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.
Monroe St. Mary's Proves 'This is the Year' by Clinching 8th Finals Title
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
November 23, 2024
BATTLE CREEK – McKenna Payne had a feeling she and her Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central teammates could be making a third trip to Kellogg Arena for this season’s Division 3 Volleyball Final Four.
She also felt it could end on a much brighter note than each of the last two trips.
The Kestrels proved that feeling to be prescient Saturday, sweeping Traverse City St. Francis 25-21, 25-20, 25-15 to claim the Division 3 title.
“All through this year, we were saying this is the year,” Payne said. “We were here our freshmen year, lost in the Finals. We didn’t make it past quarters my sophomore year, and we didn’t make it past semis last year. So, this year, I’m so proud of everyone. I’m so proud of me, Maddie (Dettling) and Jessie (Costlow) and the whole team. We all did it together.”
It was the eighth volleyball championship for the Kestrels in eight trips to the championship match, and first since title since 2020.
“I felt like this year we focused a lot on being together and working together in everything,” said Costlow, who was also on that 2021 team that finished Division 3 runner-up. “You can’t have offense without your defense, and you can’t have defense without blocking. So, we really had to work off of each other and just keep pushing the whole time.”
Costlow led the SMCC attack with 15 kills while pitching in 12 digs on defense. Alexa Turner had 20 assist for the Kestrels, while Payne stuffed the stat sheet with 13 digs, eight kills and eight assists.
SMCC was dominant for much of the season, finishing 39-4-1, but was especially so during the postseason, sweeping all but one opponent – Cass City in Friday’s Semifinal – on its way to the title.
“I think it was just working hard at practice,” Dettling said. “Every day, we were just being disciplined and watching film and being smart. Everything just came together.”
Those film sessions included watching the Gladiators’ Semifinal win against Kalamazoo Christian, even though the Kestrels were there to see it in person.
While that proved fruitful, Traverse City St. Francis did take a bit of a different approach Saturday.
“After watching their match yesterday, we were surprised that they utilized their middle as much as they did today,” SMCC coach Kim Windham said. “We anticipated they would go more to their outsides. I think (TCSF junior outside hitter Quinn Yenshaw) was set 70 times yesterday, so we expected them to be more of an outside game, and they were definitely more middle. I think the opportunity for us to play against (Cass City senior Shelby Ignash) yesterday helped us prepare for today’s match, for sure.”
Gladiators sophomore Lola Brown was the focus of that attack through the middle, and did finish with eight kills on 21 attempts, while Yenshaw had 12 on 36 attempts, as junior setter Reese Jones (who finished with 14 assists) spread the ball around.
But it wasn’t enough to overcome a Kestrels team that was hitting on all cylinders, and finished with .219 kill percentage on its 114 attacks.
“St. Mary’s is just an amazing team,” St. Francis coach Kathleen Nance said. “They have amazing ball control, they’ve got great hitters, and we just weren’t able to have an answer for that today.”
Avery Nance finished with 14 digs on the day for the Gladiators, who were making their second-straight trip to the Finals after finishing runner-up a year ago as well.
“We’re second in the state; there’s nothing to be ashamed of,” Kathleen Nance said. “St. Mary’s played better than we did today, and they earned the first-place spot, and we were second. We were the last two standing – what’s to be ashamed about? Nobody wants to lose, especially for those that this is their last time to ever play; no one wants that. But I’m proud of everything we accomplished this year. Because there were a lot of people who thought we couldn’t, and they proved them wrong.”
PHOTOS (Top) Monroe St. Mary’s McKenna Payne (11) and Olivia Beaudrie (2) wall off the top of the net as Traverse City St. Francis’ Landry Fouch (7) connects during Saturday’s Division 3 Final. (Middle) St. Francis’ Reese Jones (2) tips the ball over the net. (Below) Jessica Costlow serves for the Kestrels. (Photos by Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)