Did you see that?
April 30, 2012
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
It's only the end of April. But a number of Michigan's contenders already are in championship form.
Check out our best of results, news and notes from the week that was April 23-28.
Boys Track
What a toss: Walled Lake Central junior Cullen Prena tossed the discus an incredible 187 feet, seven inches, to win the event at the Oxford Invitational by nearly 36 feet. In fact, the toss would've won every MHSAA Final dating back to 2003. Earlier in the week he broke the Oakland County record as well. He also won the shot put at Oxford. (Oakland Press)
Girls Track
South still on top: Reigning MHSAA Division 1 champion Grosse Pointe South earned a strong early win at the Michigan State Spartan Invitational ahead of a field that included annual powers Rockford and Williamston and a strong DeWitt team. Bay City Western won the boys meet. (Playmakers.com)
Baseball
Flint Final set: Goodrich’s Bob Foreback and Davison’s Timm Rye will bring more than 1,000 victories worth of experience into this season’s Greater Flint Area Baseball Tournament championship game when their teams face off on Memorial Day. The two will meet after emerging from the field this weekend. (Flint Journal)
How do you score that: Most telling lines from the Kalamazoo Gazette’s story about Comstock turning a triple play and three double plays in one game came from Comstock coach Rich Bailey: “We have not played particularly good defense. In fact, our defense has been a problem. The skill is there; the execution hasn’t been.” (Kalamazoo Gazette)
Girls Soccer
Poll position: Rochester Adams continued to affect the Division 1 rankings while moving up itself. Adams likely helped to knock rival Rochester out of this week’s honorable mentions with a 2-0 win Thursday. The Friday before, Adams downed then top-ranked Troy 4-1. The Highlanders have opened 7-0 and are ranked No. 3 in Division 1. (Oakland Press)
Boys Basketball
Flint Powers coach moves on: Tim Herman led the Flint Powers Catholic boys basketball program only seven seasons, but they were seven of the Chargers’ most memorable. Herman resigned his post last week after more than 100 wins and the team’s only MHSAA championship, in Class B in 2009. (Flint Journal)
Football
Michigan's finest take next step: At least nine former MHSAA athletes were drafted by NFL teams (by my count) over seven rounds Thursday through Saturday. They were:
- DE Nick Perry (Detroit Martin Luther King/University of Southern California) Green Bay, first round
- DT Mike Martin (Detroit Catholic Central/University of Michigan) Tennessee, third round
- QB Kirk Cousins (Holland Christian/Michigan State University) Washington, fourth round
- WR Keshawn Martin (Westland John Glenn/Michigan State University) Houston, fourth round
- CB Chris Greenwood (Detroit Martin Luther King/Albion College) Detroit, fifth round
- S Trenton Robinson (Bay City Central/Michigan State) San Francisco, sixth round
- LB Audie Cole (Monroe/North Carolina State University) Minnesota, seventh round
- RB Edwin Baker (Oak Park/Michigan State University) San Diego, seventh round
- K John Potter (Grand Haven/Western Michigan University) New York Jets, seventh round
Editor's note: Did we miss something? Comment below and tell us about it. Is there an event coming up that we should make sure to note? Comment or e-mail [email protected].
Past MHSAA standouts to Compete with World's Elite at Winter Olympics
By
Jon Ross
MHSAA Director of Broadcast Properties
January 29, 2026
The XXV Winter Olympic Games start Friday, Feb. 6 with games taking place in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy. Ninety-three countries are sending more than a combined 3,500 athletes to compete for 195 medals, with a handful of former MHSAA athletes hoping to land on the podium.
The Team USA men’s ice hockey team will be backstopped by Connor Hellebuyck, a three-time Vezina Award winner as the NHL’s top goalie after playing at Walled Lake Northern and graduating in 2011. Joining him on the ice will current Detroit Red Wing Dylan Larkin and Columbus Blue Jacket Zach Werenski. Larkin played soccer and golf at Waterford Mott before going to play hockey at the University of Michigan and in the NHL. Werenski played on the JV boys lacrosse team for one season at Grosse Pointe North.
The women’s ice hockey team features 2014 North Farmington grad Megan Keller – who played softball and basketball while in high school, in addition to travel hockey.
Nick Baumgartner will be participating in his fourth Winter Olympiad. He qualified in snowboard cross in 2010, 2014 and won Olympic gold in 2022. The 2000 graduate of West Iron County High School played football, wrestled, and ran track.
Boyne City graduate Kaila Kuhn (2021) is headed to her second Olympics. She finished eighth in freestyle ski aerials in Beijing in 2022 and is looking to improve on that this year. She ran track her senior year at Boyne City. Her father, Chris, coached the ski program at Boyne City from 2017-2025, and her older brother Quinton skied for the Ramblers.
Figure skater Emilea Zingas, a 2020 graduate of Grosse Pointe South, played JV girls lacrosse while participating on the varsity figure skating team.
And finally, while they didn’t participate in MHSAA-sponsored sports, figure skater Evan Bates (Ann Arbor Huron 2007) was on the figure skating team and snowboarder Jake Vedder (Pinckney 2016) was on the school-sponsored snowboarding team.
PHOTOS (Top) Connor Hellebuyck poses for a photo while playing at Walled Lake Northern. (Middle) This tribute at Boyne City High School celebrates Olympians Kaila Kuhn, class of 2021, and Cary Adgate, class of 1971. Adgate was a two-time Olympian in alpine skiing, competing in 1976 and 1980. (Photos courtesy of the respective schools.)