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)
Farmington Aims to Repeat, Perfectly
February 18, 2019
By Geoff Kimmerly
Special for Second Half
Seniors on the Farmington United gymnastics team haven’t lost a dual meet during their high school careers.
So when longtime coach Jeff Dwyer rested some of his standouts against Grosse Pointe United two weeks ago, and his team then found itself locked in a meet too close to call until the very end, well …
“They were not happy,” Dwyer recalled.
Farmington United – a co-op of Farmington High, North Farmington and Farmington Hills Harrison, and the reigning MHSAA Finals champion – did manage to pull out the win that night. And Dwyer now knows his athletes have made a perfect season one of their goals this winter.
Perfection is not a goal he sets for his teams. But it’s one he certainly can appreciate.
“When a team is driven like that, I know they’re talking amongst themselves,” Dwyer said. “When you have a core group that works hard and knows they can be one of the top teams in the state, and they go hard, that’s awesome.”
And Farmington United has been awesome – and then some. The MHSAA/Applebee’s “Team of the Month” for January will enter Wednesday’s dual against Salem with the opportunity to finish a perfect regular season, and should be the favorite to win Regional and Finals championships next month.
United closed January with its third straight championship at the Jeanne Caruss Invitational at White Lake Lakeland, scoring a season-high 147.325 – nearly three points more than last season’s MHSAA Finals-winning total.
The following weekend, United won the annual Canton Invitational, generally considered a preview of the Finals, by more than three points.
United graduated two-time Division 2 individual champion Elisa Bills and another strong contributor in Emily Stecevic last spring, but has been keyed in part by junior addition Elena Vargo – an expected contender for the Division 1 all-around championship next month.
She joined a veteran group of standouts paced by senior Kacey Noseworthy (tied for third in Division 2 in 2018), senior Ava Farquhar (seventh), sophomore Sydney Schultz (12th) and sophomore Allison Schultz (20th), plus senior Shelby Smith, who posted two top-20 event finishes in Division 2 in 2018.
“They got the experience from last year, which was huge,” Dwyer said. “That's invaluable. That makes life a lot easier, because they know what it takes and they're pretty serious about it.”
Dwyer has coached at the high school level since 1987 and took over the Tri-Farmington program in 1994. He led Tri-Farmington to three straight MHSAA championships from 2004-06.
As his current team goes for a second straight title, he’s noticed similarities to last decade’s champs in his current gymnasts’ competitiveness, determination and work ethic.
"This group, to carry over from last year to this year, it’s not just the coaches but the girls were determined to make something happen again this year,” Dwyer said. “It helped a ton getting Elena. But you still gotta count four scores in every category.”
Past Teams of the Month, 2018-19
December: Warren Woods-Tower wrestling – Read
November: Rochester Adams girls swimming & diving – Read
October: Leland boys soccer – Read
September: Pickford football – Read
August: Northville girls golf – Read
PHOTOS: (Top) Kacey Noseworthy is among high Finals placers from 2018 hoping to lead Farmington United to a second straight team championship next month. (Middle) Elena Vargo, here competing on beam, has added plenty of big scores to the mix this winter. (Photos by Roger Playle.)