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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:

2021 D4 Individual Bowling Champions

1st-Time Finalists Become 1st-Time Champs in D4

By Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com

March 27, 2021

CANTON – Both Burr Oak junior Ethan Lindsay and Gobles sophomore Morgan Brunner obviously hope they qualify for the Division 4 Bowling Finals again during their high school careers.

But if they do, it is certainly going to be hard to top their respective first appearances. 

Both not only competed in their first Finals, but they left Super Bowl in Canton with the titles as individual singles champions for 2021.

Lindsay earned his title by beating Stephen Kangas of Ishpeming Westwood in the final, 509-422.

Lindsay all but clinched his championship by bowling a 280 in the first game, a total he wasn’t sure afterwards was a season high or not.

Kangas bowled a 230, but still found himself down 50 pins. 

“It was extremely nerve-wracking,” Lindsay said. ‘I would sing songs in my head to distract me from bowling. Anything to take my mind off my opponent and what he was bowling and what I was bowling.” 

It was certainly hard for anyone who watched Lindsay’s brilliant day to want to look away from his bowling. 

Seeded ninth out of the qualifying block, Lindsay earned a 432-347 win over Aiden Briguglio of Kimball Landmark Academy in the round of 16 before beating Jesse Pancio of Baldwin in a quarterfinal by just two pins, 380-378.

Lindsay then beat Riley Vernon of Ithaca in a semifinal, 355-337, before saving his best pair of games for the final. 

At the end, Lindsay was simply thinking about his hometown and the fact he brought a championship back to it.

“It means a lot, especially for my town,” Lindsay said. “We’re a small town in Burr Oak. We’ve got like 300 kids in our school. It’s great to bring back this big trophy to my small town.”

Also bringing back a title to her small town was Brunner, who defeated Ella Wendel of Traverse City Christian in a close championship match.

Brunner prevailed 362-354, knowing she had the title when Wendel wasn’t able to bowl a strike on her first ball of the 10th frame in the second game. 

“I was excited,” Brunner said of her mindset coming into her first state tournament. “I’ve been bowling pretty good recently. I just tried to stay positive.”

Brunner was the No. 3 seed out of the qualifying block, and started off by beating Chloe Crick of Maple City Glen Lake in the round of 16, 396-317. 

Brunner then beat Arielle Oakley of Vandercook Lake in the quarterfinals, 404-292, and 2020 champ Kassidy Alexander of Hanover-Horton in the semifinals, 376-327, to set up the championship match with Wendel, who was the No. 1 seed out of the qualifying block. 

“I was telling myself to stay calm and make good shots,” Brunner said. “It feels good.” 

In addition to winning the titles in their first Finals appearances, Lindsay and Brunner did it in what was their only day at Super Bowl of the two-day event.

Their respective teams didn’t qualify for the Friday Team Finals, but it obviously didn’t take Lindsay or Brunner long to get used to the lanes and environment. 

Click for full singles scores.