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.
South Lyon's Wesner Turns Full Focus to School Sports, Big Finish to 11-Letter Career
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
January 9, 2026
SOUTH LYON — South Lyon senior Teagen Wesner isn’t hesitant to offer advice to younger athletes on the benefits of playing high school sports.
“It teaches you a lot, it brings you good friends,” Wesner said. “Being on the court and being on a team, it just brings you so much more knowledge you can’t learn in the classroom. I’ve learned so many things through sports, it’s something that’s irreplaceable to me.”
And younger athletes should certainly listen to Wesner, given she is quite an example of someone who has fully embraced all that high school sports have to offer.
When she graduates in a few months, Wesner will have 11 varsity letters, earned as three-sport athlete from the moment she arrived at South Lyon High School.
She has been on the varsity volleyball and ski teams since she was a freshman, and has been a member of South Lyon United’s lacrosse team since she was a sophomore (after playing on the JV lacrosse team as a freshman).
“It made me be a well-rounded athlete,” Wesner said of playing multiple sports. “I’ve gotten thrown into a whole bunch of different positions depending on what the coaches need. Having a background in multiple different sports really has helped my athleticism. I feel like I have matured a little more than others because I’ve been in highly competitive environments.”
Wesner said she has skied since she was 3 years old and played club volleyball since she was in elementary school, but made a decision during her junior year that reflected how much she loves playing high school sports.
Instead of playing club volleyball again after that high school volleyball season ended, Wesner decided to concentrate more on her high school teams.
“I just liked high school sports better,” she said. “Club was a lot of fun, but high school has all the people and everything.”
This past fall, Wesner was a captain of the volleyball team and an all-league performer in the Lakes Valley Conference.
This winter, Wesner is serving as captain of the South Lyon United ski team, as she hopes to build on a junior season where she was all-conference in both slalom and giant slalom.
In the spring, Wesner plans to once again play lacrosse and try and repeat what was an improbable success story last year.
Wesner, who said she stopped playing lacrosse in middle school before picking it back up again during her freshman year, took over as South Lyon United’s goalie in the fourth game of the season after the original starter was lost for the season with a torn ACL.
Wesner had played twice as goalie while in middle school, but was mainly a defender. However, desperate times called for desperate measures, so Wesner took over.
“Our goalie tore her ACL and we really didn’t have anyone else on the team, (to play the position),” Wesner said. “I just did whatever my coach needed. She knew with my background in other sports, I could pick it up quickly.”
Weeks later, Wesner and South Lyon United ended up celebrating its first MHSAA Finals championship with a 6-3 win over Hartland in the Division 1 title game.
“Taking a demanding role under high pressure, Teagan remained positive, composed and team-focused throughout the transition,” South Lyon United girls lacrosse coach Deanna Radcliffe said. “Her willingness to do whatever the team needed, combined with her resilience and steady presence, gave the team confidence during a critical stretch of the season.”
Recovering from losing its starting goalie early in the regular season to winning Division 1 was quite an improbable journey, but South Lyon did it with a stout defense and Wesner adapting so quickly her new position.
“I just kind of learned on the fly and let my instincts take over,” Wesner said. “During the season, I definitely got more training that made me way better. At the start, it was just like, 'Don’t let the ball hit you.'”
This spring, Wesner likely will return to her natural position as a defender with the starting goalie expected to be healed from her injury.
At the moment, Wesner doesn’t plan to play any of her three sports in college other than at an intramural level, which will make her cherish her high school years and all those varsity letters even more.
“I’m probably going to put them in a drawer,” she said. “But I think it’ll be cool to look back on. I’ll definitely glow on it for a couple of days. I think it’s a good accomplishment to something I’ve been working towards all four years of high school.”
Keith Dunlap has served in Detroit-area sports media for more than two decades, including as a sportswriter at the Oakland Press from 2001-16 primarily covering high school sports but also college and professional teams. His bylines also have appeared in USA Today, the Washington Post, the Detroit Free Press, the Houston Chronicle and the Boston Globe. He served as the administrator for the Oakland Activities Association’s website from 2017-2020. Contact him at [email protected] with story ideas for Oakland, Macomb and Wayne counties.
PHOTOS (Top) South Lyon’s Teagen Wesner races downhill during ski season. (Middle) Wesner (7) shares a laugh with a volleyball teammate. (Below) Wesner warms up in goal during last spring’s lacrosse season. (Photos provided by the Wesner family.)