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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:

An Orchard Lake St. Mary's runner rounds third base Saturday as a Kenowa Hills throw comes in from the outfield. 

Kenowa Hills Rallies Early, but St. Mary's Rallies Late to Claim Latest Title

By Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com

June 13, 2026

EAST LANSING — The McLane Stadium scoreboard definitely had to be a strange sight for Orchard Lake St. Mary’s early in Saturday’s Division 2 Final against Grand Rapids Kenowa Hills. 

En route to 26 straight wins entering the game, St. Mary’s had routinely recorded lopsided wins, but found itself trailing an inspired Kenowa Hills team by four runs after three innings of play. 

But while it was unfamiliar territory, panic certainly didn’t set in.

“We were calm, cool and collected,” Eaglets senior Hudson Brzustewicz said. “We knew we were going to put up runs. It was just a matter of time before the bats got hot and balls started dropping.”

Brzustewicz couldn’t have been more right, as St. Mary’s rallied for a 6-4 win in eight innings to add another Finals championship trophy to its collection.

The Eaglets (34-5) have now won seven titles and five since 2015 – four in Division 2 and the 2022 Division 1 crown.

It also gave head coach Nick DiPonio his first title as a coach after winning one as a player for St. Mary’s in 1998.

“They never had a doubt that they had it within themselves to persevere through everything,” DiPonio said. “It makes it that much sweeter.”

In the eighth inning with the game tied 4-4, junior Joseph Schilp started the winning rally with a sharp one-out single to left-center field. Schilp took second base on a passed ball, then went to third on a bunt single by senior Nate Baumann. 

St. Mary’s senior and No. 9 hitter Preston Duff then brought Schilp home with another bunt single inside the third-base line to give their team a 5-4 lead.

Eaglets reliever Anthony Abela delivers a pitch. With two outs, Eaglets senior Luke Crighton hit an RBI single to make it 6-4. 

Kenowa Hills put runners on first and second with two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning, but St. Mary’s senior left-handed reliever Anthony Abela ended the game on a strikeout.

Abela came on in the fourth inning and provided five innings of scoreless relief, striking out six. 

Making its first trip to a Final, Kenowa Hills finished 36-3.

“We just gave up a couple too many runs,” Knights head coach Todd VandenHeuvel said. “They outhit us (13-6). If we could have gotten a couple more baserunners on and stayed aggressive like we were and put more pressure on them, it might have been a different outcome. But very proud of the kids."

Kenowa Hills got off to a good start, taking a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning on an RBI single up the middle by Andrew Lake to score senior Brennan Gustinis, who led off the inning with a double. 

The Knights took a 2-0 lead in the third inning on junior Will Fussman’s RBI triple to the gap in right-center. 

With two outs, an attempted steal of home by Fussman worked, as an errant St. Mary’s throw got behind the catcher, allowing Fussman to score and make it 3-0. 

Kenowa Hills then made it 4-0 later in the inning when it executed a double steal perfectly with runners on first and third. With the runner on first breaking for second, senior Mason Peebles charged for home and slid underneath the tag at home plate after St. Mary’s cut off the throw to second and threw back to home. 

The Eagles got one run back in the fourth, cutting the lead to 4-1 on an RBI groundout by senior Derick Conrad. 

In the sixth inning, St. Mary’s made a move, cutting the Kenowa Hills lead to 4-3 on a two-run double to the gap in right-center by senior Tyler Shubnell. 

The Eaglets then tied the game at 4-4 on an RBI single by Bauman.

Click for the full box score.

PHOTOS (Top) An Orchard Lake St. Mary's runner rounds third base Saturday as a Kenowa Hills throw comes in from the outfield. (Middle) Eaglets reliever Anthony Abela delivers a pitch.