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)
Cardinal Mooney's Lenn, Hillsdale Academy Run to Division 4 Championships
November 4, 2023
BROOKLYN — Among the T-shirts cross country runners enjoy wearing — besides “our sport is your sport’s punishment” — are those that emphasize the importance of summer training.
“Summer miles bring fall smiles” and “Medals are earned in the summer and picked up in the fall” are among the favorites.
Marine City Cardinal Mooney senior Tyler Lenn wasn’t smiling much during the summer, because he was unable to log those all-important miles required for building an aerobic base.
He ran through injuries during track & field season before the pain became too much. He was dealing with a stress fracture, Achilles’ tendinitis and calf strains in both legs.
“Mentally, for me, it was not where I wanted to be,” Lenn said. “I don’t think anybody would want to be in that position. At the same time, there’s nothing I could have really changed about it. I made the most out of the situation, and I guess I showed that today.”
Lenn was all smiles Saturday at Michigan International Speedway, standing atop the podium after winning the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 4 individual championship.
Lenn posted a personal-best time of 15:49.0 to win by 12 seconds over Owen Patton of Vestaburg.
It was the culmination of a rocky season that began to turn around Oct. 20 when he won his league meet in 16:02.1. He ran 18:35.1 17 days earlier and 17:09.3 in his previous meet.
“I was like, ‘OK, I feel like I have a little bit of confidence in my body again,’” Lenn said. “Throughout the season, it was really rough. I would just fall apart in some races where I would trip and tweak the ankle and I would fall apart in the race mentally.”
Patton held a slight lead at the mile and two mile before Lenn laid down the hammer in the final mile.
“I think I made the right move,” Lenn said. “I just fought for positioning in the first 400 (meters), kind of held myself back a little bit to save for the end.”
Top-ranked Hillsdale Academy won the team championship, scoring 129 points to win by 70 ahead of Holland Calvary. It was the second MHSAA championship for Hillsdale Academy, which won in 2021.
Senior Thomas Holm was fourth, junior Reece Poole was fifth, sophomore Grayson Rorick was 20th, freshman Ryan Miller was 76th and sophomore Harry Lindsley was 80th for Hillsdale Academy.
PHOTOS (Top) Cardinal Mooney’s Tyler Lenn leads through the stretch of the Division 4 Final on Saturday at MIS. (Middle) Thomas Holm pushes toward a fourth-place finish that led Hillsdale Academy to a team title. (Photos by Dave McCauley/RunMichigan.com.)