10 to Remember: Fall 2014
December 12, 2014
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
This fall saw the start of numerous championship legacies all over the Michigan, the continuation of a few more and the end of one that likely will be recalled for decades to come.
All championship runs are memorable for those fortunate enough to achieve them. But because of historical reference, dramatic impact or in rare cases national significance, some stay in our discussions a little bit longer.
Below is one person’s thoughts on the most memorable finishes from this fall’s MHSAA Finals.
10. Novi, East Kentwood Rise to the Top
Among a number of first-time champions this fall, the Novi boys tennis team and East Kentwood girls golf team celebrated taking final steps after some recent close misses. Novi had finished second at the 2013 Lower Peninsula Division 1 Final, by a point, as Ann Arbor Huron won its third straight title. The Wildcats clinched their first ever this season, by eight points, while the East Kentwood golfers finished 22 strokes better than their LP Division 1 field after finishing 10th and sixth the last two seasons, respectively. Senior Emily White capped her high school career with a 51-foot putt to win the individual title.
9. Saline Clinches on Final Swim
The Saline girls swimming and diving team trailed reigning champion Farmington Hills Mercy by a half-point entering the final event of the LP Division 1 Final. But the Hornets outpaced Mercy by three seconds in the 400-yard freestyle relay to move ahead and claim the team championship by 5.5 points. Saline had finished runner-up to Mercy by 20 points in 2013.
8. St. Mary’s Football Keeps Promise
From an incredible story point of view, Orchard Lake St. Mary’s 7-0 win over Muskegon in the Division 3 Football Final was easily the most memorable of the fall. Showing immense courage, Eaglets running back Brandon Adams took the field only two days after his mother died after fighting cancer. He scored the game’s lone points midway through the first quarter.
7. Kestrels Give Coach Best Retirement Gift
Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central’s Diane Tuller coached teams to 595 wins over 17 seasons – and in her final match took the Kestrels to their fifth MHSAA championship. St. Mary downed Schoolcraft in four sets despite dropping the first to claim its third Class C title in five seasons. The Kestrels became the eighth team to win at least five MHSAA titles, claiming all five under Tuller’s guidance.
6. Concord’s Hersha Joins Elite Company
Only 14 runners in MHSAA boys cross country history have won at least three individual championships. Concord’s Jason Hersha became the latest, claiming the LP Division 4 title in 15:23.0, the second-fastest time in LP Division 4 Finals history. He became only the third to win three boys titles since team and individual qualifiers began running the same race in 1996; he also finished first as a sophomore and junior.
5. Canton Never Loses on Division 1 March
Just one on-target kick can change a soccer game. That makes Canton’s undefeated run to this season’s Division 1 boys championship even more impressive. Finishing without a loss in any sport is something – but the Chiefs defeated Rochester Adams 1-0 in the Final to end 24-0-3 and as the 13th undefeated champion in MHSAA boys soccer history. Canton posted 16 shutouts this fall.
4. Spring Lake Surges to First Championship
Despite trailing annual power Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood by six strokes after the first round, Spring Lake rolled through the second at the LP Division 3 Girls Golf Final to best the field by a final margin of 18 strokes and claim the school’s first MHSAA golf championship. The achievement was a crowning one for the program started by George Bitner, who has coached at the school since 1968 and fielded his first girls team in 1980.
3. Fisher Finishes Among Fastest in MHSAA History
Grand Blanc senior Grant Fisher finished his high school career with a second straight Lower Peninsula Division 1 championship – and the third-fastest time since the Finals moved to Michigan International Speedway 19 seasons ago. Fisher finished in 14:52.5, 1.5 seconds off the second-fastest time in MHSAA Finals history since 5K (3.1 miles) became the distance in 1980. The only runners who have come in faster than Fisher went on to the Olympics (Dathan Ritzenhein) and top American finishes (twice) at the Boston Marathon (Jason Hartmann).
2. St. Philip Stands Alone with 9 Straight Titles
Battle Creek St. Philip continued its near-decade dominance of Class D, but this time with another historical twist. The Tigers downed Leland in four sets in this season’s Final to win their ninth straight MHSAA championship – setting a record for consecutive titles after formerly being tied with the Marysville teams from 1997-2004. St. Philip entered the postseason ranked No. 3 in D but defeated both No. 2 Mendon and the top-ranked Comets during the final week.
1. Monroe St. Mary Ends Ithaca’s Record Run
Much of the credit for this topping the list goes to Ithaca, which brought a 69-game winning streak into the Division 6 Football Final. The streak was the longest active streak nationally among 11-player football teams, and a win would've allowed the Yellowjackets next fall an opportunity to break the MHSAA winning streak record of 72. But St. Mary controlled the clock with a workmanlike running game and held an Ithaca offense averaging 43 points to nearly a quarter of that in winning 22-12.
PHOTO: The East Kentwood girls golf team raised its first MHSAA Finals championship trophy this October. (Click for more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)
Hodgman Family's Kzoo Tennis Connection Extending Through 4th Generation
By
Pam Shebest
Special for MHSAA.com
September 24, 2024
MATTAWAN – To say that tennis is in Dylan Hodgman’s DNA is definitely an understatement.
The Mattawan sophomore is the youngest of four generations of tennis aficionados that began with his great-grandfather and has continued through his grandparents, father and two older brothers.
It all started during the 1950s with Dr. Bert Hodgman, an obstetrician/general practitioner who not only played tennis but started a women’s tennis team called the Hodgman Girls.
One of those “Girls” was Patty Miller, who eventually married Brad Hodgman – and the pair became Dylan’s grandparents.
Dylan’s father, Cliff, is in the process of starting a nonprofit tennis academy in Kalamazoo that will feature two divisions: Hodgman Boyz and Hodgman Girlz.
Included in the academy are Dylan and his recently-graduated older brothers Luke (2022) and Jacob (2024), who all have been part of Mattawan’s tennis success.
The Wildcats have earned Regional championships the last three years, won their fourth consecutive Southwestern Michigan Athletic Conference title last fall and have competed in the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 2 Finals the last six years, finishing third in 2023.
Coach Matt Boven, in his 26th year leading Mattawan program, has coached all three brothers.
“I’m not surprised that they’re continuing the tradition,” Boven said. “All of them have unique ways of going about things when they play. All are so talented and hard-working and charismatic.”
Senior Nolan Ackerman, slotted at No. 1 singles the last two years, has been teammates with all three Hodgmans at various times.
“Luke is more of a slapper,” Ackerman said. “He likes to hit the ball hard. Dylan just keeps the ball in play and outlasts his opponents.
“Luke was always trying to put balls away and end the point quickly. Jake, it depended on who he was playing.”
Wildcats assistant Warner Offord III also coaches all three Hodgman brothers and noted their different styles.
“Luke likes to fish, more laissez-faire, but on the court he’s really focused, spicy-dicey with his game,” Offord said. “Jake was more serve and volley with a big serve. Both were first-team all-staters.
“Dylan is the firecracker. He’s like a right-handed (Rafael) Nadal. He likes to hit every ball hard, he likes to pounce on balls. It’s just a passion with their family.”
The three brothers and their father often play doubles together.
“It’s always been a bonding thing,” dad Cliff Hodgman said. “It teaches them about life. We work hard, we play hard, but we have a lot of fun.”
Dylan Hodgman has moved this season from fourth to second singles, where he has a 12-1 record. He finished Finals runner-up at No. 4 last fall, falling 6-4, 6-1, in the championship match to Midland junior Nimai Patel.
Jumping up two flights, “there’s better competition, harder hitters, people who get more balls back,” Hodgman said. “They have a harder serve, an overall better game.”
He was just 2 years old when he started playing tennis, but his great-grandfather started at a much older age.
While at Princeton in the 1930s, Bert Hodgman read a book about tennis, started playing and got hooked, Cliff Hodgman said.
“He started the Hodgman Girls in the 1950s,” Cliff explained. “It was kind of an elitist sport back then. His goal was to not make it like that. My mom (Patty Miller) won the city ping pong championship at Milwood Junior High, so he called her up and said come on out and try out.”
Some of those Hodgman Girls went on to compete nationally, like “my mom and her partner, Kathy Dombos (Schlukebir), who went on to the Orange Bowl and got to the finals in doubles.”
After retiring as chief of staff for Bronson Methodist and Borgess hospitals in Kalamazoo, Bert Hodgman started a tennis program in Hilton Head, S.C., open to anyone free of charge.
That is the legacy his grandson hopes to continue.
A full-time financial advisor, Cliff Hodgman has plans to build a “super training center in Kalamazoo.
“It will cost about $7 or $8 million, but we’re going to do it,” he said. “We won’t charge anyone for anything. It will be a community-based effort.”
He hopes to have it running in three years.
“It’s an extension of what my grandpa did 60 years ago, but take it to a new level,” he said.
Meanwhile, the current focus is on Dylan and the Wildcats.
This season, Mattawan is 11-2 with its most recent loss a wake-up call against Portage Central early this month.
“We have two losses so far, but when we lost to Portage Central that made us realize we’re not the same team as last year anymore,” said Ackerman, who has an 11-2 record. “We lost four of our top five players, and all four were all-staters.”
Since that loss, Mattawan has reeled off nine straight wins.
Boven said competing in the SMAC is a bonus and a challenge.
“I’m thankful we have a challenging conference where we can continue to test ourselves under pressure,” he said. “Each year, our Regional can be challenging, so our focus is to get there, and once we’re there, we can start to try to eye a possible state championship.
“Our singles have led us this season, but we’ve definitely had some great performances with some of our doubles. We have some new players this season playing doubles, but they’re getting acclimated pretty quickly and they’re improving with each day.”
Rounding out singles play are senior Connor Schultz at No. 3 and junior Alan Muresan at No. 4
The top two doubles teams are senior Caleb Goodrich and junior Gavin McCain at No. 1 and juniors Bradley Ko and Matt Engel at No. 2. A pair of seniors, Kurtis Scheffler and Jeffrey Richardson, hold down the No. 3 spot while freshman Asher Ndenga and junior Oliver Bancroft are at No. 4. Sophomore Bobby Dunning is the first varsity alternate.
Pam Shebest served as a sportswriter at the Kalamazoo Gazette from 1985-2009 after 11 years part-time with the Gazette while teaching French and English at White Pigeon High School. She can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Calhoun, Kalamazoo and Van Buren counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Mattawan’s Dylan Hodgman volleys during a recent practice. (Middle) Clockwise from top left: Mattawan boys tennis coach Matt Boven, Nolan Ackerman, Cliff Hodgman and Mattawan assistant coach Warner Offord III. (Below) Dr. Bert Hodgman, middle of top row, and future daughter-in-law Patty Miller, standing far right, take a photo with their Hodgman Girls team. Below, from left, Jacob, Luke and Dylan Hodgman are part of the newest Hodgman Boyz. (Top photo and Boven, Ackerman and Offord head shots by Pam Shebest. Additional photos courtesy of Cliff Hodgman.)