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.
BEWARE of Bears: Finals Champ Harrand Pacing Buckley's Team Title Pursuit
By
Tom Spencer
Special for MHSAA.com
August 25, 2023
Over the years at Buckley, Aiden Harrand got pretty used to running alone.
It is unknown how often she thought about encountering a bear. It is also uncertain how much she dreamed about running with Bears — the Buckley Bears.
Harrand, now a senior, is surrounded by Bears – teammates. She had only one teammate as a freshman. There were no other girls on the team her sophomore year. Buckley fielded an entire team her junior year last fall, and the Bears placed eighth at the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 4 Final. Harrand won the individual championship that day to lead them to that best-ever girls cross country finish.
She also won the three LPD4 track individual distance championships last spring in helping the Buckley claim the first team Finals title in any sport in the school’s history.
Harrand is starting this fall campaign Saturday at the Benzie Invitational. They’ll hit the Benzie course with their two team themes in mind – “We’re on Fire” and “Watch out for Bears.” If the competition doesn’t heed the theme warning posted on their T-shirts, they likely note them in the results.
And with individual and team state championships on their mind, the Bears are also looking for another possible first. They have high hopes of picking up the school’s first Northwest Conference championship. The league has been dominated by Benzie Central and Kingsley, schools with rich cross country histories.
“Watch out for Bears” just may have been set with the conference in mind. The recent track and cross country success won’t allow the Bears and Harrand to sneak up on anybody, pointed out second-year coach Jolie King.
“We didn’t ever have a chance because we’re competing against Benzie and Kingsley,” admitted King, who also has coached track and cross country for Bay City Western, Traverse City St. Francis and Kingsley. “They draw from 300 kids, and we have 118.
“We have a chance this year,” she continued. “(But) Benzie is going to be tough. You know Mylie (Kelly) is going to be amazing.”
The Regional and Final is really where the Bears have their sights. Kelly – who finished eighth in LP Division 3 last fall as a junior – and Benzie, along with Kingsley, will compete in Division 3. The Bears will see other conference teams, Frankfort and Glen Lake, in the Division 4 Regional the Bears are hosting Oct. 28.
By then, Buckley hopes to be on fire as demonstrated by its preseason team picture taken on a fire truck. The training plans are set with the Regional and Final meets in mind.
King said September’s plan is learning to run as team and focus on pacing as the Bears take on some pretty tough competition, including Hart and Traverse City St. Francis, two more top Division 3 teams in Northern Michigan. October will include speed work and seeing what the Bears are made of at the Portage Invitational, the coach revealed.
Harrand, the most decorated runner in Buckley’s history, has 11 teammates this fall. All the Bears are back from last year’s eighth-place finisher, plus they’ve added freshmen. They have been training all summer, meeting – and in many cases – exceeding King’s expectations.
Needless to say there is lots of excitement in Bear country. The season kicked off with a Glow Run, a team training experience commencing 12:01 AM on the first day MHSAA allowed practice for this season.
“I am giving myself goosebumps,” King noted as she talked about her 2023 team tapping its potential. “The girls have a goal to make the (Finals) podium this year.
“After (Harrand) winning the state title last spring, they know it is in their wheelhouse,” she continued. “They know they are capable of doing it.”
Harrand, of course, is expected to be the top runner again this fall. King is looking for sophomores Kayla Milarch, Brooklynn Frazee and Kinsey Peer to battle for the team’s 2-4 spots every meet. Addison Harrand, Aiden’s younger sister — also a sophomore— is projected to round out the team’s scoring regularly in the fifth spot.
Senior Natalie Halloway, junior Autumn Kelsey, sophomores Maddie Chilson and Allie Brimmer, along with incoming freshmen Kaylee Swanson and Mykayla Kulawiak, are also expected to figure in the Bears’ championship drive.
The Bears only boys team runner, sophomore Matthew Bentley, will train with the girls, giving the senior sensation the most cross country teammates she’s ever had.
“I used to say I guess I’ll go run by myself,” Aiden Harrand recalled. “Now I have 11 others to go run with me – this is kind of awesome.”
Harrand is expected to be challenged at Michigan International Speedway this fall, and she will welcome the competition as she focuses on a bigger personal goal – leading the Bears to the team championship.
“I have my work cut out for me, but I want it so bad,” the senior said. “I want to continue this trend.
“I want to do it for my girls and my team,” she continued. “I am going to be putting my best foot forward.”
If she had to accept either an individual or team Finals championship, she knows which one she’d take.
“I want the team one,” she said. “I think it is a bigger deal to be a part of a team to accomplish so much than to just do it individually.”
Harrand is very special to her coach.
“Every coach deserves an Aiden Harrand on their team,” King said. “She is bubbly … she makes everybody come together as a team … she demonstrates hard work … she’s really been such a leader … she encourages everybody.”
Harrand took fifth in the Division 4 Final as a freshman and was the runner-up as a sophomore. Across her 11 victories last season, Harrand had an average margin of victory of 34.5 seconds. She took the Division 4 top spot by nearly 15 seconds after winning her Regional by 49 seconds.
Last spring she finished first in every track event she entered, with Finals, Regional and Northwest Conference championships in the 800, 1,600 and 3,200-meter runs.
Not surprisingly, Harrand owns an endless list of course and Buckley school track and cross country records.
But again, to her, team matters most.
“Her job for the team is to win meets,” King said. “But when she is done, she is on the line. She is coaching constantly. … She rubs off.”
And the sophomore Harrand really looks for her older sister to lead the team to success.
“It is really cool watching my sister do this and being able to support her at what she does,” Addisen pointed out. “Knowing she is going to be in the top five, and just having her do that goal and us follow, pushes us to be so much better as a team.”
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) Buckley runners joke with coach Jolie King, far right, before a training run earlier this month. From left: Kinsey Peer, Brooklynn Frazee, Kayla Milarch, Aiden Harrand, and Addisen Harrand, with Allie Brimmer behind King. (Middle) The Bears’ team photo with a fire engine this fall is symbolic of the team’s “We’re on Fire” theme. From left: Coach Jolie King, Aiden Harrand, Natalie Halloway, Kinsey Peer (standing) Allie Brimmer (kneeling), Maddie Chilson (standing), Addisen Harrand (inside fire truck), Kayla Milarch (sitting), Matthew Bentley (standing) Autumn Kelsey (sitting), Kaylee Swanson (on truck), Mikayla Kulawiak (seated leaning forward) and Brooklynn Frazee (standing). (Below) The team takes a photo in front of a new course marker. From left: Kinsey Peer, Addisen Harrand, Brooklynn Frazee, Mikayla Kulawiak, Allie Brimmer, Kayla Milarch, Aiden Harrand, Kaylee Lown and Autumn Kelsey. Missing: Maddie Chilson, Natalie Halloway and Matthew Bentley. (Top photo by Tom Spencer. Fire engine photo by Amanda Patterson/Pattersnap. Course marker photo by Jolie King.)