Did You See That? (April 22-28)
April 30, 2013
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
The clouds finally began to break last week. And as expected, teams in every spring sport quickly got started catching up on what they'd had to put off most of this month.
Read on for some of the top headlines from all over the state, plus our favorite story – which highlights a pair of officials who will be recognized this weekend for their dedication to high school athletics.
Good Read of the Week
Father/Daughter rule the diamond: Ralph Burr will be among those celebrated by the MHSAA this weekend for 50 years of service as an official. But the past 20 have been his favorite – his daughter and umpiring partner Jackie will be recognized this weekend for her two decades of service. (Muskegon Chronicle).
Softball
McClure strikes again: Manchester pitcher Katie McClure moved into ninth in MHSAA history with 511 career strikeouts after totaling 27 more at Saturday’s Concord Invitational. Her team won the event by beating the host 3-1 in the final. (Jackson Citizen-Patriot)
One vs. One: In what has become arguably the best softball rivalry in the state, Stevensville Lakeshore swept Mattawan 4-2 and 9-4 on Thursday in a matchup of top-ranked teams. Lakeshore is ranked No. 2 in Division 2, while Mattawan holds the top spot in Division 1. (St. Joseph Herald-Palladium)
Another Clinton ace: That’s Cami Prater, who has taken over for graduated standout Tierney Nelson and no-hit the No. 5-ranked host at Saturday’s Springport Invitational. Prater hit a home run as Clinton won last season’s Division 3 championship game. (Adrian Daily Telegram)
Snowbirds down No. 1: Gaylord St. Mary scored in the bottom of the seventh inning to upset Division 4 No. 1 Onaway 2-1 a week ago before settling for a hard-earned split. (Gaylord Herald-Times)
Girls Lacrosse
“Play Day” perfection: Rockford hosted its fourth “Play Day” on Saturday, and the Division 1 top-ranked Rams finished it with wins over No. 2 Hartland and No. 3 Brighton. Grand Rapids Catholic Central, No. 2 in Division 2, also beat Hartland, along with Troy Athens and Division 2 No. 3 Ann Arbor Pioneer. (Grand Rapids Press)
Boys Golf
Upper hand, DCC: Detroit Catholic Central won what is one of the most competitive regular-season events every spring, claiming the Division 1 portion of the Traverse City Central Invitational by edging reigning champion Muskegon Mona Shores. Mona Shores finished third and DCC sixth at last season’s MHSAA Division 1 Final. (Traverse City Record-Eagle)
Baseball
Long time coming: Gladstone earned its first wins 4-3 and 5-0 over Negaunee on Friday, and those also happen to be the program’s first victories in more than a half century. The Escanaba Daily Press reports this as Gladstone’s first baseball team in 54 years. (Escanaba Daily Press)
East Lansing rises at Dow: East Lansing needed just about every one of its 16 runs over the final two games of Saturday’s Midland Dow Invitational, but came away with the championship after beating Division 3 No. 4 Saginaw Nouvel 8-7 in the final. East Lansing advanced with an 8-6 win over Dow. (Saginaw News)
Weisenberger throws no-no again: Sanford Meridian had three wins after Thursday, and two were no-hitters by pitcher Jonah Weisenberger. He threw his second in that night’s opener against Beaverton. (Midland Daily News)
Portage Northern rallies: The Huskies look like they could be an emerging force again from the Kalamazoo area, and moved to 5-2 by winning their home invitational Saturday. Portage Northern defeated Division 4 No. 2 Gobles in the championship game. (Kalamazoo Gazette)
Track and Field
Hornets buzz: Williamston’s boys, who tied for ninth at last season MHSAA Division 2 Final, won the Spartan Classic at Michigan State University, finishing eight points ahead of Division 1 power Rockford. Reigning Division 1 girls champion Grosse Pointe South won its side of the meet by a much more significant 51 points. (Playmakers.com (full results), Lansing State Journal)
All-Battle Creek is all Lakeview: Battle Creek Lakeview continues to dominate its city’s track and field scene, and again won its all-city meets Friday. The girls won despite not running standout Sarita Dotson, who was out with an injury. (Battle Creek Enquirer).
Football
Stoney Creek celebrates Fisher: A Rochester Hills Stoney Creek football coach remembered Thursday how Eric Fisher was 6-foot-1 and 150 pounds as a high school freshman. That night, Fisher was selected first in the NFL draft out of Central Michigan University by the Kansas City Chiefs. (Detroit News)
Century of School Sports: MHSAA Summits Draw Thousands to Promote Sportsmanship
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
October 29, 2024
Next week, MHSAA staff and members of its Student Advisory Council will begin a 10-day trek with stops in Marquette, Saginaw, Ann Arbor and Grand Rapids to talk sportsmanship with 750 students and administrators as part of its biennial Sportsmanship Summit tour.
Sportsmanship always is a significant topic in athletics, and providing training on proper behavior for athletes and fans is especially important at the high school level where entire schools turn over every four years.
The MHSAA became a national leader in promoting sportsmanship during the 1990s, and we’ll discuss more of those initiatives later in our “Century of School Sports” series. The Sportsmanship Summit was born from much of that early work.
The first was conducted Sept. 24, 1997, in Lansing, and several of the topics discussed during those first sessions remain relevant today – most notably fan behavior, training of team captains and the roles of game officials.
That first Summit was open to the public and designed primarily for administrators, coaches, athletes and other community leaders. Speakers at the event included Robert Kanady, the executive director of the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS), and Iowa High School Athletic Association executive director Bernie Saggau. The Lansing State Journal reported in December of that year that schools individually and as leagues were adopting codes of conduct for spectators, based on ideas shared at that first Summit gathering.
And that was only the start. The first Summit was capped at 800 attendees; the second drew 1,200 and included among speakers retired Nebraska national-champion football coach Tom Osborne. After a year off, the Sportsmanship Summit returned in 2000 with more than 1,300 attendees. That started the schedule of conducting Summits every other year; the 2002 Summit was for adults only and focused on character building, and in 2004 Summits were held at four sites across the state.
That model remains in use today, but with a boost from the 16-member Student Advisory Council, which includes eight juniors and eight seniors from across the state who have led sessions over the last many years. Most of the Summits during the last decade focused on fan behavior and the “Battle of the Fans” contest that awarded the state’s top student cheering section from 2012-22. Student delegations spend the final part of Summits creating a sportsmanship campaign to take back to their schools.
Previous "Century of School Sports" Spotlights
Oct. 23: Cross Country Finals Among MHSAA's Longest Running - Read
Oct. 15: State's Storytellers Share Fall Memories - Read
Oct. 8: Guided by 4 S's of Educational Athletics - Read
Oct. 1: Michigan Sends 10 to National Hall of Fame - Read
Sept. 25: MHSAA Record Books Filled with 1000s of Achievements - Read
Sept. 18: Why Does the MHSAA Have These Rules? - Read
Sept. 10: Special Medals, Patches to Commemorate Special Year - Read
Sept. 4: Fall to Finish with 50th Football Championships - Read
Aug. 28: Let the Celebration Begin - Read
(Photos above are from various Sportsmanship Summits through the years, including the first in 1997 [top left and bottom right].)