10 to Remember: 2012-13 Finals
June 27, 2013
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Championships are culminations of season-long journeys, concluding with the most exciting competitions of the year but steeped in back stories that make those crowning achievements mean so much more.
The Michigan High School Athletic Association awards 127 team championships each school year. Anyone picking 10 favorites could come up with at least 13 different lists.
So the list that follows likely won’t agree with many others. But here’s one person’s take on the 10 most incredible MHSAA Finals performances – focusing mostly on the final competition but with some back story built in – from the 2012-13 school year. (Click on headings for full stories.)
10. Special teams lead to special accomplishment for Brother Rice
Birmingham Brother Rice and Muskegon had combined for 12 MHSAA football championships entering the Finals. But in winning their eighth, the Warriors also accomplished a first in 44 seasons under coach Al Fracassa – their first back-to-back titles. They went ahead in the eventual 35-28 win on a cross-field lateral that turned into a 91-yard kickoff return with 2:13 to play.
9. Lakewood volleyball ends championship wait ...
Lake Odessa Lakewood coach Kellie Rowland has won 787 matches during her 15 seasons over two tenures leading the program, and frequently had brought the Vikings to the cusp of their first MHSAA title. They finally got it by defeating perennial power North Branch in three games in the Class B championship match.
8. ... and so does Bay City Western baseball
The Warriors earned coach Tim McDonald his first MHSAA championship game victory to go with 562 more wins over 21 seasons. Bay City Western won 1-0 in both the Semifinal and then Final over Brother Rice to secure its first baseball title and a 42-2 finish.
7. “Core 4” leave Mona Shores with four more
Seniors Hailey Hrynewich, Morgan Smith, Britni Gielow and Kelsey McKinley finished their high school careers as starters on four MHSAA championship teams, including the one that won the Lower Peninsula Division 2 Final this school year by 41 strokes. Hrynewich and Smith both posted top-five individual finishes as Mona Shores shot a two-day 666 at their final championship tournament.
6. Grand Ledge gymnastics sets the bar
Number six on this list makes sense for the Comets, who won their sixth straight MHSAA team championship to set the all-time longest title streak in the sport. They did so with the fifth-highest score in MHSAA Finals history – 149.350 – and despite graduating the Division 1 all-around champion the spring before.
5. Seniors say good-bye at LP Division 1 Final
Grosse Pointe South’s Hannah Meier and West Bloomfield’s Erin Finn brought national acclaim to the Detroit suburbs over the last two years with dominating performances in track and cross country. They finished their careers at the LP Division 1 Track & Field Final, where Meier set all-MHSAA Finals records in the 800 and 1,600 and Finn set an all-Finals record in the 3,200. In the fall, Finn and Meier finished first and second, respectively, at the LP Division 1 Cross Country Final.
4. Fowlerville standout reaches the stars
Gladiators senior Adam Coon, once an aspiring astronaut now turned aspiring aerospace engineer, became the 17th wrestler in MHSAA history to win four individual Finals championships. And he became the first to do so at the two heaviest weights, earning his titles at 215 and 285 pounds. He graduated with a career record of 211-3 and a 194-match winning streak.
3. Swimming with speed in Saline
Saline also won its fourth straight MHSAA title, in Lower Peninsula Division 1, anchored by seniors David Boland, Josh Ehrman, Michael Bundas and Adam Whitener. Combined, they hold four Finals individual and two relay records, and Ehrman graduated with all-Finals records in the 200-yard individual medley and 100 breaststroke. Those four also leave with the 200 medley relay all-Finals record – with their time of 1:30.01 good for third-best in the national record book.
2. Michell sits atop MHSAA medal count
Reed City’s Sami Michell is one of two girls in MHSAA history to win four events at a Track & Field Final – a feat she accomplished both this season and last. And she finished her career this month with 12 individual titles overall, two more than the previous Lower Peninsula record. She graduated with LP Division 3 Finals records in both hurdles races and the long jump, and her 300 hurdles time of 42.23 is an all-Finals record.
1. Football Finals end in overtime classic
The most exciting MHSAA Football Final likely was the last of Thanksgiving weekend – a 40-37 overtime win by Grand Rapids Christian over Orchard Lake St. Mary’s that gave the Eagles the Division 3 title. And at least on this list, it counts as the most exciting of all the buzzer-beating, one-point, by one millimeter endings to the MHSAA’s 127 Finals this school year.
The Saturday night crowd at Ford Field was treated to an incredible performance by Eagles receiver Drake Harris, who had eight catches for a record 243 yards and touchdown and was nearly unstoppable as Grand Rapids Christian drove down the stretch. Quarterback Alex VanDeVusse threw for 307 yards, fourth-most in MHSAA Finals history, as the frazzled nerves of fans, players and coaches alike hung on every play. St. Mary’s ran for 459 of the single-team Finals record 579 yards of total offense; the teams combined for another record of 1,033 total yards between them. And at the end, the game was decided on a 27-yard field goal by Joel Schipper, who had connected on a 28-yarder with four seconds left in regulation to send the game to overtime.
PHOTO:Saline swimmers take a celebratory dip after claiming their fourth straight Lower Peninsula Division 1 championship.
Turning to Dad's Memory, Kropp Seals Leland Title with Unforgettable Clincher
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
November 1, 2025
GRAND LEDGE — As he made the walk toward the ball, all Leland senior Howie Kropp could think about was his late father.
With Leland mired in a shootout against Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett in the MHSAA Division 4 Boys Soccer Final, Kropp approached the ball facing the dream scenario – an opportunity to give his team the championship.
He could have been thinking about the fact that he hadn’t scored a goal all year, or that he had never taken a shot in a penalty kick shootout before.
Instead, all that was on his mind was his father, who passed away when he was 8 years old.
“My Dad, he’s up there. I knew he would take over if I just put the ball on the ground,” Kropp said. “He coached me in soccer throughout my entire life. Ending on this note meant the world to me.”
Kropp stepped up and calmly delivered the winning goal, giving Leland a 4-2 advantage in the shootout for a 2-1 overall win and Leland’s first Finals championship since 2018.
“I kind of let myself go,” Kropp said. “I know he helped me put it in the back of the net.”
Leland head coach Rob Sirrine knew Kropp, who was a goalkeeper his first three years of high school before transitioning to the field this year, entered the game having not scored this year.
However, that didn’t prevent Sirrine from putting Kopp as the fifth shooter for his team.
“He couldn’t buy a goal in the regular season,” he said. “We kept telling him that you’re going to get an important one in the playoffs. He kept going and he kept going, and didn’t get one. I was like, ‘Howie, now is your time.’”
With the game tied 1-1 after regulation and overtime, Leland took a 1-0 lead after the first round of the shootout following a successful conversion by senior Ignacio Creamer and a save by senior keeper Ravello Smith.
After Leland’s Weston Burda and Liggett’s Ollie Cooley traded conversions, Liggett tied the shootout at 2-2 on a goal by Brady Ancona.
Leland then went up 3-2 in the fourth round with a goal by senior Adrian Spencer and another save by Smith, which set up the title-clinching opportunity for Kropp.
Despite the loss, Liggett head coach David Dwaihy still had lots of reason for optimism. Not only did his team make it to the championship game, but the future looks bright with a roster laden with sophomores and freshmen who played big roles all season and throughout the game.
Liggett was aiming to win its first title since 1999.
“We’ve got a really strong collection of ninth and 10th graders who made an impact,” Dwaihy said. “It was neat to see them step up on a big occasion and not back off.”
Leland took a 1-0 lead with 24:24 remaining in the first half on a goal by Spencer, who took a pass from junior Jose Roman and fired a shot from just outside the box inside the far post.
Liggett answered with 5:55 left in the first half on a goal by sophomore Sekou Manneh, who found a loose ball on his foot in the center of the field just outside the box and fired a perfect low shot into the net.
That would be all the scoring in regulation and overtime, which set the stage for penalty kicks and Kropp’s memorable moment.
“I’ve never even been in a shootout,” he said. “I was just trying to take deep breaths and let the emotions flow out of me. I really just had a lot of faith.”
PHOTOS (Top) Leland’s Howie Krupp and his teammates begin to celebrate his game-winning goal and the Division 4 title Saturday at Grand Ledge High School. (Middle) Comets keeper Ravello Smith makes a save during the shootout. (Below) Liggett’s Sekou Manneh celebrates his equalizing score. (Photos by Adam Sheehan/Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)