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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:

Ann Arbor Pioneer celebrates its Finals championship during the traditional post-victory dip in the pool at Oakland University.

Pioneer Rebounds from Runner-Up Finish to Regain Division 1 Championship

By Tim Robinson
Special for MHSAA.com

March 14, 2026

ROCHESTER — What a difference a year made for the Ann Arbor Pioneer boys swimming & diving team.

Last year, the Pioneers saw their string of Lower Peninsula Division 1 Finals titles snapped at four, finishing second to Southeastern Conference Red foe Saline. 

This year, the Pioneers made it back to the summit, scoring 283 points to best second-place Northville (254). Saline, with 226 points, finished third. 

“From the first day of the season, this was our goal, to get back on top," Pioneer coach Stefanie Kerska said. “Northville gave us the biggest run in a long time. It was a great weekend of competition. I’m so proud of these boys. I’m so proud of these seniors." 

Northville’s Benjamin Hu swims to a fourth-place finish in the individual medley. Among the seniors was Edward Zhang, who won the individual medley and was on all three Pioneer relays.

“We were all looking to leave with a bang,”’ he said. “It feels so good. Last year, after that loss, we were all so disappointed, and we were all looking forward to this year.”

"The key was just being consistent and trying to be predictably excellent,” Kerska said, "We wanted to maintain a steady level of emotional discipline throughout the whole meet, and the guys just showed up like professionals.”

They weren’t the only seniors who did so.

Jenison’s Caleb Storey won the 100 freestyle and 50 free titles, while Northville's Brady Stenson defended his title in the 200 free. Junior Isaac Adanin of Saline repeated in the breaststroke.

Another junior, Pioneer's Charles Knoepp, won the 500 free and was on the winning Pioneer 400 free relay with seniors Zhang, Henry Baumhover and Cameron Kline.

“We were just hungry for this,” Baumhover said. “We got second last year, and it feels amazing to complete our goal.”

As for reaching the goal, Baumhover said there were no shortcuts.

"The key is just every single day in practice," he said. “It’s not one singular meet day. It’s just every single stroke, every single 50 in practice, We all work so hard, every single day.”

Northville posted its best finish since a second-place result in 2022. 

“We just have a great group of seniors that came together," coach Rich Bennett said. ”They’ve been training for this since they were freshmen, and it was awesome to have them finish this way. We fell a little short. But we did really well. I’m proud of the boys.”

The Mustangs got off to a strong start, winning the first two events, before a deeper Pioneer squad began collecting the points it needed to win its fifth title in six years. 

Swimmers launch during the start of the 200 freestyle relay. “They’re always the measuring stick,” Bennett said of Pioneer. “They’ve got a fantastic coaching staff. They have super-talented kids. They’ve been the measuring stick for a long time, and we threw everything we had at them. They have a great team, but I'm really proud of my guys as well.”

And in the end, it was Kerska who made the happy celebratory dive into the pool after the championship trophy had been awarded.

“I couldn't have wished for a better outcome," Kline said. “We swam our hearts out, and we did what we needed to do.”

While the Pioneer swimmers were fixated on Saturday's meet, Kerska admitted to looking ahead to next year before the 2026 meet was over.

“My assistant was talking to me about it during the breaststroke,” she said, smiling.

Holland West Ottawa senior Isaac Kamara-Hagemeyer won the diving competition. Grandville senior Oliver Ottenwess won the butterfly, and Milford senior Samuel Campbell finished first in the backstroke after placing second a year ago. Bloomfield Hills won the 200 freestyle relay. 

Click for full results.

PHOTOS (Top) Ann Arbor Pioneer celebrates its Finals championship during the traditional post-victory dip in the pool at Oakland University. (Middle) Northville’s Benjamin Hu swims to a fourth-place finish in the individual medley. (Below) Swimmers launch during the start of the 200 freestyle relay. (Click for more from High School Sports Scene.)