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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:

Northville’s Sachiv Kumar prepares to serve during a match his sophomore season.

Northville's Kumar Eager to Prove 2021 Title Run Just the Start

By Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com

October 13, 2022

NORTHVILLE – It might sound laughable that a reigning MHSAA Finals champion is out to prove people wrong.

Greater DetroitBut if there was ever an example where that is actually valid, it’s this year’s quest for Northville junior tennis player Sachiv Kumar.

Last year as a sophomore, Kumar stunned many in the tennis community when he won the No. 1 singles title at the Lower Peninsula Division 1 Final.

Kumar came somewhat out of nowhere, given he entered as the No. 5 seed and had seven losses going into the tournament.

None of that mattered though, as Kumar kept moving his way through the tournament and ended up topping Rochester’s Clayton Anderson in the championship match in a third-set tiebreaker.

Given it was such a surprise, the motivation has been obvious for Kumar since practice started in August.

“Just to say that I could win it again,” Kumar said. “That it wasn’t just luck last time.”

Going into this weekend’s Division 1 Final in Holland, it would be no surprise if Kumar repeated.

Seeded No. 2 going into the tournament, Kumar sports a 29-1 record and has taken his game to another level this fall.

The only loss came in the first match of the year to Anderson during a dual contest between Rochester and Northville.

Kumar had a match point, but ended up losing to Anderson in a tiebreaker to finish off a two-set match that took roughly three hours.

“I play with him a lot through USTA tournaments and other tournaments,” Kumar said. “I play with him like every week.”

Anderson deservedly is the No. 1 seed this weekend. In truth though, Kumar is more of a “1B” seed.

“He has all the shots that he needs,” Northville head coach Bob Young said. “Overhead, volleys, ground strokes. He can just do it all.”

There have been some specific areas where Kumar has improved from last year.

Kumar said his serve has gotten a lot better, while Young said Kumar’s enhanced conditioning has really stood out.

“Last year we struggled with him because of fatigue,” Young said. “There were two or three matches in tournaments in the beginning of the year where he had to forfeit in the third round just because he wasn’t in good enough shape. This year, that hasn’t been an issue at all. He’s been able to coast through everything.”

Success in tennis is certainly in Kumar’s blood, given his older sister, Shanoli, was named Miss Tennis in 2018.

The two have pushed each other constantly throughout their lives, and Shanoli was present at last year’s Final to watch Sachiv win the title.

“I always used to say I was better than her when I wasn’t,” Sachiv Kumar said. “When I was 8 or 9, we used to play like every day. She would coach me and stuff.”

Kumar said he hasn’t figured out his college future, but he will be busy once the high school season is over with traveling to junior tournaments during the winter, spring and summer.

“Every month, I’ll be going somewhere different around the country to play,” he said.

Before that though, he wants to finish his mission that he started in August.

Anderson could very well be waiting again in the final.

Regardless, the motivation is obvious for Kumar this weekend in Holland.

“It sounds nice to win it twice in a row,” he said.

Keith DunlapKeith Dunlap has served in Detroit-area sports media for more than two decades, including as a sportswriter at the Oakland Press from 2001-16 primarily covering high school sports but also college and professional teams. His bylines also have appeared in USA Today, the Washington Post, the Detroit Free Press, the Houston Chronicle and the Boston Globe. He served as the administrator for the Oakland Activities Association’s website from 2017-2020. Contact him at [email protected] with story ideas for Oakland, Macomb and Wayne counties.

PHOTO Northville’s Sachiv Kumar prepares to serve during a match his sophomore season. (Photo courtesy of the Northville boys tennis program.)