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.”
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."
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.
Previous 2012-13 honorees:
- Julia Bos, Grand Rapids Christian cross country - Click for more
- Morgan Bullock, Zeeland swimming - Click for more
- Nathan Burnand, Waterford Mott cross country - Click for more
- Aaron Chatfield, Burt Lake Northern Michigan Christian soccer - Click for more
- Billy Heckman, Portage Central tennis - Click for more
- Codi Jenshak, Escanaba tennis - Click for more
- Amanda McKinzie, Battle Creek St. Philip cross country - Click for more
- Connor Mora, Cedar Springs cross country - Click for more
- Kelsey Murphy, Plymouth golf - Click for more
- Dewey Lewis, Rockford soccer - Click for more
- Jacqueline Setas, Lansing Catholic golf - Click for more
- Michael Sienko, Williamston tennis - Click for more
- Beal City volleyball - Click for more
- Grand Blanc boys soccer - Click for more
- Ithaca football - Click for more
- Lansing Everett football - Click for more
- Ludington boys tennis - Click for more
- Muskegon Mona Shores girls golf - Click for more
Adams' Fodale Repeats, Marquette's Grzelak Wins 1st & Titans Take Team Title
By
James Cook
Special for MHSAA.com
February 27, 2023
BELLAIRE – Katie Fodale aims for three next year. Anna Grzelak got her first in her last chance.
Fodale, the Rochester Adams junior star, won the Division 1 girls slalom championship for the second-straight season Monday at Schuss Mountain in Bellaire.
Grzelak capped off her standout Marquette career with her first Finals championship after multiple all-state performances.
“I'd say it was pretty different last year,” Fodale said. “It was kind of unexpected and I was super happy to win, obviously, but I didn't know that I could do it. This year coming back, I knew I had done it last year. I felt the pressure from myself to try and win again. I knew I could do it, but I also knew that there was a lot of other girls that could beat me, too.”
She led by 12 hundredths of a second after the first run, but extended that to 0.89 following the second, posting the best time with each.
“When I was skiing it, I could feel I was getting a lot of speed and doing really well,” said Fodale, who also took fifth in giant slalom. “I was just full speed ahead. Then once I was on the last three gates, I was like, 'OK, I think I got it.' And then I finished through and I was like, 'Yeah, that was a great run.'”
Fodale said she was happy with the team's fifth-place finish, especially since the Schuss Mountain slopes are far bigger than their home hill. Adams arrived early and trained for three days on the Kingdom Come and Goosebumps courses they'd compete on Monday.
“It was really good because a lot of our team was intimidated coming up here,” she said. “Our hill is very flat, and obviously this hill is super steep. But we came up to the challenge, and I think we did a great job.”
Marquette won the team title Grzelak's freshman year. Ever since, a Traverse City team has won the overall crown.
“It took a lot of training, and a lot of people helped me out and support me,” Grzelak said. “I think that was really nice.”
Traverse City West emerged from a tiebreaker with the girls title, as both West and TC Central ended with 69.5 points. The Titans won the tiebreaker with 30 points to 38 for Central, counting the fifth skier in both disciplines (Dillyn Mohr and Avery Plummer for West).
"Our team goes really deep, all the way to six," West coach Ed Johnson said. "So many teams fall off after three or four."
Johnson said it's the first time he saw the tiebreaker system used to decide the Finals champion.
Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern/Eastern, which won the Regional over both West and Central, finished third with 100 points, 30.5 back. The rest of the top nine were Clarkston (109), Rochester Adams (201), Bloomfield Hills (212), Brighton (242), Milford (246.5) and Farmington Hills Mercy (298).
West’s boys also won, completing a Finals sweep for the school.
"It's so cool," West junior Charlie Schulz said of winning both team titles. "It's never happened in our school history. It's so cool. I'm super proud of our team, and we've been working hard for it. I was pretty confident in us, but there's definitely some good competition here today."
Schulz said this year's outcome makes next year's goal obvious.
"I'm hoping to do it again," Schulz said. "We aren't losing anybody, at least for the girls side. So I'm hoping we can even be even better next year."
Grzelak, with two cousins also competing in the Division 1 Finals for Forest Hills Northern/Eastern, took third in slalom to earn dual first-team all-state honors.
“We got that family competition going on every time, so I think it's fun,” Grzelak said of her cousins. Katie Grzelak took third in slalom and Holly Grzelak fourth. Holly took third in GS.
“I'm glad I was able to get it in my last try,” Anna Grzelak said. “It's a good way to end off my high school career.”
Anna Grzelak tied Traverse City Central freshman Quinn Gerber for the GS championship, with both posting a combined time of 53.39 seconds.
"I did not expect it at all," Gerber said. "I was hoping to top-10 in both. My GS has been stronger this year, so I was hoping to do even better in that. I was hoping for top five in GS, so I was not really expecting this."
Gerber's first run was the fastest. Grzelak posted the best second run to put the two in a tie for combined time. They were both named GS champions.
“I was going all or falls on that one,” Grzelak said. “So I think I just had enough in me, and I was able to push through. I saw Quinn at the bottom, and we were celebrating.”
Gerber came out of the second flight to share the GS title.
"I was so happy to see Quinn ski so well today," TC Central head coach Amy Kudary said. "A state championship as a freshman is a pretty big deal. We are very young on both teams, so now I’m more excited than ever to see what we can do in the next couple of years."
Gerber said winning a championship as a freshman lifts her expectations for the future.
"I would hope for the same thing in the future, but the competition is so hard," Gerber said. "Especially tying like that. Any day, people ski differently."
The top 10 in giant slalom – who all earn first-team all-state honors – were Gerber, Anna Grzelak, Holly Grzelak, TC Central's Kellan Kudary, Fodale, FHNE's Jaycee O'Neill, TC West's Lila Warren, TC Central's Erinn Hale, Schulz and TC Central's Pearl Hale.
The top 10 in GS were Fodale, Katie Grzelak, Anna Grzelak, Holly Grzelak, TC West's Avery Plummer and Olivia Bageris, Gerber, Clarkston's Sydney Thomas, O'Neill and TC West's Ellie Gruber.
PHOTOS (Top) Rochester Adams' Katie Fodale speeds through a run Monday at Schuss Mountain. (Middle) Traverse City West's Quinn Gerber races amid some flurries. (Click for more from Sports in Motion - Division 1.)