Michel Finishes with Story to Tell
June 11, 2013
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Andrew Michel received the heart-breaking news only moments before leaving his golf team’s Regional on Friday to get ready for that night’s Brownstown-Woodhaven prom.
But missing making the MHSAA Finals by a stroke was not the first thing he shared with those who asked about his day at West Shore Golf and Country Club in Grosse Ile.
Instead, the graduating senior told of the 132-yard shot he dropped for a hole-in-one on the par-3 12th hole, his second ace but first in competition.
Michel finished with a season-best 76, missing the cut for this weekend’s Lower Peninsula Division 1 Final by a stroke despite firing another eagle during the final holes of his round.
“At the start of the day, I told myself don’t leave anything on the table. Go for it on every hole, make every shot and just have fun at your last tournament,” Michel said Tuesday afternoon as he readied for that night’s graduation ceremony. “Being a senior, I went for everything.”
The best part might’ve been how he came back from a disappointing previous hole.
Michel had just finished off a triple bogey on No. 11, and admitted he was down on himself. He stepped to the next tee with his pitching wedge, and “I didn’t really care what happened. I chose the club I like to hit on that hole, and in the air I was thinking it was really good,” he said.
The ball touched down on the green and spun back into the hole.
Michel also played golf and soccer at Brownstown-Woodhaven. He’ll attend Grand Valley State University in the fall, study engineering, and will try to walk-on the Lakers’ golf team.
“Deep down inside,” he said he’s disappointed he won’t be playing at Michigan State’s Forest Akers West on Friday. But he’s got a quite a highlight to take with him from his final high school round.
“It was very bittersweet. I really wanted to go to state,” Michel said. “But the hole-in-one balanced it out a bit.”
Eye on the official
Hopefully you caught our MHSAA benchmarks piece (also published on Second Half) on longtime official Lamont Simpson, who has worked not only MHSAA Finals but NCAA tournaments and is one of 32 officials in the WNBA. (Here’s the link in case you missed it.)
He also became that league’s first to wear the referee cam, debuting the new gear during a recent game between the Phoenix Mercury and Indiana Fever.
The camera provides plenty of ref’s-eye views. Click the video below to check it out.
Wheels of Steele
We’ve been watching the inspiring progress of Frankenmuth runner Bobby Steele especially over the last few years as his story became known across the Lower Peninsula.
Steele, who is visually impaired, has run cross country and track for the Eagles, thanks to the help of guides who ran with him to help him stay on course.
If you haven’t heard Steele’s awesome story, check out this 8-minute video. Not only did Steele run, but he cut roughly 12 minutes off his first cross country times over the course of his career.
Miss Soccer Winner Bosley Returns, Focused on More Goals to Accomplish
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
April 27, 2023
ROCHESTER HILLS – If there’s any spring sport athlete who could be somewhat excused for suffering from a case of “senioritis” right now, it is Stoney Creek senior soccer player Lilley Bosley.
After all, Bosley already has a college scholarship to the University of Michigan in tow, and she already has been named the winner of the Miss Soccer Award after earning it last year as a junior.
But as much as it seems like she could, there has been no mailing it in this spring. On the contrary, she is playing with the hunger and determination of an underclassmen trying to prove herself.
It’s not even May, and Bosley has 10 goals and two assists for the Cougars, who play in the brutally tough Oakland Activities Association Red and are ranked No. 3 in Division 1 in this week’s coaches association poll.
Bosley has been great her first three years of high school, but appears to be saving her best for last – which is a scary thing for opponents.
“She has become physically stronger and tactically more knowledgeable,” Stoney Creek head coach Bryan Mittelstadt said. “She is a true student of the game and wants to learn as much as possible. She is an avid soccer fan outside of playing and always is willing to share highlights from the night before or player information. She has been a real pleasure to talk the game of soccer with, as well as watching her grow into a leader on and off of the field.”
For Bosley, she has been motivated to excel this year for both her future and present situations in soccer.
She wants to make sure she is fit and in form when she gets to Ann Arbor in August, when the possibility of immediate playing time exists as part of a young Michigan team.
“If I work really hard this summer and during high school season, hopefully I can get to play there,” she said.
But Bosley also is determined to go 100 percent for Stoney Creek for multiple reasons, one being she simply loves playing for her school.
“It’s fun,” she said. “It’s a different atmosphere. You get to play with all of your friends from school, and all the families get to support you. It’s a fun time to represent your school and know everyone is rooting for you. To try and win a state championship where you can put it up in the school and everyone will see it.”
Bosley also is a strong candidate to win Gatorade State Player of the Year and become the first player since Laura Heyboer of Hudsonville Unity Christian in 2007 and 2008 to win the Miss Soccer Award two years in a row.
Winning it as a junior put her in rare company, and certainly came as a surprise.
“I didn’t even know I was up for consideration,” she said. “I knew it’s usually only a senior thing. I was super surprised.”
Bosley projects as a central defender in college and has played that position for much of her club career with the Liverpool Football Club, formerly known as Vardar.
For Stoney Creek though, she has played mostly midfield and forward.
“I was a forward when I was younger,” Bosley said. “My club team was winning 1-0 against some team. My coach decided to put me in center back for the last 20 minutes. I was never put back at forward. I’ll miss it for sure (in college); I love scoring. But you never know. I could sometimes get opportunities and move up (the field).”
Her final and most important motivation for going all out for Stoney Creek is the desire to lead the Cougars to their second Finals championship, joining the 2016 squad that earned the Division 1 title.
That championship team had special meaning for Bosley, not only because she attended a couple of the team’s games, but also because the only goal of that championship game was scored by Emily Solek, the sister of current teammate and friend Lily Solek.
Emily Solek died tragically in a 2020 car crash, and winning a title in her honor would be the perfect way to finish off a terrific high school career.
“That would be awesome to win it again, and hopefully do it for her,” Bosley said.
No doubt, don’t expect “senioritis” to strike Bosley anytime soon.
Keith Dunlap has served in Detroit-area sports media for more than two decades, including as a sportswriter at the Oakland Press from 2001-16 primarily covering high school sports but also college and professional teams. His bylines also have appeared in USA Today, the Washington Post, the Detroit Free Press, the Houston Chronicle and the Boston Globe. He served as the administrator for the Oakland Activities Association’s website from 2017-2020. Contact him at [email protected] with story ideas for Oakland, Macomb and Wayne counties
PHOTOS (Top) Stoney Creek's Lilley Bosley winds up during her team's May 2 game against Royal Oak. (Middle) Lilley Bosley holds up her Miss Soccer Award after receiving it last summer following her junior season. (Top photo by Chris Mudd/National Photo Scout; middle photo courtesy of the Bosley family.)