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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:

Eventual champion Notre Dame Prep's Maren Studt approaches a gate during a giant slalom run Monday at Boyne Highlands.

Notre Dame Prep's Studt Sweeps, 'All Play Part' as Harbor Springs Ends Title Wait

By Brian Freiberger 
Special for MHSAA.com

February 24, 2025

HARBOR SPRINGS — Pontiac Notre Dame Prep junior Maren Studt had to watch last year's MHSAA Division 2 Girls Skiing Final from the sideline with a broken collarbone she suffered two days before the big race. 

This time around, she competed and took advantage of the opportunity.

After contributing to a team championship as a freshman, Studt was especially determined to reach the pinnacle again, this time as an individual.

"I've been nervous about it for the race this whole season. Today, I decided I was going to go out and do my best and see what happens," she said. "This season, I had no expectations because I don't know how I would have ended up, and so I just went out and did my best this season."

After her first run in slalom Monday at Boyne Highlands, Studt knew she had to rip her second – which led to the first-place finish with a two-run combined time of 1:16.10. She was in high spirits heading into her favorite event, giant slalom. 

"GS is my favorite discipline, so I was just ready to go to and had to put the morning aside and just try to go do it again. Then the second run, the snow was a little rough, but I willed through and I was happy with the finish," Studt said. 

Studt won the giant slalom with a two-run time of 66.79 seconds.

 Harbor Springs' Tara Shouldice races in GS on the way to finishing second to lead the team champion. The junior cherished the accomplishment but now has a crown to defend. 

"I hope to do it again, two-peat, and the (2025-26) season starts tomorrow," she said. 

Meanwhile, Harbor Springs earned its first girls Finals championship in 10 years behind a complete team performance.

"They believed they could, and they did it," Harbor Springs coach Ellen Beatty said. "They all played their part and stepped it up, and it was an awesome day."

Harbor Springs claimed first place with 68 points, and East Grand Rapids finished runner-up with 91. Bloomfield Hills Marian finished third, followed by Cadillac, Detroit Country Day, Grand Rapids Christian, Rochester Adams, Great North Alpine and Norway.

The Rams skied smart and fast despite the slushy conditions. All six skiers finished all 24 runs without any falls or disqualifications.

"I think they were fired up and ready to go and proved they could do it," Beatty said. "They're an extraordinary group of girls, and it was amazing to watch them grow over the season. Their competition was themselves. So they pushed each other to this level and won a state championship because of it."

Throughout the entire season, different Rams took first places, and even Monday, the whole roster was primed to run their best races.

The last time Harbor Springs won a Finals championship was 2015.

Harbor Springs senior Tara Shouldice took second in GS with a two-run time of 1:07. Keeler Brainard finished 11th, while Drew and Mackenzie Bowman finished 15th and 16th, respectively. Teammate Quinn Myers finished 17th overall to round out a stellar team GS section.

"I know a lot of people were watching us because we were the team to beat, and I think everybody skied well, and we stepped up to the competition," Shouldice said.

Mckenzie Bowman finished seventh overall in the slalom race, and Shouldice finished 16th, while Quinn Myers, Elliott Baetens, and Drew Bowman finished 25th, 29th, and 30th, respectively.

East Grand Rapids' Sophie Hicks cuts into a turn in slalom; she finished runner-up."I feel like we have pretty high expectations of ourselves, and we fulfilled those," Mckenzie Bowman said.

Baetens added: "I'm just really proud of our team. We did a good job, even with the sticky snow, and we all finished our runs. We just did a great job coming together as a team."

East Grand Rapids put on a stellar show to place second. 

"The girls stuck together, even having those little problems, and gave Harbor Springs a battle. We'll be back with the ladies," East Grand Rapids girls and boys coach KC McGovern said.

EGR freshman Sophie Hicks led the Pioneers with a second-place finish in slalom (1:16). The top five spots in slalom were decided by 1.5 seconds.

"I'm really happy with slalom, but not so much GS. … I'd love to win states in the future," she said.

Hannah Darooge finished fifth in GS to round out her senior season and high school career.

"It's always good to end your season on a good note, but to end it all on a good note, just like, makes you happy. makes you feel like you did something good," Darooge said.

Brayden Winkel finished fourth overall in slalom and ninth in GS to conclude a stellar sophomore year.

"The experience helps because hopefully we're back here for the next two years until I'm a senior,” Winkel said. “Hopefully next time we bring it home all the way.”

Click for full results. Click to watch NFHS Network broadcasts: Slalom | Giant Slalom

PHOTOS (Top) Eventual champion Notre Dame Prep's Maren Studt approaches a gate during a giant slalom run Monday at Boyne Highlands. (Middle) Harbor Springs' Tara Shouldice races in GS on the way to finishing second to lead the team champion. (Below) East Grand Rapids' Sophie Hicks cuts into a turn in slalom; she finished runner-up. (Click for more photos by Sarah Shepherd - more will be added throughout this week.)