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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:

Mendon’s Ally Butler (27) high-fives her coach during Saturday’s Division 3 championship win over Unionville-Sebewaing.

Mendon Ends USA's Title Streak, Starts Own with Commanding 1st Finals Triumph

By Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com

June 14, 2025

EAST LANSING — Mendon wasn’t going to be denied this time – and in the process, the Hornets denied Michigan’s most record-setting softball program from adding another detail to its dominance over the last half-decade.

Seeking its record sixth-straight Finals championship, Unionville-Sebewaing was dethroned by a talented, motivated and determined Mendon team, which won its first championship with an 11-1 victory in the Division 4 Final at Secchia Stadium. 

The game ended with two outs in the bottom of the sixth inning after Mendon’s 11th run scored on a throwing error by USA. 

In short, Mendon (35-2) did to USA what USA (20-16) has been able to do so often during its stretch of dominance. 

The Hornets also avenged one-run defeats to USA in the championship game (5-4) two years ago (5-4) and Semifinals (6-5) last year. 

“You just keep working and keep working and you see the kids go through (the losses),” Mendon head coach Steve Butler said. “You come up short one year and then another year. We keep telling them, ‘You got this. You know you have it.’ To see them come through and pull it off and beat a team like that the way we did, it was awesome.”

Mendon started its onslaught by scoring four runs with two outs in the bottom of the first inning. 

With the bases loaded, an infield popup by senior Ally Butler eluded two USA infielders and fell to the ground, allowing two runs to score. 

The Hornets’ Gracie Schultz extends to snag a line drive in left field.Junior Cienna Nightingale then hit a 2-run double to give the Hornets a 4-0 lead. 

Mendon got four more runs in the third, first when Nightengale hit another 2-run double just beyond the glove of the left fielder. 

“All I was doing was swinging and swinging for my team,” Nightengale said. “I had girls in scoring position, and that’s what I did.”

Seniors Elise Allen and Abby Butler each followed with RBI doubles to put Mendon ahead 8-0. 

USA scored its only run on an RBI single by junior Macy Prime in the fifth inning, but Mendon got that run back in the bottom of the inning on an error. 

Mendon put runners on second and third base with one out in the sixth inning, finishing the game off on an RBI sacrifice fly by junior Taya Bingaman and throwing error by USA. 

Steve Butler said it was a moment his team had counted down toward since leaving East Lansing last year. 

“This group, they are motivated,” Butler said. “They know what they want. They’re goal-oriented, and they’ve had their eyes on this since we started.”

For USA, it will try and regroup and start another streak next year. Only four seniors will graduate. 

“I think it’s possible the girls started to feel some pressure from the streak we had going,” USA head coach Marc Reinhardt said. “All good streaks, they have to end sometime. I thought Mendon played a heck of a game. We left a few plays out there that we didn’t make that cost us a few runs. We’ve been dealing with that on and off during the season.”

Click for the full box score.

PHOTOS (Top) Mendon’s Ally Butler (27) high-fives her coach during Saturday’s Division 3 championship win over Unionville-Sebewaing. (Middle) The Hornets’ Gracie Schultz extends to snag a line drive in left field.