This Week In High School Sports: 1/18/22
By
Jon Ross
MHSAA Director of Broadcast Properties
January 18, 2022
This week's edition highlights a strong start for the Midland Dow girls basketball team, awards Game Balls to high achievers in wrestling, basketball and hockey; and celebrates retiring coaches who are among the winningest in Michigan's girls basketball and baseball history. 
The 5-minute program each week includes feature stories from around the state from the MHSAA’s Second Half or network affiliates, along with "Be The Referee," a 60-second look at the fine art of officiating.
"This Week in High School Sports" is powered by MI Student Aid, a part of the Office of Postsecondary Financial Planning located within the Michigan Department of Treasury.
Listen to this week's show by Clicking Here.
Previous editions
Jan. 11: Battle of the Fans X "Challenge Round," officiating on the islands – Listen
Jan. 4: Onsted boys basketball, Oxford Strong – Listen
Dec. 15: Winter championship calendar, KLAA/MIHL Memorial Showcase – Listen
Dec. 8: 2021 Bush Award honorees, remembering Tom Rashid – Listen
Dec. 1: 11-Player Football Finals review – Listen
Nov. 23: Volleyball, LP Girls Swimming & Diving, 8-Player Football Finals review – Listen
Nov. 16: Lower Peninsula Cross Country continued, weekend preview – Listen
Nov. 9: Lower Peninsula Cross Country, Boys Soccer Finals review – Listen
Nov. 2: Title IX at 50 celebration, Fall championship broadcasts – Listen
Oct. 27: Upper Peninsula Cross Country Finals review, soccer/volleyball playoff update – Listen
Oct. 20: Lower Peninsula Girls Golf & Boys Tennis Finals review – Listen
Oct. 13: Middle school/junior high cross country Regionals, football playoff selection – Listen
Oct. 6: Upper Peninsula girls tennis champions, football broadcast update – Listen
Sept. 29: Girls swimming & diving "Meet of Champions," Schoolcraft's star kicker – Listen
Sept. 22: Spartan Invitational "elite" races, John U. Bacon's "Let Them Lead" – Listen
Sept. 15: Volleyball powers face off, Tiger Teusink's tennis legacy – Listen
Sept. 8: Fall sports rules changes, Adrian Lenawee Christian inspiration – Listen
Sept. 1: Boys soccer seeding process, Beaver Island athletics – Listen
Aug. 25: Return of Fall sports, “enhanced strength-of-schedule” football playoff format – Listen
Flashback 100: Future Olympian Piper Leads Grosse Pointe North to Historic Height
December 20, 2024
Grosse Pointe North High School has won one girls swimming & diving team Finals championship—an impressive feat achieved in Class A in 1999.
The key to the Norsemen’s success that year was junior Carly Piper.
After a standout sophomore season during which Piper claimed the 200-yard freestyle title and GPN finished third overall, she delivered a dominant performance at the 1999 Finals. Piper secured first place in both the 200 and 500 freestyle events and contributed to victories in both the 200 and 400 free relays. Her outstanding individual and relay performances propelled Grosse Pointe North to the top of the team standings, as it edged Farmington Hills Mercy for the title.
Total for her high school career, Piper won three individual MHSAA Finals titles and was part of three champion relay teams.
Piper’s success continued on the world stage when, at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, she won a gold medal as part of the 800 freestyle relay team. Alongside teammates Natalie Coughlin, Kaitlin Sandeno, and Dana Vollmer, the U.S. set a world record that stood for two years.
In recognition of her Olympic achievement, the city of Grosse Pointe Woods declared December 20, 2004, as "Carly Piper Day."
A standout athlete at the University of Wisconsin, Carly earned 18 All-American honors and twice won the Big Ten "Swimmer of the Year" award. Today, she and her husband Shane Ryan run the Madison Aquatic Club.
Previous "Flashback 100" Features
Dec. 13: The Other Mr. Forsythe in Michigan School Sports - Read
Dec. 6: Coleman's Legendary Heroics Carry Harrison Through Repeat - Read
Nov. 29: Harbaugh Brothers' Football Roots Planted in Part at Pioneer - Read
Nov. 22: 8-Player Football Finals Right at Home at Superior Dome - Read
Nov. 15: Leland Career Helps Set Stage for Glass' International Stardom - Read
Nov. 8: Future Baseball Pro Led Escanaba's Legendary Football Title Run - Read
Nov. 1: Michigan High School Baseball Trio Provide World Series Voices - Read
Oct. 25: Before Leading Free World, Ford Starred for Champion GR South - Read
Oct. 18: Mercy Links Legend Becomes World Golf Hall of Famer - Read
Oct. 11: Fisher Races to Finals Stardom on Way to U.S. Olympic First - Read
Oct. 4: Lalas Leaves High School Legacies on Ice & Pitch - Read
Sept. 27: Tamer's History-Making Run Starts in Dexter, Continues to Paris - Read
Sept. 20: Todd Martin’s Road to Greatness Starts at East Lansing - Read
Sept. 13: James Earl Jones, Dickson High Hoops to Hollywood Legend - Read
Sept. 6: Pioneers' Unstoppable Streak Stretches 9 Seasons - Read
Aug. 30: Detroit dePorres Rushes to 1995 Class CC Football Championship - Read
PHOTOS Clockwise from top left: (1) Cassy Miller, Kristen Shelden, Melissa Jamerino and Carly Piper make up the 200 freestyle relay state team. (2) The 1999 team celebrates its championship. (3) The 1999 team photo from the MHSAA Book of Champions. (4) Piper wears her gold medal in a photo displayed at the school. (Celebration photo courtesy of Ashley Piper. Relay photo courtesy of Grosse Pointe North High School.)