Did you see that?
May 7, 2012
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Michigan high school athletes are accomplishing great things so quickly this spring, we're missing one every once in a while -- which is why we'll kick off this week's "Did you see that?" with a finish from 10 days ago that we found out more about last week.
Girls Track and Field
Moving up fast: The Grosse Pointe South 3,200-meter relay team of Haley Meier, Hannah Meier, Ersula Farrow and Kelsie Schwartz ran a blistering 8:59.69 to lead their team to a championship at the Michigan State Spartan Invitational on April 27. That's nearly six seconds faster than Rochester's all-MHSAA Finals record set in 2010. (Mlive Detroit)
Golf
This time, it’s FHC: Top-ranked Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central and No. 2 Muskegon Mona Shores are waging a back-and-forth battle not just to be called west Michigan’s top team, but the best in Division 1 overall. Forest Hills Central won the Ranger Invitational by seven strokes Saturday over Mona Shores. (Grand Rapids Press)
Ram tough: The Capital Area Activities Conference includes four teams ranked either in Division 2 or 3 – Division 2 No. 1 DeWitt, Division 2 No. 4 East Lansing, Division 3 No. 1 Jackson Lumen Christi and Division 3 No. 4 Lansing Catholic. But it was unranked Division 1 team Holt that claimed the CAAC Open by four strokes Friday. (Lansing State Journal)
Soccer
Streak over: Scoring two goals in each half Tuesday, Traverse City Central broke Petoskey’s 35-game Big North unbeaten streak with a 4-0 win over the still first-place Northmen. (Petoskey News)
Football
Changes coming in the PSL: School closings and mergers this June will significantly change the football landscape in the Detroit Public School League, home of reigning Division 1 champion Detroit Cass Tech. The formerly four-division league will switch to two divisions. Two schools are closing and two more are forming a new school. (Detroit News)
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].
Greenhills, Cranbrook Singles Ace Finish Championship Climbs
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
October 15, 2022
MASON — Just like he had the last two years, Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood senior Owen DeMuth advanced to the No. 1 singles championship match Saturday at the Lower Peninsula Division 3 Finals, where on the opposite side was the top seed from Ann Arbor Greenhills.
The only difference is that this time it was a different top seed.
Instead of current University of Michigan player and last year’s Mr. Tennis Award winner Mert Oral, this time the opponent was Greenhills senior Chakor Rajendra.
DeMuth had lost to Oral the last two years, but didn’t want to think about those defeats against Rajendra as he tried to make the third time the charm.
“I wanted to stay in the moment and enjoy it,” DeMuth said. “This being my last high school tennis match ever, I just try to stay in the moment and not think about that.”
Not only did DeMuth stay in the moment during the match, but he got to celebrate a championship moment when it was over after beating Rajendra 6-1, 6-4.
DeMuth was seeded second after losing two of three matches to Rajendra during the regular season, which created a bit of motivation.
“Just played with an underdog mentality,” said DeMuth, who will play in college at Georgia Tech. “Knowing I was going to have to work for it, and it wasn’t going to be handed to me.”
Cranbrook coach Steve Herdoiza said DeMuth did a good job of making suggested adjustments for what was the fourth meeting of the season with Rajendra, but he didn’t want to get too much into specifics as to what those adjustments were.
“I can’t give away all the secrets,” Herdoiza said. “But I think he just got very clear and decisive on the strategy he wanted to use.”
While DeMuth celebrated the individual title at No. 1 singles, Rajendra and the rest of Greenhills did get the final laugh in the team portion.
Greenhills won its first Finals championship since 2019 by scoring 35 points, finishing two points ahead of runner-up Cranbrook. Detroit Country Day was third with 23 points.
After winning it all in 2019, Greenhills was second in 2020 and third last year, and those experiences helped beyond measure for a team with seven seniors.
“This felt good,” Greenhills coach Eric Gajar said. “We’ve been there in that situation, so this time when they got in a similar situation, they were icy and ready to go. They pulled through and got it done.”
Greenhills showcased its depth in winning the title, having finalists in seven of the eight flights.
Rishi Verma at No. 2 singles, the team of Ismael Metwally and Lucas Nor at No. 1 doubles, the tandem of Arjun Prabhakar and Dylan Carvette at No. 3 doubles, and the team of Charles Branch and Ajay Purohit at No. 4 doubles all won flight championships for the Gryphons.
“That’s what it takes to beat good teams,” Gajar said. “It’s to have a complete lineup. We did, and they all delivered. Every point mattered, and we got what we needed from them.”
The other flight winners were Clay Hartje of Detroit Country Day at No. 3 singles, Amaan Khan of Cranbrook at No. 4 singles, and Cranbrook’s team of Andrew Fink and Jace Bernard at No. 1 doubles.
PHOTOS by High School Sports Scene.