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.
Byron Center Posts Best Finals Finish for 2nd-Straight Season - This Time as Champion
March 14, 2026
YPSILANTI — A year after finishing second to a Detroit U-D Jesuit team that celebrated its first MHSAA Finals title, the roles were happily reversed for Byron Center on Saturday.
This time, it was Byron Center’s turn to bask in the glory of history, as it celebrated its first team championship at the Lower Peninsula Division 2 Boys Swimming & Diving Finals at Eastern Michigan University.
The Bulldogs finished with a meet-best 338 points, 22 better than U-D Jesuit. Dexter (173), Portage Central (164) and Birmingham Groves (144) rounded out the top five.
“Swimming fast and having fun. That’s what it’s all about,” Byron Center head coach Holly Morren said. “Just focusing on ourselves. We know what we’ve done all season, and we have a group that’s been together for a long time working hard for it. Just super proud of them. Always knew they were capable of it. It’s really fun to be here experiencing it now.”
Byron Center placed first in four events, getting individual wins from senior Carter Nelson in the 500 freestyle (4:31.06) and junior Ryder Nichols in the 100 breaststroke (55.56).
The Bulldogs also captured two of the three relays. In the 400 free relay, the team of Caleb Meginley (24.79), Nichols (24.82), Jackson Schumuker (22.81) and Graeden Standforf (21.16) won in a time of 1:33.58. The 200 free relay was taken by the team of Standorf (21.87), Schumuker (21.32), Brady Beauch (21.12) and Lucas Ritsema (20.43) in a time of 1:24.74.
“That was the best swim of my life,” Nelson said about his win in the 500. “(I wanted to) go out fast, hold on, see what I could do.”
The meet’s individual standout was Birmingham Seaholm senior Elliot Rijnovean, who won two more titles to bring his career total to six before he heads off to a college career at Indiana.
Rijnovean made it three straight in the 100 butterfly, claiming the event this time in 47.97 seconds. There was a different twist to Rijnovean’s success this year, though.
He also had won the 100 backstroke at the last two Finals, but decided not to swim that event his year in favor of competing in the 50 free.
“I was trying to go for the state record in the 50 free since I already had it in the 100 back,” Rijnovean said. “It was a fun challenge that I ultimately failed at, but still enjoyed taking on. I was glad to win but a bit disappointed after I came up short of the record.”
The overall Finals record in the 50 free is 19.86 set in 2019 by Cam Peel of Spring Lake. The Division 2 meet record of 20.09 was set in 2011 by Clay Youngquist of Battle Creek Lakeview. Seeded third, Rijnovean topped this year’s field in a time of 20.31.
U-D Jesuit junior Charlie McCuiston also had a strong meet, winning the 200 freestyle in 1:38.01 and contributing to the Cubs’ first-place 400 free relay. He swam a 44.37 during the relay and was joined for that race by Jack McCuiston (46.44), Miles Lobley (49.05) and Cooper Masters (47.64) with a winning time of 3:07.50.
“I love the atmosphere here. It was a great race, great time, I’m very happy with it,” McCuiston said of his 200 free. “I definitely wanted to compete. I think I’m a very competitive person, so that was a big thing, to compete with everybody and hit those paces. That was a big goal for me, to hit those paces and go that time.”
Other individual winners on the day were Birmingham Groves senior Nathan Stebbins in the 200 individual medley in a time of 1:49.46, Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central senior Lucas Witham in the 100 free in a time of 44.84, and Dexter junior Anthony Kopinski in the 100 backstroke in a time of 51.05. Battle Creek Lakeview senior Peyton Elder won the diving competition with 495.85 points.
PHOTOS (Top) Byron Center's Caleb Meginley races during Saturday's Division 2 Finals. (Middle) U-D Jesuit's Jack McCuiston charges forward in the butterfly. (Below) Forest Hills Central's Lucas Witham launches at the start of the 100 freestyle. (Click for more from High School Sports Scene.)