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High 5s: 11/28/12

November 28, 2012

The final MHSAA championships of the Fall 2012 season give us our final High 5s before heading into winter. This week, we recognize both an individual and a team that achieved new heights. 

Drake Harris
Grand Rapids Christian junior
Football

A 6-foot-4, 180-pound receiver who has committed to play both football and basketball at Michigan State beginning in 2014, Harris posted one of the finest receiving season in MHSAA history capped by playing a huge role in his team's first MHSAA championship. The Eagles beat Orchard Lake St. Mary's 40-37 in overtime Saturday for the Division 3 title. His eight catches for a Finals-record 243 yards and a touchdown put his unofficial season totals at 91 catches for 2,015 yards and 25 scores. Once confirmed, the season yardage will rank as the most in MHSAA history and 12th nationally for one season (his yards per game rank fourth and yards per catch sixth on the NFHS lists). Harris also ranked fourth for catches and second for touchdown catches on the MHSAA single-season lists.

Just ducky: "I'm probably more energized now after he hit that kick," Harris said after teammate Joel Schipper's winning field goal Saturday. "I was probably more tired a little bit during the game. But we condition all practice. We play fast. We play like Oregon, move the ball, (at) a high tempo. We're all in condition, so we really weren't that tired." 

Bring on the new guy: Harris has caught more than 3,000 yards worth of passes from senior Alex VanDeVusse over the last two seasons, but will play with a new quarterback in 2013. "I've been with Alex since sophomore year. I guess I have to start over and work hard all next season and hope to get back here."  

Be like Calvin: "Calvin Johnson, I want to be just like him when I get older. I know I'm a little skinny right now, but when I get to college, I know they'll put weight on me. I watch film on him all the time, watch him running routes. So I take my game after him. He's the best wide receiver in the NFL right now, probably one of the best wide receivers to play the game, in my opinion." 

Click to read more. 

Portland football

The Raiders, unranked despite entering the postseason 8-1, finished with their first MHSAA title won in their first trip to the Finals. Portland defeated Grand Rapids West Catholic 12-9 in the Division 5 championship game after knocking out 2011 champion Flint Powers Catholic in the Regional Final. For the playoffs, Portland outscored its five opponents 169-66 while holding three to nine or fewer points. In finishing 13-1 and setting a school record for wins, the Raiders beat nine playoff teams total including eventual Division 3 Semifinalist DeWitt. 

Click to read more. 

Previous 2012-13 honorees:

Students and adults participate at MHSAA Sportsmanship Summits through the years: At top left, a student speaks at a podium, and at top right a student reads to others from her phone. Bottom left, a student cheers while surrounded by others, adjacent to students on stage speaking on a topic. At bottom right, Tom Osborne speaks to media.

Century of School Sports: MHSAA Summits Draw Thousands to Promote Sportsmanship

By Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor

October 29, 2024

Next week, MHSAA staff and members of its Student Advisory Council will begin a 10-day trek with stops in Marquette, Saginaw, Ann Arbor and Grand Rapids to talk sportsmanship with 750 students and administrators as part of its biennial Sportsmanship Summit tour.

Sportsmanship always is a significant topic in athletics, and providing training on proper behavior for athletes and fans is especially important at the high school level where entire schools turn over every four years.

The MHSAA became a national leader in promoting sportsmanship during the 1990s, and we’ll discuss more of those initiatives later in our “Century of School Sports” series. The Sportsmanship Summit was born from much of that early work.

The first was conducted Sept. 24, 1997, in Lansing, and several of the topics discussed during those first sessions remain relevant today – most notably fan behavior, training of team captains and the roles of game officials.

That first Summit was open to the public and designed primarily for administrators, coaches, athletes and other community leaders. Speakers at the event included Robert Kanady, the executive director of the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS), and Iowa High School Athletic Association executive director Bernie Saggau. The Lansing State Journal reported in December of that year that schools individually and as leagues were adopting codes of conduct for spectators, based on ideas shared at that first Summit gathering.

And that was only the start. The first Summit was capped at 800 attendees; the second drew 1,200 and included among speakers retired Nebraska national-champion football coach Tom Osborne. After a year off, the Sportsmanship Summit returned in 2000 with more than 1,300 attendees. That started the schedule of conducting Summits every other year; the 2002 Summit was for adults only and focused on character building, and in 2004 Summits were held at four sites across the state.

That model remains in use today, but with a boost from the 16-member Student Advisory Council, which includes eight juniors and eight seniors from across the state who have led sessions over the last many years. Most of the Summits during the last decade focused on fan behavior and the “Battle of the Fans” contest that awarded the state’s top student cheering section from 2012-22. Student delegations spend the final part of Summits creating a sportsmanship campaign to take back to their schools.

Previous "Century of School Sports" Spotlights

Oct. 23: Cross Country Finals Among MHSAA's Longest Running - Read
Oct. 15: State's Storytellers Share Fall Memories - Read
Oct. 8: Guided by 4 S's of Educational Athletics - Read
Oct. 1: Michigan Sends 10 to National Hall of Fame - Read
Sept. 25: MHSAA Record Books Filled with 1000s of Achievements - Read
Sept. 18: Why Does the MHSAA Have These Rules? - Read
Sept. 10: Special Medals, Patches to Commemorate Special Year - Read
Sept. 4: Fall to Finish with 50th Football Championships - Read
Aug. 28: Let the Celebration Begin - Read

(Photos above are from various Sportsmanship Summits through the years, including the first in 1997 [top left and bottom right].)