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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:

Drew Everingham (11) dunks during Riverview Gabriel Richard's Semifinal win Thursday. 

Ghosts of 2024 Disappear as Riverview Gabriel Richard Advances in Breslin Return

By Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com

March 13, 2025

EAST LANSING – Experience did indeed win out in the second Division 3 Boys Basketball Semifinal on Thursday at Breslin Center.

Last year, Riverview Gabriel Richard lost in the Semifinals in heartbreaking fashion as Detroit Old Redford hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to win. 

Returning all five starters from that team, Gabriel Richard used its experience to good use and didn’t let Pewamo-Westphalia get close during the second half, earning a 66-45 victory. 

The Pioneers advanced to Saturday’s 4:30 p.m. championship game and will play Arts & Technology Academy of Pontiac in a matchup of programs that have never played in a Final.

“Last year at this time we lost at the buzzer, and those ghosts were in here a little bit when we came into the building,” Gabriel Richard coach Kris Daiek said. “But we squashed those early.”

Seniors Luke Westerdale and Nick Sobush both scored 22 points to lead the way for Gabriel Richard (24-2), which shot 51.9 percent from the field (27 of 52) overall and 36.4 percent (8 of 22) from 3-point range. 

Westerdale went 0-for-5 from 3-point range in last year’s game against Old Redford, something he said was on his mind all year but quickly erased when he made his first 3-pointer of the game.

“I’ve honestly thought about that the entire year,” he said. “All 365 days. For the first play, for a 3 to fall, it was a sense of relief.”

The Pioneers also forced 13 Pewamo-Westphalia turnovers while committing just five of their own. 

Gabriel Richard's Nick Sobush (1) drives to the basket.Daiek said his team used Old Redford’s game-winner last year as fuel the entire offseason.

“I knew it was going to spark us,” he said. “These guys used that shot to become where they are right now.”

Junior Grady Eklund scored 16 points, and junior Trent Piggott had 11 for Pewamo-Westphalia (24-4). 

The Pirates were making their first trip to the Semifinals since winning the Division 3 title in 2019. 

“The farther you go in the tournament, the more the losses hurt,” Pewamo-Westphalia head coach Dominic Schneider said. “I know right now you see the tears in their eyes. You see how much they care, and that is what brings you back as a coach. The kids care and put it all on the floor. Tonight wasn’t our night. They hit more shots than us and were the better basketball team.”

Gabriel Richard led 27-24 at halftime before starting to separate itself late in the third quarter. 

The run began when Westerdale drove the lane and fed a perfect alley-oop pass to Drew Everingham, who finished with a thunderous dunk to give the Pioneers a 44-32 lead.

Everingham and Westerdale then hit back-to-back 3-pointers to put Gabriel Richard up 50-34 lead with 42 seconds to go in the third quarter. 

“After that, it was over, I felt like,” Sobush said. 

The Pioneers didn’t let up in the fourth, putting the game away by going up 61-39 with 3:17 remaining on a layup by Westerdale. 

Gabriel Richard led 15-12 after the first quarter following an Eklund half-court shot that beat the buzzer.

Click for the full box score.

PHOTOS (Top) Drew Everingham (11) dunks during Riverview Gabriel Richard's Semifinal win Thursday. (Middle) Gabriel Richard's Nick Sobush (1) drives to the basket.