Former MHSAA Coach Lands in NHL
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
April 5, 2013
This week in the year 2000, Jon Cooper had just finished his first season coaching at any level, having guided the Lansing Catholic hockey team to its first Regional championship in 25 seasons.
It would be the only season Cooper – a local lawyer and former player at Hofstra – would coach the Cougars. But it also was the start of a nearly unimaginable rise that saw him hired to coach the NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning two weeks ago.
As the saying goes, it couldn't have happened to a nicer guy. Cooper always was friendly and helpful to this then just-starting local media member, and despite his lone season coaching the Cougars quickly built a local fan base that continues to cheer him on from afar.
An NHL.com piece last week led with the high school angle. Click here to check it out. He took over a team 16-18-2 and near the bottom of the Eastern Conference, but Cooper surely will have plenty rooting him on from the MHSAA hockey ranks as he works to bring the franchise back to the playoffs – and we’ll work to catch up with him this summer during his first NHL offseason.
Grand Haven athletics 'Exemplary'
The Grand Haven High School athletic department received this year’s Exemplary Athletic Program Award from the Michigan Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association during its annual conference last month in Traverse City.
The program was established in 1998 to recognize outstanding athletic programs and give high school administrators a vehicle by which to self-assess their practices and measure improvements.
Characteristics of “exemplary” programs include district-wide commitment, excellence in advancing the growth of well-rounded participants and serving the needs of all involved including parents and staff, and sustained success in teaching the values of high school athletics.
Click for more details on award criteria and a list of previous winners, and additional coverage by Grand Rapids’ WZZM.
Volleyball teams 'dug' deep
Michigan high school volleyball teams playing "Dig Pink" matches combined to raise more than $50,500 for cancer research last fall to rank sixth nationally, according to the Side-Out Foundation, a non-profit organization that heads up the “Dig Pink” initiative.
Class D Engadine raised the most among MHSAA schools – $5,200 – with Kent City, Bronson, Grand Ledge, Allendale, Stevensville Lakeshore, Monroe, Waterford Mott, Coldwater and Grand Blanc also contributing to the grand total. Also, Grand Ledge’s Katie Everts received a Side-Out Ambassador Program award, one of 10 handed out to individuals nationally.
Total, more than $1.1 million was raised nationwide.
Name that trophy
Few if any schools in Michigan have done more work in researching and identifying the trophies in its case than Orchard Lake St. Mary’s, which will celebrate its 100th season of boys basketball in 2013-14.
It's rare the Eaglets historians can’t determine what a trophy celebrated. In this case, hopefully you can help.
We believe it’s a basketball trophy from the 1930s – but haven’t been able to pin down a season or a level of the MHSAA tournament. A few things that make this one unique are the plaque presentation, as opposed to a standard trophy, and the large MHSAA seal in the center. Any ideas? Email me at [email protected].
Giving back to those who gave
Those from the U.S. 23/I-94 area surely remember the tornado that tore through Dexter a little more than a year ago, on March 15, 2012.
Dexter track coaches Bob and Katie Jazwinski are remembering those who helped them rebuild after their home was destroyed by the storm.
In a Second Half report last year, Bob Jazwinski said he’d seen athletes and coaches from Adrian, Ann Arbor Pioneer, Pinckney, Chelsea, Ann Arbor Skyline, Whitmore Lake and the USA junior hockey team among the many who flocked to the community to lend a hand in the cleanup.
The Jazwinskis began repaying the favor three weeks ago on the storm's one-year anniversary with the Dexter F 3.1 Tornado Run/Walk that benefited non-profit organizations that had donated for storm recovery the year before.
Click to read the March 30, 2012 story about Adrian athletes’ contributions to the clean-up.
Last call for basketball
We got off to a late start on entering basketball schedules for this winter – but thanks to some incredibly helpful school, official and fan inputters, we were able to catch up quickly and finish with a nearly-complete list of results and standings for this season.
Still, there are some schools with incomplete schedules or a few scores missing. And before everyone forgets completely about this season, we’re hoping for a little help in finishing this enormous task.
Please check out your team’s page on MHSAA.com and help us fill in missing scores and fix inaccuracies. The latter could include just about anything – an incorrect game date, incorrect opponent or score, team missing from league standings, etc. For corrections, please email me directly at [email protected]. (Note: If a game was cancelled, don’t just delete it – contact me and I’ll add “cancelled” to avoid confusion.)
Why is this important? Two big reasons. First, MHSAA.com publishes the most complete statewide scoreboard with results from every corner of Michigan. And we have the most complete archive of basketball seasons available, currently dating to 2009-10. Help us fill in the blanks, and they’ll be saved for everyone’s benefit for years to come.
I thank you in advance for any help you are able to provide.
PHOTOS: (Top) Jon Cooper's bio appeared in the Lansing Catholic hockey team's yearbook for the 1999-2000 season. (Middle) Grand Haven athletic director Robin Bye (second from right) poses with Gull Lake athletic director and MIAAA Exemplary Committee co-char Marc Troop, Grand Haven athletic secretary Rita Way and Ann Arbor Greenhills athletic director and MIAAA Exemplary Committee co-chair Meg Seng after the Buccaneers received this year's award. (Bottom) Orchard Lake St. Mary's is hoping to identify the championship recognized by this trophy, believed to be from the 1930s.
Tradition, Big North Competition Drive Petoskey's Quest to Extend Finals Streak
By
Tom Spencer
Special for MHSAA.com
January 24, 2025
At least one thing is certain in boys skiing this winter. Traverse City West and Traverse City Central will not stand in the way of Petoskey winning another Finals championship.
Actually, and almost most certainly, they’ll help the Northmen make good on their potential.
West and Central, perennial contenders for the Division 1 title, provide regular, tough competition that should help the Northman as they set the sites on a sixth-straight Division 2 championship. West and Central regularly challenge the Northmen as participants in their five Big North Conference meets.
Central won the D1 championship last year, snapping a run of three straight by West. Marquette, which won a second straight in 2020, was the last school to win the D1 championship before the Traverse City teams’ domination.
Petoskey hopes to get at least one win over both the Titans and Trojans during the regular season as the Northmen pursue the BNC title before hitting the slopes of the Regional at Boyne Mountain in Boyne Falls and the Final at Boyne Highlands in Harbor Springs. The league scores are cumulative over the season, leading to naming a champion.
“If we have all of our successes coming together in one spot, we definitely have a chance to win one of those conference races” said Petoskey coach Ben Crockett, who began guiding the Northmen in 2019. “The experience of competing against another state champion helps all of our programs to stay competitive when we’re in the state Final.”
Last year the Northmen prevailed in a tougher-than-expected Regional at Crystal Mountain before capturing their fifth-straight D2 Finals championship. That Regional featured Harbor Springs, which finished fifth in the Final, and Gaylord, a familiar Big North opponent, along with Benzie Central, Boyne City, Elk Rapids, Houghton, Ironwood, Maple City Glen Lake, Grayling, Onekama and Petoskey St. Michael. The Regional field this year is almost the same as the Upper Peninsula’s Norway replaces Benzie.
And, Petoskey’s last year’s top performers are all back. The Northman also have added sophomore Eli Dettmer, who returned to Northern Michigan after competing in Maine as a freshman. He is expected to play a key role leading up to February’s Final.
Senior Gavin Galbraith is back after winning the individual Finals title in the slalom and finishing third in the giant slalom last season. Junior Taylor Keiswetter and sophomore Mick Galbraith are also back after placing in the top 10 in the giant slalom. Keiswetter finished fifth, and the younger Galbraith placed eighth.
“A lot of the championship team will be returning, so we think we’re in a pretty good position to defend again,” Crockett said. “Gavin Galbraith will be leading that charge as the returning state champion with the speed to contest for another state championship on the individual level and lead the team as they try to get that sixth.”
While Petoskey will be looking for all four of those skiers to perform well to get back on the podium this winter, that possibility never is taken for granted.
“It is always on our radar, but really on the day I think we’re hoping to have a good performance and everybody ski to their potential,” Crockett said. “We know we have to put in a good effort, and then we have to let the scoring fall where it will.”
Crockett, a 1999 graduate and past Petoskey ski team member, is thrilled to continue as part of the Northmen program. His experience skiing all over North America and Europe during his younger days has been a benefit to the Northmen.
“Skiing was a big part of my athletic career growing up,” Crockett said. “Being able to help this next group of athletes achieve their own goals and dreams has been really fun.”
Last year Orchard Lake St. Mary’s finished runner-up and Pontiac Notre Dame Prep (134) finished third at the Final. The Northmen welcome the competition from downstate and the Upper Peninsula.
“There’s definitely good, competitive skiers coming from spots we don’t really see during the year and face off against when we get to the state meet,” Crockett said.
Effort is the key to maintaining the Petoskey legacy, Crockett emphasizes.
“We really try to honor the tradition of having an excellent program at Petoskey,” Crockett said. “We always try to put in the most effort to continue that legacy into the future.”
Tom Spencer is a longtime MHSAA-registered basketball and soccer official, and former softball and baseball official, and he also has coached in the northern Lower Peninsula area. He previously has written for the Saginaw News, Bay County Sports Page and Midland Daily News. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Manistee, Wexford, Missaukee, Roscommon, Ogemaw, Iosco, Alcona, Oscoda, Crawford, Kalkaska, Grand Traverse, Benzie, Leelanau, Antrim, Otsego, Montmorency, Alpena, Presque Isle, Cheboygan, Charlevoix and Emmet counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Petoskey’s Gavin Galbraith races during the Harbor-Petoskey Invitational this season at Boyne Highlands. (Middle) Sophomore Eli Dettmer, an addition to the team this season, leans into a turn during a race at the Harbor-Petoskey Invite. (Below) Carter Walkerdine approaches a gate. (Photos by Drew Kochanny/Petoskey News-Review.)