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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:

Rock Mid Peninsula's Christian VanDamme rips through an iron shot during Wednesday’s Upper Peninsula Division 3 Final.

Mid Pen's VanDamme Finishes Finals Climb, Lake Linden-Hubbell Clinches 1st Team Title

By Jason Juno
Special for MHSAA.com

May 28, 2026

WATERSMEET — Rock Mid Peninsula's Christian VanDamme is only a sophomore, yet he came into Wednesday’s Upper Peninsula Division 3 Final with two past runner-up finishes at this golf tournament.

He made the top five as a seventh grader before shooting an impressive 76 as an eighth grader to finish second behind his brother Bradly. Last year, he had a seven-hole lead going into the back nine, but couldn’t hold off Powers North Central’s Nathan Pipkorn.

“I’ve definitely been putting too much pressure on myself the last couple years,” VanDamme said. “So I just kind of played free today.”

It translated into a first-place finish this time, while carding a 75.

“It’s nice,” he said. “It’s a lot nicer than losing, I’ll tell you that.”

His coach, and mom, Earlene VanDamme was proud of the growth he showed.

“I think Christian’s come a long way in his mental game,” she said. “That was what his big focus was. We knew he had the skill. He just really needed to work on that mental game. So all season, we’ve watched him pull through on that, where if he has a bad shot, he can overcome it on the next one. And so to see him take it today really cemented that.”

Lake Linden-Hubbell’s Brady Axford follows a tee shot. That’s what hurt him last year – a bad hole that he couldn’t let go. 

Now he has a U.P. title he doesn’t have to let go.

“He works really hard at his game,” Earlene said. “He loves the game. If he could live at the golf course, he would. I like to see kids have hard work pay off, and that’s what he has.”

He didn’t putt all that well at the Lac Vieux Desert Golf Course, but most everything else went fine.

“It’s nice playing this short of a course; you don’t have to hit much of a tee ball, I hit a lot of hybrids and three woods,” he said. 

Big Bay de Noc’s Parker Pederson carded a 78 to finish second. Three players tied for third.

“Tyler is pretty level-headed on the course. Brady, a technical player, grinds it out. Lukas plays smooth and easy-going, and he hits putts.”

That’s how Lake Linden-Hubbell coach Brett Poissant describes the Lakes’ Axford triplets, who all golf differently, but equally well. The juniors all shot an 80 to tie for third individually and lead the Lakes to their first U.P. team title after finishing in second place the last two years. 

“That’s just been our success, the last few years with them, they’re the driving force,” Poissant said. “They’re so consistent, and there’s definitely that sibling rivalry. They like to battle each other, and I think that’s part of the motivator for the team is they want to best each other and ultimately ended in a tie.”

Lake Linden-Hubbell’s other two golfers also finished among the top 10, Brayden Beaudette in a tie for sixth with an 81 and Bodie Fortin in 10th with an 84. 

It’s no surprise then that they won comfortably, 321-354 over runner-up Big Bay de Noc. Ontonagon took third with Wakefield-Marenisco fourth and Bessemer fifth.

“It’s been the goal since those kids were freshmen, to win a U.P. title,” Poissant said. “They’ve really, really put it in their sights, and it all came together today. They shot really well.”

“It’s very cool. This is our first team title in school history,” Lukas Axford said. “We put a lot of work in this spring. We got a real tight-knit group of guys, and it’s amazing to see our hard work pay off.”

PHOTOS (Top) Rock Mid Peninsula's Christian VanDamme rips through an iron shot during Wednesday’s Upper Peninsula Division 3 Final. (Middle) Lake Linden-Hubbell’s Brady Axford follows a tee shot. (Photos by Jason Juno.)