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High 5s: 11/14/12

November 19, 2012

All three of this week's honorees have achieved some sort of first-time stardom this fall, either individually or as a team. And both Carli Snyder and Alex Grace will be back next fall to continue building on these accomplishments. 

Carli Snyder
Macomb Dakota junior
Volleyball

(UPDATED 11/19) Snyder, a 6-foot-1 outside hitter, was an all-stater her first two seasons of high school. But she will be remembered even more for leading Macomb Dakota this fall to its first MHSAA championship in any girls sport. The Cougars defeated Temperance Bedford in three games in Saturday's Class A Final at Kellogg Arena. Snyder unofficially finished this season with 913 kills, good for seventh in the MHSAA record book since the beginning of the rally scoring era in 2004-05. Her 31 kills against Bedford were third-most for a Final during that time. Snyder already has committed to sign with the University of Florida next year. She likely will be among frontrunners for next fall's Miss Volleyball award. 

Title talk: "We wanted this thing so bad. Every girl on this team wanted it so badly. Megan (Manierski) was setting the ball perfectly. She made it very easy to get kills. ... Just talking about this moment, this gym, it makes you just want to play harder than you ever have."

Winning recipe: "We've been a competitive team in practice and in games all year, so I think that helped us at that moment (in three close Finals games) when we just didn't want to lose. We refused to lose. ... We support each other no matter what. And we hustled so hard."

Shake it up: "We have some secret handshakes with other people, but mine are very complex. I don't know how we went about that. Megan and mine is from "Parent Trap," and then Megan Downey and mine, we just made it up at team dinner. We make it a bit more complex than it needs to be, but it's fun. And it's a great thing to calm us down for a game when we've played a bad one before."

Had to be a Gator: "I like warm weather. I love the coaches. I actually called Florida for my recruiting phone call because I was kinda bored one day at home and I was like, 'I got a letter from them.' I fell in love with the coaching staff, and I told my mom that I needed to go on a visit down there. It's incredible, and when I went down there I was even more in love. Even on the phone, I knew this is where I would end up. It's just that feeling. You know when you get that feeling, and it's incredible."

Click to read more.

Alex Grace
Saginaw Swan Valley sophomore
Football

The Vikings' leading rusher is also one of the leading rushers in the state this season heading into Saturday's Division 4 Semifinal against Detroit Country Day. Grace has gained 2,091 yards plus run for 27 touchdowns, and needs only 109 yards and three more scores to make the MHSAA record book in both categories. He ran for 182 yards and three scores in the Vikings' Regional Final win over Croswell-Lexington. Grace took over as Swan Valley's running back this season after the graduation of his brother Johnathan, who rushed for 1,790 yards last season and now plays at Michigan Tech. Both brothers ran on Swan Valley's 400-meter relay that finished runner-up at the Lower Peninsula Division 2 Track and Field Final in the spring. Alex is 6-0 and 185 pounds and runs the 40-yard dash in 4.5 seconds.

I'd like to run like: "Even my brother. I like to look at myself as close to him. Professionally, (Minnesota Vikings back) Adrian Peterson. He's a tough runner, fast. He's strong."

Underdogs again: "The last game against Croswell, they were the No. 2 team and we were predicted to lose. But we came back and beat them. I use that underdog feeling to work harder each day."

Best brotherly advice: "Work hard, and if there are doubters, don't let them get you down."

Science and math: (My favorite classes are) biology and economics. They just come easy to me. I enjoy it."

Click to read more. 

Flint Beecher football

The Buccaneers, coached by former Michigan State and NFL standout Courtney Hawkins, were one of the final teams selected for the playoffs, at 5-4 after a 3-4 start. But Beecher advanced to this week's Division 7 Semifinal against Detroit Loyola by eliminating reigning champion Saginaw Nouvel, 19-15, in last week's Regional championship game. Beecher, now 8-4, has made the playoffs six straight years. The first of that run came in Hawkins' second as coach and after 12 straight losing seasons. 

Click to read more. 

Previous 2012-13 honorees:

Rochester Hills Stoney Creek competes during Friday's Division 1 Final at McGuirk Arena.

Stoney Creek Edges Rival Rochester to Earn 1st Finals Repeat in Any Sport

By Tom Kendra
Special for MHSAA.com

February 28, 2025

MOUNT PLEASANT – Rochester High was “the team” for most of this season in competitive cheer.

But at the end, an extremely young Rochester Hills Stoney Creek team matured and improved just enough to prevail by a razor-thin margin in front of a loud and raucous crowd Friday at the Division 1 Competitive Cheer Final at Central Michigan University’s McGuirk Arena.

The Cougars had only three seniors on a 30-athlete roster, but the youngsters handled the pressure of the big stage to win with 792.38 points, edging Rochester (792.06) by a mere 32 hundredths of a point.

“That’s why I don’t look at scores, because I know it’s going to be pretty much a tie between the three of us every round,” said Stoney Creek coach Tricia Williams, referring also to the third powerhouse team from the city, Rochester Adams.

“I just focus on trying to get every last tenth of a point that we can.”

The pressure was intense Friday as Stoney Creek had to go last in Round 3, after near-flawless performances from both Rochester and Adams, which meant that even a slight bobble or mistake would drop the Cougars out of the top spot.

Instead, the young team delivered an inspired performance of its own to win for the second consecutive year – the first back-to-back Finals championships for Stoney Creek in any sport.

Rochester High competes on the way to finishing runner-up.“We loved going last in Round 3,” explained Williams. “These kids don’t mind that at all. These kids can handle the pressure.”

Adams placed third with 788.62 points, followed by Hartland (786.06) and Brighton (785.12).

Rochester, which had 10 seniors, won the Oakland Activities Association Red and District titles, before Stoney Creek surged past them at both Regionals and the Finals.

Rochester third-year coach Samantha Dean, whose Falcons had to go first in Round 3, thought her team’s powerhouse performance in the final round was enough for the title.

“We went for it this year with our creativity and challenging the girls, and I think our Round 3 was definitely the most difficult today,” said Dean. “We were able to execute it to perfection.”

Rochester was looking to get back to the top spot after winning in 2023. Adams, which placed third, had placed either first or second for the past seven years in a row.

Sarah Adams – one of three seniors for the Cougars and the emotional leader of the team – was overcome with pride after going out as a back-to-back champion.

“These girls mean everything to me,” said Adams, wiping away tears. “There’s so much that goes into what you see out there. We stay in our bubble and push each other and encourage each other.”

She also acknowledged that having Rochester and Adams in the same District – all three schools are within four miles of each other – is a daily motivation.

“It’s such a blessing for us to have each other,” explained Adams. “It’s a huge rivalry, but it draws the best out of all of us.”

The other seniors for the Cougars were Sienna Wills and Grace Perrera. Junior Natalie Marco was a returning honorable mention all-stater.

Click for full scores.

PHOTOS (Top) Rochester Hills Stoney Creek competes during Friday's Division 1 Final at McGuirk Arena. (Middle) Rochester High competes on the way to finishing runner-up.