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.
Western Michigan Christian Completes 3-Peat on Freshman's Final-Minute Score
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
November 2, 2024
GRAND LEDGE – Cole DeJonge knew it would happen eventually – he and his Muskegon Western Michigan Christian teammates had created too many chances Saturday against Plymouth Christian Academy in the Division 4 Final for it not to happen.
But the senior midfielder couldn’t have predicted just how he’d feel when it did.
Freshman Mason Bonnema scored the game-winning goal with 1 minute, 4 seconds to play, finishing off a beautiful through ball from DeJonge and giving WMC a 1-0 victory and its third-straight Finals title.
“It was pure relief,” DeJonge said. “I’ve never felt so much joy in my life for a goal to go in than that one. We’ve already won two state championships, but nothing was like this one.”
The Warriors have now won 10 Finals titles after reaching their record-tying 17th title game. They are just the third boys soccer program to win three straight Finals titles, and first since Detroit Country Day won eight in a row from 1987-94.
“There is a lot of history, and it’s fantastic history – it’s a school with a legacy of winning state championships,” WMC coach Ben Buursma said. “Our focus every year is to get back to the title game, and we believe we can do it every year. We play a tough schedule, and that helps prepare us. These kids, the growth they showed this year, it was pretty incredible.”
WMC (15-7-3) controlled much of the game, finishing with a 19-7 shot edge (10-3 on frame). But Plymouth Christian’s defense stayed strong under pressure, and when it did leak, senior keeper Jonah Noel came up big.
But that one final chance was too much, as DeJonge played a ball forward to Bonnema who broke free on the right side of the goal and slotted one beyond Noel.
“The game was crazy; it was kind of just back and forth with us possessing and them kicking it out from the back,” Bonnema said. “We just found a breakthrough in the last two minutes. It’s crazy. It’s a great feeling.”
Noel was called into action right before kickoff, as regular starter Nik Vergel suffered an injury during pregame warmups.
He made nine saves, including stifling multiple breakaways to keep his team in the game.
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” Plymouth Christian coach Ryan Thomason said. “He literally found out in the tunnel that he was starting before we walked onto the field. He hasn’t played goalie in a month and a half. To play the way he did – no nerves, he was out there dribbling the ball like it was basketball season. Couldn’t be prouder of Jonah, ice in his veins. But that’s how all the seniors were on this team. They built a legacy for this program – two Final Fours in four years. I just couldn’t be prouder of them.”
After giving up the go-ahead score, Thomason’s team nearly tied the game on a free kick from senior midfielder Caedmon Whipple.
The captain had a free kick from just outside the left corner of the 18-yard box, and his attempt cleared the wall and started dipping. But WMC keeper Dan Minasian punched it over the bar. The resulting corner didn’t create another chance, and the clock ran out on the Eagles (15-6-3).
Minasian’s save not only preserved a clean sheet and a Finals title, but a perfect postseason, as he and the Warriors did not allow a goal through six playoff games. A year ago, he allowed just one on the way to their title.
“Dan’s been as solid a backstop as you can have in high school soccer,” Buursma said. “He’s been phenomenal over the course of two-plus years, and the defense was incredibly strong in front of him. It’s nice when you have a defense that doesn’t give up many shots, but to have a keeper like Dan back there, we have no worries.”
While there were certainly nerves, that did help calm them as WMC chances went begging on the other end.
Plymouth Christian’s defense did all it could to not give WMC star striker Tekalegn Vlasma any space, but his off-ball movement and DeJonge’s passing created a handful of chances anyway. Noel was able to keep Vlasma off the scoresheet, however, despite his four shots on goal.
“We instituted a system, and the guys worked it to exhaustion,” Thomason said. “We fought really, really hard and they got us in the 79th minute. They’re a great team, and we battled them. We thought if we could get them to overtime, that was kind of the goal. They were just a heck of a team. All credit to them. But we battled, and I’m so proud of us.”
PHOTOS (Top) Mason Bonnema (22) puts a foot into the winning shot for Western Michigan Christian on Saturday at Grand Ledge. (Middle) PCA’s Juan Chacon-Beltran steps into a kick. (Below) Plymouth Christian’s Grant Ramseyer (23) and WMC’s Juan DeJonge battle for possession. (Photos by Adam Sheehan/Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)