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)
2021 Champs Make Up for 2020's Lost Opportunities
By
Dean Holzwarth
Special for MHSAA.com
March 27, 2021
ROCKFORD – Lizzie Maurer’s 2020 bid for an all-around gymnastics championship was cut short as the pandemic ended last season prematurely.
The Grand Ledge senior had one more shot at achieving her goal at Saturday’s MHSAA Individual Finals at Rockford High School – and she made the most of it.
Maurer claimed the Division 1 individual all-around championship with a total score of 37.450 across her four events.
She clipped Rockford sophomore Lacey Sheid, who finished with a 37.400.
Farmington United senior Sydney Schultz won the all-around in Division 2 with a score of 37.000, while Rockford’s Anna Tracey (35.775) placed runner-up.
Maurer placed fourth in the Division 1 all-around two years ago and was looking forward to her final chance.
“Ever since my freshman year, my coach and I kind of knew that I had the potential to win,” Mauer said. “And after having that taken away from me last year with COVID and everything, I really wanted to come in this year and try my hardest to fight for that top spot.”
Maurer won three of the four events. She took top honors in the floor exercise by producing a career-best score (9.8) and also won vault (9.525) while tying Livonia Stevenson’s Autumn Wronikowski on the balance beam as both scored a 9.575.
The beam gave Maurer troubles in the team competition Friday night, as she fell, but she redeemed herself in victorious fashion.
She also overcame a minor injury on her first rotation of the day.
“I had a pretty bad bar rotation and I injured my elbow, so we weren’t sure how I was going to do,” Maurer said. “It was a rough way to start the meet, but I’m really proud of how I did on everything.
“I stayed on the beam and won, and on floor I had my highest score in my gymnastics career. I hit my first 9.8 so that really got me motivated to do vault.”
Maurer knew she needed a high score in that final event.
“We were looking at other people’s scores and saw I needed that 9.5 to win,” she said. “I just really ran into that vault, and sticking it I think was the highlight because it was the end of my career and it’s what won the meet for me.”
Scheid topped the field in the beam with a score of 9.650 and was runner-up to Maurer in the floor exercise.
“I was so happy with my bars,” Scheid said. “I have not hit a good bar routine in a while. I didn’t hit my feet on my bail and I almost stuck my double, so I was super proud of it.”
A tough beam effort prevented Scheid from overtaking Maurer.
“I’m a little disappointed because of my beam performance,” she said. “If I would’ve stayed on the beam I could’ve won, but that’s OK. I’m super proud of how I did and super proud of who won because she did an amazing job.”
Scheid was making her debut appearance at the Finals.
“This was my first state meet because I had never done high school gymnastics, so my expectations were very low,” Scheid said. “I just wanted to get a feel of the environment and what to expect. My goal was to not win, it was to have fun and stay calm. I hope I can carry that throughout to senior year.”
Schultz notched high scores on the vault (9.450) and bars (9.225). She tied for third on floor (9.125).
“I just tried to take one event at a time,” Schultz said. “I was just trying to keep my cool, I guess.”
Schultz finished sixth in the all-around at the 2019 Finals.
“I was just happy that I kept a positive attitude through all of it,” Schultz said. “I have a hard time with that sometimes.”
Tracey, a junior, snagged the beam title with a score of 9.375. Jackson’s Addi Richmond won the Division 2 floor exercise with a 9.325.
Click for full Division 1 and Division 2 results.
PHOTOS: (Top) Grand Ledge's Lizzie Maurer performs her beam routine during Saturday's Division 1 Individual Finals. (Middle) Rockford/Sparta's Lacey Sheid performs her floor exercise routine. (Below) Farmington United's Sydney Schultz also performs on floor. (Click for more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)