Did you see that?
May 14, 2012
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
It's league championship time for many MHSAA teams, especially with tennis and track and field Regionals coming up later this week. And the week that was May 7-12 provided for a good share the first of many championship-level opportunities to shine.
Tennis
Streak stopper: The Fenton tennis team ended Holly's 29-season league title run by edging the Bronchos by a point in Tuesday’s Metro League championship tournament. The Flint Journal reported that Madison Ballard became the first Fenton No. 1 singles player to win a league championship in 24 seasons. (Tri-County Times)
Softball
On the rise: Division 1 No. 5 Portage Central swept top-ranked Mattawan -- putting Portage Central ahead by two games at the top of the Southwestern Michigan Athletic Conference West standings. (Kalamazoo Gazette)
Strike 75: Fennville’s Selena Beltran-Pena had strikeouts for 25 of 30 outs in two five-inning wins over Martin. Beltran-Pena threw a no-hitter in the opener and a one-hitter in the second game. (Holland Sentinel)
Tuned up: Saginaw Swan Valley beat three ranked Division 3 teams – No. 2 Saginaw Valley Lutheran, No. 4 Tawas and No. 7 Unionville-Sebewaing – as part of a round-robin brought on by a delay at the Hemlock Invitational that forced the tournament to break up into smaller groups of games. Swan Valley is ranked No. 3 in Division 2. (Saginaw News)
Track and Field
Down to the wire: Two of the state’s best boys and girls teams compete in the O-K Red, and Friday’s conference championship meet no doubt provided at least a partial preview of next month’s MHSAA Division 1 Finals. The top-ranked Rockford girls edged No. 2-ranked East Kentwood, while the top-ranked East Kentwood boys ran away from the No. 3 Rockford boys and the rest of the field to win that league title. (Grand Rapids Press)
Record Breaker: Jackson High’s Cierra Pryor won the 100 meters and also the long jump at Friday’s Siena Heights Invitational, with her jump of 19 feet, 1.5 inches breaking a 31-year-old school record. (Jackson Citizen-Patriot)
Just getting started: Richland Gull Lake freshman Kirsten Taylor also broke her school's long jump record, which had stood since 1978, with a leap of 18-5. (Kalamazoo Gazette)
Still undefeated: Norway’s Dani Gagne had won all 24 events in which she’d competed through Friday, including winning the 100, 200, 400 and long jump at the Norway Miners Co-Ed Meet. Her long jump of 17-0.5 broke her school record in that event set a year ago, and her 58.61 in the 400 broke another school record set during the early 1980s. (Iron Mountain Daily News)
Baseball
Best of the Best: Richland Gull Lake, ranked No. 3 in Division 2, beat top-ranked Grand Rapids Christian 10-4 in the championship game of its Best of the Best Invitational. Gull Lake also beat No. 5 St. Clair during the event. (Kalamazoo Gazette)
Editor's note: Did we miss something? Comment below and tell us about it. Is there an event coming up that we should make sure to note? Comment or e-mail [email protected].
Byron Center Posts Best Finals Finish for 2nd-Straight Season - This Time as Champion
March 14, 2026
YPSILANTI — A year after finishing second to a Detroit U-D Jesuit team that celebrated its first MHSAA Finals title, the roles were happily reversed for Byron Center on Saturday.
This time, it was Byron Center’s turn to bask in the glory of history, as it celebrated its first team championship at the Lower Peninsula Division 2 Boys Swimming & Diving Finals at Eastern Michigan University.
The Bulldogs finished with a meet-best 338 points, 22 better than U-D Jesuit. Dexter (173), Portage Central (164) and Birmingham Groves (144) rounded out the top five.
“Swimming fast and having fun. That’s what it’s all about,” Byron Center head coach Holly Morren said. “Just focusing on ourselves. We know what we’ve done all season, and we have a group that’s been together for a long time working hard for it. Just super proud of them. Always knew they were capable of it. It’s really fun to be here experiencing it now.”
Byron Center placed first in four events, getting individual wins from senior Carter Nelson in the 500 freestyle (4:31.06) and junior Ryder Nichols in the 100 breaststroke (55.56).
The Bulldogs also captured two of the three relays. In the 400 free relay, the team of Caleb Meginley (24.79), Nichols (24.82), Jackson Schumuker (22.81) and Graeden Standforf (21.16) won in a time of 1:33.58. The 200 free relay was taken by the team of Standorf (21.87), Schumuker (21.32), Brady Beauch (21.12) and Lucas Ritsema (20.43) in a time of 1:24.74.
“That was the best swim of my life,” Nelson said about his win in the 500. “(I wanted to) go out fast, hold on, see what I could do.”
The meet’s individual standout was Birmingham Seaholm senior Elliot Rijnovean, who won two more titles to bring his career total to six before he heads off to a college career at Indiana.
Rijnovean made it three straight in the 100 butterfly, claiming the event this time in 47.97 seconds. There was a different twist to Rijnovean’s success this year, though.
He also had won the 100 backstroke at the last two Finals, but decided not to swim that event his year in favor of competing in the 50 free.
“I was trying to go for the state record in the 50 free since I already had it in the 100 back,” Rijnovean said. “It was a fun challenge that I ultimately failed at, but still enjoyed taking on. I was glad to win but a bit disappointed after I came up short of the record.”
The overall Finals record in the 50 free is 19.86 set in 2019 by Cam Peel of Spring Lake. The Division 2 meet record of 20.09 was set in 2011 by Clay Youngquist of Battle Creek Lakeview. Seeded third, Rijnovean topped this year’s field in a time of 20.31.
U-D Jesuit junior Charlie McCuiston also had a strong meet, winning the 200 freestyle in 1:38.01 and contributing to the Cubs’ first-place 400 free relay. He swam a 44.37 during the relay and was joined for that race by Jack McCuiston (46.44), Miles Lobley (49.05) and Cooper Masters (47.64) with a winning time of 3:07.50.
“I love the atmosphere here. It was a great race, great time, I’m very happy with it,” McCuiston said of his 200 free. “I definitely wanted to compete. I think I’m a very competitive person, so that was a big thing, to compete with everybody and hit those paces. That was a big goal for me, to hit those paces and go that time.”
Other individual winners on the day were Birmingham Groves senior Nathan Stebbins in the 200 individual medley in a time of 1:49.46, Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central senior Lucas Witham in the 100 free in a time of 44.84, and Dexter junior Anthony Kopinski in the 100 backstroke in a time of 51.05. Battle Creek Lakeview senior Peyton Elder won the diving competition with 495.85 points.
PHOTOS (Top) Byron Center's Caleb Meginley races during Saturday's Division 2 Finals. (Middle) U-D Jesuit's Jack McCuiston charges forward in the butterfly. (Below) Forest Hills Central's Lucas Witham launches at the start of the 100 freestyle. (Click for more from High School Sports Scene.)