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)
Sault, Ishpeming, Chassell Boys Set Pace
By
John Vrancic
Special for MHSAA.com
October 21, 2018
MUNISING — The Sault Ste. Marie boys made a statement in the wind and cold Saturday, earning their first Upper Peninsula Division 1 cross country championship in six years with 42 points.
Sault, which placed five in the top 14, was followed by reigning champ Houghton with 65, Gladstone 70 and Marquette with 71 points.
“This is the first time all seven of our boys ran together all year,” said Sault coach Jim Martin. “We’ve been banged up all year, but the kids never stopped believing. The parents were very supportive, and the kids were great to work with. They never complained. We knew Marquette would be tough, and Houghton really came on late in the season.”
Gladstone senior Adam Bruce won the 3.1-mile race in 17 minutes, 5.6 seconds at Pictured Rocks Golf Club. He was followed by Houghton junior Joe Wood (17:35.1), Gladstone senior Jake Strasler (17:40.1), Sault junior Kaaleb Ranta (17:47.8) and Gladstone freshman Giovanni Mathews (17:48).
“My time wasn’t the greatest, but I’m happy with it,” said Bruce. “I’m proud of the way our team ran. If Marquette hadn’t pushed us all year, this wouldn’t have happened. We have a lot of work to do, but we’re pleased. I think this will give us awesome motivation for track.”
Division 2
Ishpeming completed its first perfect season in school history, taking its fourth title in five years with 32 points. The Hematites were followed by defending champ Gogebic at 47 and Newberry with 70.
“The guys were pretty motivated,” said Ishpeming coach P.J. Pruett. “When one made a mistake, another picked it up. We’ve been doing two meets a week for six weeks. The kids were pretty tired, but they still picked it up.
“We never had any injuries this year. We’re 10 deep and went back and forth all week about who would run today.”
Gogebic senior Uriah Aili earned his first Finals title with the day’s fastest time (17:02.5). He was followed by classmate Devon Byers (17:16) during a snow squall off Lake Superior.
“Devon and I were going to run together and see what happened, and we started pulling away at about 1 1/2 miles,” said Aili. “(Ishpeming) really did good. We had the numbers, but they were just a little better overall.
“It’s awesome to go out this way (as a U.P. champion), and running with my teammates was even better.”
Ishpeming grabbed the next three spots, with senior and last year’s champion Spencer Giroux taking third (17:33.9). He was followed by junior Jonah Broberg (18:00.4) and sophomore Jordan Longtine (18:06.4).
Division 3
Chassell took five of the top 13 places and claimed the D-3 title for the fourth time in five years with 41 points, followed by 2017 champion Brimley with 54 and Rudyard with 72.
“We anticipated a close race, and our guys wanted to regain the title,” said Chassell coach Marco Guidotti. “All our guys did their best to take the places we needed, and we had some youth really step up.”
Brimley senior Austin Plotkin retained his title in 17:23.5, followed by Cedarville junior Thomas Bohn (17:29.5), Brimley sophomore Cameron Hoornstra (17:46.2), Chassell senior Ben Tuomi (17:55.4) and Dollar Bay’s Davin Hill (18:04.3).
“It was quite windy and cold,” said Plotkin. “After the first loop we could feel a lot of heat from the sun (during its brief appearance), but my kneecaps went numb.
“Thomas ran with me most of the way. I was waiting for the wind to be on our back, and that momentum carried me into the home stretch.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Gogebic's Uriah Aili (217) leads the Division 2 pack Saturday with Ishpeming's Spencer Giroux (161) and their teammates Devon Byers (219) and Jonah Broberg (159) following close behind. (Middle) Gladstone's Adam Bruce heads down the home stretch on the way to finishing first in Division 1. (Below) Chassell placed five of the top 13 in Division 3; here Ben Tuomi (258), Kurtis Kytta (255), Gabe Torola (257), Kolson Kytta (254), Abraham Gockenbach (252) and Elijah Soumis (256) break out of the start together. (Photos by Cara Kamps. Click for more at RunMichigan.com.)