10 to Remember: 2013-14 Finals
July 10, 2014
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Every championship leaves a lasting impression with the athletes and coaches who achieved it and the communities that cheered them on.
That makes picking the 10 most notable finishes from this school year's MHSAA Finals a no-win scenario. But here's one person's carefully-considered opinion:
10. Unranked Eaton Rapids finishes No. 1 for the first time
The Greyhounds capped this year’s Girls Basketball Finals with a 51-38 win over Grand Rapids South Christian in the Class B title game that closed the weekend. But that statement alone barely scratches the surface of the story. The championship was the first for Eaton Rapids, which started five seniors and entered the tournament unranked but eliminated No. 6 Ypsilanti Arbor Prep, No. 8 Flint Powers Catholic and then the top-ranked Sailors during the season’s final week.
9. Western sweeps first Finals at Michigan State
The Baseball and Softball Finals moved to Michigan State University this spring, and the Bay City Western baseball and softball teams both took home championship trophies. The Warriors baseball team, after winning its first title in 2013, became the first in Class A or Division 1 to repeat in defeating Grosse Pointe South 6-2. The softball team won its first MHSAA championship by defeating Portage Central 4-2 after also making – and leading late – in the 2013 Final before losing by a run to Mattawan.
8. Sacred Heart overcomes, comes back for first title
Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart couldn’t have been favored by many in this season’s Class D Girls Basketball Final with one senior, making only its second championship game appearance and going up against Crystal Falls Forest Park and recently-crowned Miss Basketball Lexi Gussert. But the unranked Irish finished on a 14-3 run over the final three minutes to get past the top-ranked Trojans 56-53 and win their first MHSAA title.
7. Canton gymnastics finishes long championship journey
The Canton gymnastics team claimed its first MHSAA title by edging Grand Ledge by 2.4 points after finishing runner-up to the Comets each of the last three seasons. The Chiefs also had finished Finals runner-up in 1996 under coach John Cunningham, who took over the program in 1979 and has coached the sport since 1968. Grand Ledge had won 106 straight competitions including the last six MHSAA Finals.
6. Big Reds regain top spot in Class A hoops
With Mr. Basketball Deshaun Thrower and 2015 candidate Deyonta Davis setting the pace, Muskegon finished only the second perfect season in Class A in the last 24 seasons with a 91-67 Final win over Bloomfield Hills that earned the Big Reds their first MHSAA championship since 1937. Thrower had 21 points, and Davis had 26 and 13 rebounds.
5. Brother Rice sends Fracassa out as champion once more
The Warriors made coach Al Fracassa a back-to-back MHSAA football champion for the first time with a 38-21 victory over Muskegon in a rematch of the 2013 Division 2 Final. Brother Rice also finished 14-0 as Fracassa finished a career during which he built a 430-117-7 record dating to 1969. His wins rank first in MHSAA football history.
4. New Lothrop wrestlers end Hudson’s reign
The Hornets won their first MHSAA title since 2004 by edging Hudson 32-22 in the Division 4 Final at Kellogg Arena. New Lothrop’s title win also ended an MHSAA-record five-season championship run by the Tigers, who tied the Davison teams of 2002-06 for the longest string of consecutive titles.
3. Stars finish final title runs with 4
A pair of mid-Michigan athletes capped four-year varsity careers by joining the elite champions in their respective sports. Breckenridge runner Kirsten Olling became the fifth girl in MHSAA history to win four Lower Peninsula individual championships, claiming her latest and last in an LP Division 4 Final record 17:44.9. St. Johns senior Zac Hall became the third wrestler in three seasons and 18th in MHSAA history to finish with four individual championships. He defeated Greenville’s Alec Ward 12-2 in the Division 2 140-pound championship match to close this season 52-0 and his career 198-2.
2. St. Philip adds to all-time accolades
The Battle Creek St. Philip volleyball program ranks first in MHSAA Final appearances (27) and championships (19), but further cemented itself among the all-time elite by winning its eighth straight MHSAA title – good to tie Marysville’s 1997-2004 teams for the longest championship streak in MHSAA history. The Tigers did so this season by defeating Waterford Our Lady in three games in Class D, and despite graduating seven from its 2012 championship team.
1. Trenton wins one more for Turner
Trenton’s hockey team defeated Hartland 8-3 in the Division 2 Final to earn the program’s 14th MHSAA championship and first since 2010 – and send out coach Mike Turner with one more crowning achievement on the most notable career in MHSAA hockey history. Earlier this winter, Turner set the record for coaching wins. He finished 628-126-52 over 28 seasons stretching across two tenures.
PHOTO: Trenton hockey players celebrate during this season's Division 2 championship trophy.
Football Playoff Regional Seeding Highlights Changes as MHSAA Fall Sports Begin
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
August 7, 2026
A new format for early-round playoff seeding in 11-player football is among the most notable changes as more than 100,000 high school athletes from Michigan High School Athletic Association member high schools prepare for the first day of practices Monday, Aug. 10.
All fall sports teams may begin practicing Monday. Girls golf and boys tennis teams in the Lower Peninsula and girls tennis teams in the Upper Peninsula may begin competition Aug. 14. Cross country, field hockey, boys soccer, girls volleyball and Lower Peninsula girls swimming & diving teams may begin competing Aug. 19, and the first varsity football games may be played Aug. 27.
The 11-Player Football Playoffs will begin Oct. 30 and 31 with a new seeding system. Beginning this season, the playoff field in each of eight 11-player divisions will first be organized into eight-team Regionals. The eight teams in each Regional will then be seeded based on playoff-point average, with seeds 1, 4, 5 and 8 comprising one District and seeds 2, 3, 6 and 7 comprising the other. The winners of those Districts will play in the Regional Final.
A golf change also relates to postseason play, as golfers must now play in at least eight dates of a school team’s competition schedule to be eligible for the MHSAA Tournament. If a school’s varsity team plays fewer than 16 regular-season dates of competition, a student must instead participate in at least 50 percent of the varsity’s regular-season dates to be eligible for the postseason.
Field hockey will begin its second season of MHSAA sponsorship with the addition of a 10-minute reduced-player overtime for all regular-season varsity games. Unless part of a regular-season bracketed tournament, a game still tied at the end of the 10-minute overtime will be declared a tie.
A few game-action rules changes also will be quickly noticeable to participants and spectators.
- High school volleyball teams now are permitted to designate up to two liberos prior to each set, although only one libero can be in the game at a time.
- Also in volleyball, players on the serving team are forbidden to raise their hands above their heads during service until the ball has passed beyond the net.
- In football, a rule formerly applied to defensive players prohibiting them from using their hands to slap an opponent’s head has been expanded to penalize players on both sides of the ball for slapping an opponent’s head.
- In soccer, goalkeepers will be allowed eight seconds instead of the previously-permitted six before releasing the ball. A corner kick will be awarded if the goalkeeper holds the ball past eight seconds.
- Also in soccer, a change on penalty kicks states encroachment will be penalized only if the offense has a clear impact on the penalty kick.
The 2026 Fall campaign culminates with postseason tournaments beginning with the Upper Peninsula Girls Tennis Finals during the week of Sept. 28 and wrapping up with the 11-Player Football Finals on Nov. 27 and 28. Here is a complete list of fall tournament dates:
Cross Country
U.P. Finals – Oct. 24
L.P. Regionals – Oct. 30-31
L.P. Finals – Nov. 7
Field Hockey
Regionals – Oct. 14-26
Semifinals – Oct. 28
Final – Oct. 31
11-Player Football
Selection Sunday – Oct. 25
District Semifinals – Oct. 30-31
District Finals – Nov. 6-7
Regional Finals – Nov. 13-14
Semifinals – Nov. 21
Finals – Nov. 27-28
8-Player Football
Selection Sunday – Oct. 25
Regional Semifinals – Oct. 30-31
Regional Finals – Nov. 6-7
Semifinals – Nov. 14
Finals – Nov. 21
L.P. Girls Golf
Regionals – Oct. 5-10
Finals – Oct. 16-17
Boys Soccer
Districts – Oct. 14-24
Regionals – Oct. 27-31
Semifinals – Nov. 4
Finals – Nov. 7
L.P. Girls Swimming & Diving
Diving Regionals – Nov. 12
Swimming/Diving Finals – Nov. 20-21
Tennis
U.P. Girls Finals – Sept. 30-Oct. 3
L.P. Boys Regionals – Oct. 7-10
L.P. Boys Finals – Oct. 14-15 (Division 1), Oct. 16-17 (Division 3), Oct 21-22 (Division 4), and Oct. 23-24 (Division 2)
Girls Volleyball
Districts – Nov. 2-7
Regionals – Nov. 10 & 12
Quarterfinals – Nov. 17
Semifinals – Nov. 19-20
Finals – Nov. 21
The MHSAA is a private, not-for-profit corporation of voluntary membership by more than 1,500 public and private senior high schools and junior high/middle schools which exists to develop common rules for athletic eligibility and competition. No government funds or tax dollars support the MHSAA, which was the first such association nationally to not accept membership dues or tournament entry fees from schools. Member schools which enforce these rules are permitted to participate in MHSAA tournaments, which attract more than 1.4 million spectators each year.