Did you see that? (9/3-9/9)
September 10, 2012
School is back in session, and MHSAA teams should be hitting their best strides as league competition gets underway in most sports.
Here's a look at some of the highlights from the first full week of September, with links to additional coverage.
Volleyball
Spikes under the sun: Muskegon Mona Shores finished 3-0 in its home invitational Wednesday against a strong field of Grand Haven, Fruitport and Spring Lake. That's reason to celebrate on its own. But the best part of this story is where the Sailors did their damage -- on two portable courts stretched across the school's football field. (Muskegon Chronicle)
St. Philip takes Cereal City: Despite being one of the smallest schools in the state, it's rare that Battle Creek St. Philip doesn't leave a tournament as champion -- especially in its home town. But the Tigers hadn't won the Cereal City Invitational since 2007, until it did so with a two-set win over Class A honorable mention Temperance-Bedford this weekend. (Battle Creek Enquirer)
FHE is No. 1: Ada Forest Hills Eastern more than justified its ranking as best in the state in Class B by besting many of the best from the Grand Rapids area at the East Kentwood Invitational. Among others in the field were Class A No. 8 East Grand Rapids and reigning MHSAA Class A champion Rockford. (Grand Rapids Press)
Put them in the book: Johannesburg-Lewiston swept Gaylord St. Mary on Tuesday, thanks in part to 10 aces by junior Brittany Cherwinski, a total which will qualify for the MHSAA record book once documentation is submitted. In the team's previous match, junior Julia Nieman qualified for most assists in a match. (Gaylord Herald Times)
Cross Country
Harbor Springs rules the mud: Both the Harbor Springs boys and girls teams won their Charlevoix Classic Mud Runs on Saturday on a course that featured standing water and hay bales among other obstacles. It was the 21st year of the race. (Charlevoix Courier)
Running to records: Sault Ste. Marie has a freshman to watch in Parker Scott, who won his school's Bill Lynn Trails race Saturday in a time of 16:36 -- at least 26 seconds faster than any of the three first-place times from last season's MHSAA Upper Peninsula Finals. The time was a school record. (Soo Evening News)
Swimming and Diving
West Ottawa wins West Michigan: Facing many of the biggest and best from that side of the state, Holland West Ottawa won the West Michigan Relays after finishing third in the event each of the last three seasons. Among those also in the field was reigning MHSAA Division 2 champion Holland. (Holland Sentinel)
Tennis
Dow rises again: The Division 2 top-ranked Midland Dow tennis team remained perfect this season by winning its third tournament of the fall, at Grosse Pointe North. Among others in the field were No. 2-ranked Portage Central and No. 3 Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central (Midland Daily News)
D2 Comes Down to Rivals Once More, but Allen Park Holds On to Complete 3-Peat
By
Tom Kendra
Special for MHSAA.com
March 7, 2026
MOUNT PLEASANT – Veteran Allen Park coach Julie Goodwin jumped off the coach’s podium after her team's Round 3 showing Saturday and arrived swiftly at the side of the mat to celebrate with her delirious team.
“We needed a good one, and the girls really delivered,” said Goodwin, who is in her 24th year as AP’s coach. “I felt really good about things after that, and I wanted to get over there and celebrate.”
Allen Park’s strong final round turned out to be just barely enough to hold off Downriver Conference rival Gibraltar Carlson, which took the mat right after the Jaguars and showed no fear, nailing a very difficult routine and posting the best Round 3 score in the eight-team field.
In the end, it was the Jaguars’ higher scores in the first two rounds that allowed them to three-peat as Division 2 champions at Central Michigan University’s McGuirk Arena, finishing with a final score of 790.40 – which was a scant 0.32 of a point better than that scored by Carlson (790.08).
Carleton Airport (779.50) placed third, followed by Walled Lake Western (772.00) and Mason (769.46).
Allen Park has won three Division 2 titles in a row and six of the last seven, with Carlson capturing the 2023 crown.
In fact, it was 19 years ago – all the way back to 2007 and Holland Christian – when a team other than Allen Park or Carlson won the Division 2 championship. Allen Park has won eight titles over that stretch and Carlson 11 (out of its 12 overall).
Goodwin noted that this year’s team was only the second during her career to go through a season undefeated.
Carlson finished second to AP in all of those major meets, which had the Marauders determined going into the Finals.
“We decided that we were going to give them a special Round 3 at state,” said fifth-year Carlson coach Alyssa Tocco, who happens to be a 2016 Allen Park graduate who cheered for Goodwin. “We took a huge risk with a very difficult final round, and it paid off for us. The girls had fire in them this whole week.”
Carlson’s final-round score of 321.80 bested Allen Park’s (321.30) for the first time this season, but it wasn’t quite enough to pull off the upset.
The Marauders had one of the youngest teams out of all 32 at the Finals, with just two seniors – Jaidyn Cox and Kendra Ochab. The team’s two captains were both juniors, Kaitlyn Skinner and Calli Baker.
“It is such an honor to cheer for Carlson and to represent all of the great teams they’ve had through the years,” said Baker. “We will definitely be back again.”
Allen Park also had a young team this winter, with just four seniors, led by returning all-stater Sophia Ramey. The other seniors were Delilah Cotton, Savannah Flores and Samantha Unger.
The Jaguars were powered by a standout group of seven juniors, including three returning first team all-staters in Ella Brown, Peyton Keys and Isabella Robinet, along with Daryn Bailey (second team) and Ava Rice (honorable mention).
Ramey said things were a little dicey going into Round 3 on Saturday, as the Jaguars went first in that round and didn’t start preparing early enough.
“We weren’t quite ready, we were in the middle of the chant we do when they called us up,” said Ramey. “It wasn’t ideal, but we just raced out there and did our thing one last time.”
PHOTOS (Top) Allen Park coach Julie Goodwin presents the Division 2 championship trophy to her team Saturday. (Middle) The Jaguars perform a routine at McGuirk Arena.