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High 5s: 11/7/12

November 7, 2012

This past Saturday saw eight teams and eight individuals crowned MHSAA champions, and this week we feature a few who will be listed among the best for all time. 

Erin Finn
West Bloomfield senior
Cross country

Finn won her second straight MHSAA individual Lower Peninsula Division 1 championship, this time in 17:07.9. Her finish was the fastest from any of the four divisions that raced Saturday at Michigan International Speedway, and gave her the victory in hers by 27 seconds. Finn’s time was the fourth-best ever at an MHSAA Final. She has three of the top 15 times ever run at MIS, more than any other runner.

On track for more: Finn also won an MHSAA Track and Field championship last season, setting an all-division/class record in the 1,600 with a time of 10:17.86. That time was nearly five seconds better than the previous best.

Maize and Blue: Finn will run next season at the University of Michigan. The Wolverines cross country team is ranked No. 7 nationally heading into Friday's NCAA Great Lakes Regional. 

Scientifically speaking: Finn intends to study biomechanical engineering at U-M. "My junior year, I found out I love physics, and I already knew I loved bio and chemistry. So, what's better than to combine those?"

Runners to chase: “I looked up to Megan Goethals (of Rochester), number one, and Shannon Osika (of Waterford Mott). They’re people I competed with. I know that one day I can be like that. It’s more real to me.”

Click to read more.

Nick Raymond
Erie Mason senior
Cross country

After dashing to the lead last season and finishing fourth, Nick Raymond dominated the Lower Peninsula Division 3 Final at MIS with a time of 15:05.1 – the second-fastest time for a Division 3/Class C MHSAA Final to only Maverick Darling's 14:52.8 for Ovid-Elsie in 2007. Raymond is the first individual cross country champion from Erie Mason (not counting another who finished first among individuals before team and individual placers were combined for one race beginning in 1997) and also placed in both the 1,600 and 3,200 at the spring's Lower Peninsula Division 3 Track and Field Final. 

A long drive: "I've been working hard, since the first time (I ran) in sixth grade. Working hard and training hard over the summer and during mandatory practices too." 

Brotherly influence: Raymond began running cross country in the footsteps of his older brother Andrew Raymond, a 2010 graduate. "He told me, 'If you just keep working hard, just look forward at your dream, your goal, you will achieve it.'"

Now the pool, then the track: Raymond swims during the winter, specializing in butterfly and breaststroke. Then it's on to track. Raymond finished fourth in the 1,600 (4:21.84) and seventh in the 3,200 (9:44.91) at last season's Lower Peninsula Division 3 Final. 

Looking up to Pre: Like many in the running community, Raymond considers former Oregon and international star Steve Prefontaine a major influence. "I liked how he had a lot of faith in himself."

Click to read more. 

East Kentwood soccer

The top-ranked Falcons edged Grand Blanc 1-0 at Troy Athens to claim their fourth Division 1 championship in six seasons. They finished 22-1-4, their seventh with at least 20 wins in the last eight years. 

Click to read more. 

Previous 2012-13 honorees:

Portage Central keeper Gunnar Thorhallsson makes a save during his team’s Division 1 championship victory Saturday night.

Portage Central Counts on Keeper One Last Time to Lock Up 1st Finals Title

By Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com

November 1, 2025

GRAND LEDGE — No one should be blamed for being a little confused when first glancing at Portage Central senior Gunnar Thorhallsson.

At 6-foot-8 with a wingspan over seven feet, many probably look at Thorhallsson and ask how long he’s been playing basketball, only to find out something surprising. 

“I do not play basketball,” he said. “I was a former basketball player and wasn’t very good at it, so I decided to stick to soccer.”

It became clear to all who saw the Division 1 Boys Soccer Final between Portage Central and Ann Arbor Huron on Saturday why Thorhallsson is indeed a soccer player. 

AJ Giebel (4) controls possession for the Mustangs with Huron’s Nasser Diarra in pursuit. Arguably the state’s best goalkeeper all season, Thorhallsson showed why once again, pitching his 18th shutout of the fall to lift Central to a 1-0 shootout win (4-2 in the penalty kick portion) over Huron in a battle of two teams making their first appearances in a Finals championship game. 

Thorhallsson made 11 saves in regulation and overtime, one in the shootout and then saw another Huron shooter miss the net on his attempt, most likely affected by Thorhallsson’s wingspan. 

“I’ve been saying all season long he’s the best goalkeeper in the state,” Central head coach Tim Halloran said. “We left him out to dry a few times. He had to save us, and he did countless times. In the penalties, part of the fact is we have to be so precise to beat him in practice because he’s so great.”

Following a scoreless regulation and overtime, Huron’s Philip Leucht and Central’s Carter Seim both converted kicks in the first round of the shootout. 

Thorhallsson then made a save to start the second round, and Max Bailey gave Central a 2-1 lead with a successful conversion. 

Chris Zou and Marshall Neumann then traded successful conversions to make it 3-2 Central after the third round.

Central then finished it off on a miss by Huron and a successful conversion by Jayce Handley to start the celebration for Mustangs, who completed an unbeaten season at 24-0-2. 

“When we got here, we were dumb little freshmen,” Thorhallsson said of the senior class. “We didn’t know what this program was all about. But the coaches developed us into great players. We formed a special bond over the past four years, and to be able to end on a high note like this is awesome.”  

Central’s Eli Greenwald (19) and Huron’s Malic Kasham compete for a loose ball.Thorhallsson said he and his teammates in front of him on defense have the nickname “strap city.”

“We strap them,” he said. “We don’t let the offense get anything on us. We’re always there. They can’t escape us. We just hold it down in the back, and that’s why they weren’t able to score tonight.”

Huron ended up outshooting Central, 20-9, but couldn’t find the back of the net against Thorhallsson.

“The physical attributes, they go on the page and you can kind of see them,” Huron head coach Luis Gomez-Dominguez said of Thorhallsson. “But the reflexes, that’s something you don’t put on the stat sheet. The goalkeeper did an unbelievable job keeping his team in the game.”

But even in defeat, advancing farther than it ever has was a source of pride for Huron.

“Being here is unbelievable,” Gomez-Dominguez said. “I think these boys raised the bar for the people coming up after them.”

Click for the full box score.

PHOTOS (Top) Portage Central keeper Gunnar Thorhallsson makes a save during his team’s Division 1 championship victory Saturday night. (Middle) AJ Giebel (4) controls possession for the Mustangs with Huron’s Nasser Diarra in pursuit. (Below) Central’s Eli Greenwald (19) and Huron’s Malic Kasham compete for a loose ball. (Photos by Adam Sheehan/Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)