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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.

Paw Paw players greet teammate Elizabeth Vanderburg after her game-winning home run Thursday at Secchia Stadium.

Richmond's Ace, Paw Paw's 'Ms. Walk-Off' Send Teams Into Saturday

By Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com

June 12, 2025

EAST LANSING — You might as well dub Paw Paw sophomore Elizabeth Vanderburg as “Ms. Walk-Off” this season. 

Paw Paw head coach Mike Mottl noted Thursday that Vanderburg has had four game-winning walk-off hits this season for the Red Wolves. But none were as important or dramatic as how she finished her team’s Division 2 Semifinal against Carleton Airport. 

With her team down to its final out, Vanderburg delivered a 2-run home run inside the foul pole and over the left-field fence to give Paw Paw a 3-2 victory and its first trip to an MHSAA championship game. The Red Wolves will face Richmond for the Division 2 title at 10 a.m. Saturday at Secchia Stadium.

Vanderburg most recently had hit a walk-off home run in the bottom of the 10th inning to advance her team past Otsego in their District Semifinal two weeks ago.

Ms. Walk-Off indeed.

“I got pitched outside all game, so I was going to wait on the outside pitch and take it to right field,” she said. “It was a high, inside pitch, so I just took it that way. I knew off the bat it was gone.”

Mottl said, at the very least, he felt Vanderburg was going to make hard contact. 

“I had no doubt whatsoever she was going to do that,” he said. “She’s just an amazing athlete and for a sophomore, I don’t think she has blood in her body. It’s all ice.”

It was an unusual Semifinal matchup in that neither team had a senior on the roster. As crushing of an ending as it was for Airport, knowing everyone will be back next year was something that allowed Jets head coach Jessica Irwin to smile.

“Just being here is good for them to see,” she said. “Just the pressure of it, and you can come in a little more relaxed next year.”

Airport (33-9) jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning on a 2-out, 2-run double to left field by junior Peyton Zajac. 

Paw Paw (37-3) got on the board in the fifth, cutting Airport’s lead to 2-1 on a single to left by Vanderburg.

Red Wolves sophomore pitcher Lauren Mackellar also starred. She didn’t allow a run after the first inning and finished with a 6-hitter, striking out 11 and not walking a batter.

Mottl knows not many people will be expecting his team to win the Final against Richmond, but his squad is fully capable of delivering the program’s first title. 

“Don’t worry about next year,” Mottl said of what will be his team’s mindset. “You don’t know what’s going to happen next year. The opportunity is here. You’ve got to take opportunities when they are presented.”

Click for the full box score.

Richmond 2, Escanaba 0

It was an all-state pitchers’ duel as No. 1-ranked Escanaba met No. 7 Richmond in the second Semifinal, with Richmond senior Katie Shuboy getting the better of Escanaba senior and Michigan signee Grayson LaMarche. 

Shuboy tossed a one-hitter, striking out 12 and walking one batter. LaMarche threw a three-hitter, striking out 13, walking one, while not giving up an earned run. 

“You can’t overthink it,” Shuboy said of facing the Escanaba lineup. “You just have to trust your stuff, go out there and throw.”

Richmond catcher Ashley Stafford frames a pitch during her team’s win over Escanaba.Richmond scored the only two runs of the game with two outs in the top of the sixth inning. The Blue Devils put runners on second and third base with one out following a passed ball after a strikeout, a bunt single and a sacrifice bunt. 

Following a groundout, an Escanaba throw aimed at getting the Richmond runner at third went into left field, allowing both runners to score. 

That was all the run support needed for Shuboy, who has tossed back-to-back shutouts beginning with a 6-0 win over Goodrich in a Quarterfinal.

“I just trust my defense,” Shuboy said. “When we got those two runs, I knew it was going to be game because my team made amazing plays in the field. I trust myself, and I knew that we were going to win that game.”

Escanaba (38-5) was seeking its first Finals title since winning the second of back-to-back crowns in 2019. 

The Eskymos got their leadoff hitter on in the bottom of the fifth inning on their only hit of the game, but the rally fizzled quickly. 

“She mixed it really well,” Escanaba head coach Andy Fields said of Shuboy’s performance. “It was nothing we haven’t seen this year. She did an excellent job locating. It was just tough to get a gauge on what she was doing."

On the other side, Richmond will go for its third title during the 47-year tenure of head coach Howard Stuart. 

Richmond’s most recent Finals championship came in 2021. 

“She was moving the ball, and we were really struggling,” Stuart said of LaMarche. “But we were OK in the end.”

Click for the full box score.

PHOTOS (Top) Paw Paw players greet teammate Elizabeth Vanderburg after her game-winning home run Thursday at Secchia Stadium. (Middle) Richmond catcher Ashley Stafford frames a pitch during her team’s win over Escanaba.