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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:

MHSAA News

MHSAA Reports 2020-21 Participation; More than 240,000 Participants Counted Despite Pandemic

By Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor

November 4, 2021

While COVID-19 surely played a part in reduced participation in sports at Michigan High School Athletic Association schools during the 2020-21 school year, a total of 244,012 participants continued to take part in athletics across the 28 sports for which the MHSAA sponsors postseason tournaments.

The overall MHSAA participation totals count students once for each sport in which they participate, meaning students who are multiple-sport athletes are counted more than once.

Generally, the MHSAA provides as part of its annual participation release a comparison of totals, both overall and per sport, to the previous school year. But a comparison of the 2020-21 overall participation total to that from 2019-20 cannot be considered relevant because the Spring 2020 season was canceled due to COVID-19 before the start of competition, which likely affected participation counts from those spring sports. Similarly, the Fall 2020 season saw a number of schools put some sports on hold for that year, including in the highest participation sport football, which also affected identifying participation trends in those sports. Enrollment reported by MHSAA member schools did see a 2.1-percent decrease from 2019-20, to 444,085 students overall.

The participation figures are gathered annually from MHSAA member schools to submit to the National Federation of State High School Associations for compiling of its national participation survey (although the NFHS has not compiled national surveys for 2019-20 or 2020-21 amid the COVID-19 pandemic). Results of Michigan surveys from the 2000-01 school year to present may be viewed on the MHSAA Website.

The following chart shows participation figures for the 2020-21 school year from MHSAA member schools for sports in which the Association sponsors a postseason tournament:

 

BOYS

GIRLS

Sport

Schools (A)

Participants

Schools (A)

Participants (B)

Baseball

656/11

16,035

-

-/18

Basketball

728/5

18,806

722

13,285/15

Bowling

421/25

3,465

413

2,414/51

Competitive Cheer

-

-

362

5,191

Cross Country

667/4

8,372

667

7,248/16

Football -11 player

543/103

30,630

-

-/115

                  8-player

104/18

1,737

-

-/23

Golf

531/51

6,075

358

3,585/108

Gymnastics

-

-

102

613

Ice Hockey

298/11

3,221

-

-/13

Lacrosse

174/8

4,497

121

2,777/13

Skiing

121/0

818

115

778

Soccer

504/16

13,129

486

11,130/60

Softball

-

-

647

11,389

Swimming & Diving

274/18

4,051

279

5,111/56

Tennis

310/16

5,879

339

7,125/25

Track & Field

702/0

17,390

692

12,739

Volleyball

-

-

720

18,430

Wrestling

491/158

7,296

-

-/283

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(A) The first number is the number of schools reporting sponsorship on the Sports Participation Survey, including primary and secondary schools in cooperative programs as of May 15, 2021. The second number indicates the number of schools that had girls playing on teams consisting primarily of boys.

(B) The second number indicates the number of additional girls playing on teams consisting primarily of boys and entered in boys competition.

The MHSAA is a private, not-for-profit corporation of voluntary membership by more than 1,400 public and private senior high schools and junior high/middle schools which exists to develop common rules for athletic eligibility and competition. No government funds or tax dollars support the MHSAA, which was the first such association nationally to not accept membership dues or tournament entry fees from schools. Member schools which enforce these rules are permitted to participate in MHSAA tournaments, which attract more than 1.4 million spectators each year.