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)
Vargo, Ammon Fulfill Expectations Greatly
March 9, 2019
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
ROCKFORD – Farmington United junior Elena Vargo wasn’t sure what to expect from high school gymnastics when she decided to give it a try this season.
Rockford/Sparta senior Reagan Ammon never expected her high school career to end like this.
Both received pleasant outcomes at Saturday’s MHSAA Individual Finals at Rockford High School – Vargo’s not necessarily surprising, but Ammon’s so stunning it moved her to tears multiple times.
Vargo, after leading United to the team championship Friday and posting the state's highest Regional all-around score a weekend ago, capped her first season of high school gymnastics with the Division 1 individual all-around championship. Ammon, meanwhile, moved up from fifth in 2018 to close her high school career as the all-around champion in Division 2 as she was the last to be announced at the end of a busy weekend in her home gym.
“I did come from a competitive environment, so I knew I was going to come here and I knew I was going to be competitive. But I didn’t know what the other girls were going to be like,” Vargo said. “I just knew that no matter how good or how the other girls did, I wanted to beat myself each time. So my goal for each meet was to say, OK, I got a 9.6 on bars, let’s get a 9.65. I just kinda keep pushing myself, and through that I guess that made me get to the top.”
Vargo’s all-around score of 38.000 edged that of Northville sophomore and runner-up Katelyn O’Brien by 1.325 points. Vargo finished first on vault (9.800), uneven parallel bars (9.350) and floor exercise (9.600), the vault score tying for third-highest in Division 1 Finals history.
She made the switch to high school this winter after years gaining substantial club experience. Vargo, a student at Farmington Hills Harrison, also carries a 4.0 GPA and takes part in her district’s International Baccalaureate program, and going the high school gymnastics route allowed her to still compete in the sport and focus on an increased academic load.
Farmington United – made up of students from Harrison, Farmington High and North Farmington – had a number of individual competitors Saturday, and all of Vargo’s rotations were filled with teammates. They were difference makers when Vargo took to the vault late in the afternoon.
“Because we had an hour and a half of just sitting there, I was tired, I was sick, and I guess the adrenaline really got me going,” she said. “And my coaches and my teammates, they’re the main reason motivating me. As I was going down the vault, I could actually hear them motivate me, and I’m like, ‘OK, let’s stick this.’”
Similarly, Ammon was one of five Rockford/Sparta Division 2 all-around qualifiers and was able to compete in every rotation surrounded by Rams.
She had finished 13th all-around as a sophomore before moving up to fifth a year ago, and her victory Saturday included first places on bars (9.150) and beam (9.275).
It was after that final event that she and her teammates shared an emotional moment – but there was another to come as Ammon was stunned to hear her name called last to receive her championship medal.
“It was a good day. I just didn’t know that it was that good of a day,” Ammon said. “(I knew I’d won) when they announced second place. I seriously had no idea. I wasn’t paying attention to anyone else’s scores. I was just focusing on my own performances.
“After I finished my beam routine, I knew I had stuck all my events. I was so happy.”
O’Brien’s runner-up finish in Division 1 was especially impressive as she had finished third at her Regional just a week before. She posted top-six places on three apparatuses, with a high of second to Vargo on bars. Reigning Division 1 champion Cate Gagnier, a sophomore for Grosse Pointe United, finished third all-around at 36.525. Bloomfield Hills freshman Maeve Wright made her Finals debut by winning Division 1 balance beam with a score of 9.525.
Farmington senior Kacey Noseworthy won the floor exercise (9.400) on the way to her runner-up all-around finish in Division 2, while Ammon teammate junior Morgan Case took first in Division 2 on the vault (9.400). Huron Valley sophomore Nicole Graham finished third in the Division 2 all-around at 35.700.
PHOTOS: (Top) Farmington United’s Elena Vargo performs her floor routine during Saturday’s Division 1 Finals. (Middle) Rockford/Sparta’s Reagan Ammon also competes on floor on the way to winning Division 2. (Click for more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)