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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:

Country Day’s Tino Haratsaris (2) connects on a shot while South Haven’s Isaac Chalupa (25) rushes to defend.

Country Day Proves Coach's Intuition True in Claiming Record 16th Finals Win

By Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com

November 1, 2025

GRAND LEDGE — Often at the start of a season in August, Detroit Country Day boys soccer coach Steve Bossert said he will tell his wife that “we don’t have it this year.”

But before he could mutter those words this fall, Country Day went up to a tournament up at the Boyne Mountain Sports Complex in the middle of August and went 3-1 in four games. 

At that point, Bossert had some different words for his wife. 

“After we came back from that Boyne trip, I said, ‘I think we’re pretty good,’” Bossert said. “And then a couple of weeks after that, I said that ‘we might do this.’”

What “this” turned out to be was Country Day adding to its already record total of Finals championships won, as the Yellowjackets captured their 16th with a 4-1 win over South Haven in Saturday’s Division 3 Final. 

South Haven keeper Alex Jaimes goes high to get his hands on the ball.It took Country Day seven years since winning its 15th title in 2018, but Country Day delivered in dominant fashion. 

Country Day scored three goals during the first 18:50 of the game and never looked back in a one-sided effort, outshooting South Haven 31-5.

If not for 14 saves and overall brilliant play by South Haven senior keeper Alex Jaimes, the final score might have been more lopsided.

Senior Micah Zacks had two goals and an assist, and senior Tino Haratsaris had two assists to lead Country Day (22-2-1). 

“We knew it was a good goalie, but we just had to keep shooting,” Zacks said. “There wasn’t much to it. Just keep shooting, and they’ll eventually go in. That’s what we did.”

South Haven (18-5-4) was attempting to win its first Finals title since being co-champion with Jackson Lumen Christi in 2003, but simply ran into a buzzsaw in Country Day.

“Overall, the season was something to be proud of,” South Haven head coach Randy Bautista. “Coming into the tournament we were not ranked. We beat tough opponents and ranked opponents throughout the playoffs. … Unfortunately it didn’t go our way today. But we keep our heads up and keep going.”

Country Day opened the scoring with 29:29 left in the first half on a beautifully constructed goal. 

Stationed in front of the South Haven goal, Zacks headed a pass within the box to sophomore teammate Rye Clegg, who headed the ball himself into the goal to make it 1-0 Country Day. 

DCD’s Yousef Darwich makes a run with the Rams’ Luke Swearingen defending. The Yellowjackets took a 2-0 lead with 24:50 left in the first half on a goal by senior Yousef Darwich, who tapped the ball into an open goal after South Haven’s keeper couldn’t quite corral a strong cross sent in by Country Day junior Luke Hourani. 

The Yellowjackets then went up 3-0 with 21:10 to go in the first on a goal by Zacks, who sent home the ball off of a corner kick. 

With 36:35 remaining in the game, Country Day took a 4-0 lead when Haratsaris brilliantly maneuvered around a defender and sent a pass in front of the goal to Zacks, who buried the chance. 

South Haven got on the board with 1:17 remaining on a goal by junior Jaden Bolhuis, who fired a shot from roughly 30 yards away that went under the crossbar.

Click for the full box score.

PHOTOS (Top) Country Day’s Tino Haratsaris (2) connects on a shot while South Haven’s Isaac Chalupa (25) rushes to defend. (Middle) South Haven keeper Alex Jaimes goes high to get his hands on the ball. (Below) DCD’s Yousef Darwich makes a run with the Rams’ Luke Swearingen defending. (Photos by Adam Sheehan/Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)