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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:

Leland’s Howie Krupp and his teammates begin to celebrate his game-winning goal and the Division 4 title Saturday at Grand Ledge High School.

Turning to Dad's Memory, Kropp Seals Leland Title with Unforgettable Clincher

By Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com

November 1, 2025

GRAND LEDGE — As he made the walk toward the ball, all Leland senior Howie Kropp could think about was his late father. 

With Leland mired in a shootout against Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett in the MHSAA Division 4 Boys Soccer Final, Kropp approached the ball facing the dream scenario – an opportunity to give his team the championship. 

He could have been thinking about the fact that he hadn’t scored a goal all year, or that he had never taken a shot in a penalty kick shootout before. 

Instead, all that was on his mind was his father, who passed away when he was 8 years old. 

“My Dad, he’s up there. I knew he would take over if I just put the ball on the ground,” Kropp said. “He coached me in soccer throughout my entire life. Ending on this note meant the world to me.”

Kropp stepped up and calmly delivered the winning goal, giving Leland a 4-2 advantage in the shootout for a 2-1 overall win and Leland’s first Finals championship since 2018. 

Comets keeper Ravello Smith makes a save during the shootout.“I kind of let myself go,” Kropp said. “I know he helped me put it in the back of the net.”

Leland head coach Rob Sirrine knew Kropp, who was a goalkeeper his first three years of high school before transitioning to the field this year, entered the game having not scored this year. 

However, that didn’t prevent Sirrine from putting Kopp as the fifth shooter for his team. 

“He couldn’t buy a goal in the regular season,” he said. “We kept telling him that you’re going to get an important one in the playoffs. He kept going and he kept going, and didn’t get one. I was like, ‘Howie, now is your time.’”

With the game tied 1-1 after regulation and overtime, Leland took a 1-0 lead after the first round of the shootout following a successful conversion by senior Ignacio Creamer and a save by senior keeper Ravello Smith. 

After Leland’s Weston Burda and Liggett’s Ollie Cooley traded conversions, Liggett tied the shootout at 2-2 on a goal by Brady Ancona. 

Leland then went up 3-2 in the fourth round with a goal by senior Adrian Spencer and another save by Smith, which set up the title-clinching opportunity for Kropp. 

Despite the loss, Liggett head coach David Dwaihy still had lots of reason for optimism. Not only did his team make it to the championship game, but the future looks bright with a roster laden with sophomores and freshmen who played big roles all season and throughout the game. 

Liggett was aiming to win its first title since 1999. 

“We’ve got a really strong collection of ninth and 10th graders who made an impact,” Dwaihy said. “It was neat to see them step up on a big occasion and not back off.” 

Liggett’s Sekou Manneh celebrates his equalizing score.Leland took a 1-0 lead with 24:24 remaining in the first half on a goal by Spencer, who took a pass from junior Jose Roman and fired a shot from just outside the box inside the far post. 

Liggett answered with 5:55 left in the first half on a goal by sophomore Sekou Manneh, who found a loose ball on his foot in the center of the field just outside the box and fired a perfect low shot into the net. 

That would be all the scoring in regulation and overtime, which set the stage for penalty kicks and Kropp’s memorable moment.

“I’ve never even been in a shootout,” he said. “I was just trying to take deep breaths and let the emotions flow out of me. I really just had a lot of faith.”

Click for the full box score.

PHOTOS (Top) Leland’s Howie Krupp and his teammates begin to celebrate his game-winning goal and the Division 4 title Saturday at Grand Ledge High School. (Middle) Comets keeper Ravello Smith makes a save during the shootout. (Below) Liggett’s Sekou Manneh celebrates his equalizing score. (Photos by Adam Sheehan/Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)