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.
Bentz Adds Next Chapter to Inspirational Story as Novi Christian Athletic Director
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
September 24, 2024
NOVI – For anyone seeking an inspirational speaker, new Novi Christian athletic director Chad Bentz has a story he’d like to tell.
His includes the value of resilience, proof that improbable dreams can come true, and affirmation that mentors can change lives.
Bentz spent time in Major League Baseball, playing 36 games for the Montreal Expos in 2004 and four games in 2005 for the Miami Marlins as a left-handed relief pitcher.
The chances of making it to the big leagues are slim to begin with, but were even longer considering that Bentz grew up in Alaska.
On top of that, Bentz has a deformed right hand. When he debuted with the Expos, he followed in the footsteps of Jim Abbott, who also has a deformed right hand and starred at Flint Central and University of Michigan on the way to pitching for four MLB teams across 10 seasons.
Bentz was certainly a case of beating improbable odds, and watching Abbott while growing up was a big reason why.
“Everybody has their favorite players, but Jim was more than that to me,” Bentz said. “He gave me confidence to try things. I was always the kid with the weird hand. I always kept my hand in my pocket and was always self-conscious about it. Then I saw Jim pitching. He gave me confidence to try things, and thank goodness he did. When I tried things, I discovered I was good at it and got more confidence.”
It got even better for Bentz as a college freshman playing for Long Beach State, when he got to meet Abbott in during an unexpected visit.
“Meeting him was by far the most star-struck I’ve ever been,” he said. “We both stuck out our left hands to shake and it was the first time ever where it wasn’t that awkward. It was everything I thought it was going to be. He was incredibly nice, funny and just a good dude. That was one of my favorite moments. Kids being born, wedding and Jim.”
A big part of Bentz’ baseball development occurred in Michigan. Although he grew up in Alaska — he said he could’ve been a “Hall of Famer pitching inside of a gym” — Bentz would spend his summers in Michigan with family members in the Grand Rapids area.
He ended up hooking up with a travel ball team in the area, the Grand Rapids A’s, which was a step up from competition he saw in Alaska.
“I went down to Michigan, and I said, ‘OK, there are a lot of players in this country, and I am not as good as I thought I was,’” he said. “After my freshman year here (playing summer ball), I went back (to Alaska), and I started lifting and I didn’t stop. I kept working.”
Bentz eventually was drafted out of high school in the 34th round by the New York Yankees, played at Long Beach State and then was drafted in the seventh round by the Expos in 2001. In choosing baseball, he turned down opportunities to play football at Division I schools in what was then the PAC-10.
Bentz had been a standout linebacker and fullback, and when his baseball career was done, he began a college football career at age 30 playing for Castleton State College in Vermont.
“Playing college football at age 30 kind of gave me a taste of it, and that taste was that you should have done this 10 years ago,” Bentz quipped. “Not at 30. I was in slings every single Sunday. I couldn’t move. My arms were in slings. Both of them. But it was worth it. I loved and was thankful I had that opportunity. It filled that ‘what if’ type of thing.”
A husband and father of three, including 2-year-old twin boys, Bentz jumped on the chance to become the athletic director at Novi Christian and move to Michigan to not only be closer to family but give his kids a chance to be more active.
“Alaska is great, but it’s limiting,” Bentz said. “I told people that the grass isn’t going to be greener, but it’s just going to be a bigger yard and more swings for them to play on. We just wanted a little bit more opportunity.”
Bentz also said he would love the opportunity to speak in front of groups of people and share his journey in hopes of inspiring others, something he did regularly when he was in Major League Baseball at various ballparks.
"I was able to meet a lot of people of all ages who had any types of disabilities or anything,” he said. “I just know the kind of impact it can have. If I can do that and do a tiny bit of what Jim gave me, I’d like to pay it forward as much as possible.”
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.
PHOTO courtesy of Chad Bentz.