High 5s: 11/21/12
November 21, 2012
With the Thanksgiving holiday mid-week and nearly every fall sport done, we'll give out just one High 5 today. But it goes to a team that's been among the elite for half a decade and could be just getting started.
Holland swimming and diving
The Dutch scored 311.5 points to defeat runner-up Ann Arbor Skyline by 56 at the Lower Peninsula Division 2 Final at Oakland University. Holland totaled seven first-place finishes, including winning all three relays. It was the second-straight championship for the Dutch, who finished LP Division 2 runners-up from 2008-10.
Previous 2012-13 honorees:
- Julia Bos, Grand Rapids Christian cross country - Click for more
- Morgan Bullock, Zeeland swimming - Click for more
- Nathan Burnand, Waterford Mott cross country - Click for more
- Aaron Chatfield, Burt Lake Northern Michigan Christian soccer - Click for more
- Erin Finn, West Bloomfield cross country - Click for more
- Alex Grace, Saginaw Swan Valley football - Click for more
- Billy Heckman, Portage Central tennis - Click for more
- Codi Jenshak, Escanaba tennis - Click for more
- Amanda McKinzie, Battle Creek St. Philip cross country - Click for more
- Connor Mora, Cedar Springs cross country - Click for more
- Kelsey Murphy, Plymouth golf - Click for more
- Dewey Lewis, Rockford soccer - Click for more
- Nick Raymond, Erie Mason cross country - Click for more
- Jacqueline Setas, Lansing Catholic golf - Click for more
- Michael Sienko, Williamston tennis - Click for more
- Carli Snyder, Macomb Dakota volleyball - Click for more
- Beal City volleyball - Click for more
- East Kentwood soccer - Click for more
- Flint Beecher football - Click for more
- Grand Blanc boys soccer - Click for more
- Ithaca football - Click for more
- Lansing Everett football - Click for more
- Ludington boys tennis - Click for more
- Muskegon Mona Shores girls golf - Click for more
Grand Blanc's Fisher, Caledonia's Olsen Lead Past MHSAA Standouts at Olympics
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
August 15, 2024
Several past Michigan high school athletes participated during the recent Olympics in Paris – and several did so only a few years after starring for their high schools in MHSAA competition.
Among those who graduated from Michigan schools, Grand Blanc’s Grant Fisher and Caledonia’s Alena Olsen provided the most memorable finishes this month.
Fisher, a two-time Lower Peninsula Division 1 cross country champion and five-time champion at Track & Field Finals, won bronze medals in the Olympic 5,000 and 10,000-meter races.
After high school, Fisher went on to win NCAA championships at Stanford, and he still owns the all-MHSAA Finals record in the 1,600 (4:00.28), run in 2015 as a senior. His 14:52.5 in 2014 remains the sixth-fastest 5K time in MHSAA cross country championship history.
Olsen played volleyball and soccer at Caledonia, graduating in 2014, and was part of the bronze medal-winning U.S. rugby team in Paris. She began playing that sport as a freshman at Michigan, where she was a two-time All-America selection.
Also competing this month for the United States were the following (with high school graduation year in parentheses):
- Heath Baldwin, Kalamazoo Hackett Catholic Prep (2019) – Track & Field (10th in decathlon)
- Adam Coon, Fowlerville (2013) – Wrestling
- Freddie Crittenden, Utica (2013) – Track & Field (sixth in 110 hurdles)
- Aaron Cummings, Grand Haven – Rugby (also played football, wrestled and ran track at Grand Haven)
- Andrew Evans, Portage Northern (2009) – Track & Field
- Hobbs Kessler, Ann Arbor Skyline (2021) – Track & Field (fifth in 1,500)
- Grace Stark, White Lake Lakeland (2019) – Track & Field (fifth in 100 hurdles)
- Abby Tamer, Dexter (2021) – Field Hockey (also played soccer at Dexter)
Additionally, Devin Booker was a member of the gold medal-winning men’s basketball team; he played as a freshman at Grandville before moving to Mississippi. Cindy (Ofili) Sember from Ann Arbor Huron ran the 100 hurdles for Great Britain, Udodi Onwuzurike from Bloomfield Brother Rice ran the 200 meters for Nigeria, Alex Rose from Ogemaw Heights threw the discus for Samoa, and Myles Amine from Detroit Catholic Central wrestled for San Marino.