:29.1, Annika Stob 33rd in 18:45.1, Layla Geurink 42nd in 19:03.8 and Ellery Lampen 54th in 19:17 for Holland Christian.
PHOTOS (Top) Otsego’s Emma Hoffman surges toward the finish of Saturday’s Division 2 Final at MIS. (Middle) Holland Christian’s Avery Engbers (484) leads a pack during the closing stretch. (Click for more from RunMichigan.com.)