10 to Remember: Spring 2013
June 25, 2013
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Nine teams won their first MHSAA championships this spring. Birmingham Brother Rice's boys lacrosse team won its ninth in a row.
And those are only among the toppers of the long list that made memorable moments during this season's Finals, which finished up the school year two weekends ago.
Locking down the 10 most significant performances is impossible. But endeavoring to do so, here are one person's guess at those that will continue to be discussed most in the years to come.
Among those that just missed this list: Brother Rice boys lacrosse, St. Ignace's girls track and field team after winning its fourth straight team title, Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett's baseball team after its extra-innings Final win over Beal City, Grandville Calvin Christian's girls soccer team after winning a rematch of last season's Division 4 Final and Port Huron Northern's girls tennis team after it emerged from a loaded field to win the Lower Peninsula Division 1 title.
Sami Michell Shines Once More
In her final high school meet, Reed City senior Sami Michell won four more MHSAA Finals individual titles to finish her career with 12 – two more than the previous Lower Peninsula record. A year after becoming the second female to win four events at one Finals meet, she did so again by finishing first in the 100 and 300-meter hurdles, the 200 dash and the long jump. She scored 40 points to claim the team runner-up trophy for her school. Click to read more.
Best Class of All-Time?
That could be the argument for this season’s girls track and field seniors, as twins Hannah and Haley Meier and Erin Finn joined Sami Michell, Detroit Country Day's Kendall Baisden and a host of others in finishing their careers. The Meiers already are members of a national record-holding relay (which set its milestone in 2012), and Hannah won two more Division 1 individual titles (setting all-Finals records) while Haley placed in the same two races and joined her sister on two winning relays. West Bloomfield’s Finn, considered as well one of the nation’s top high school distance runners, finished third to the Meiers in the Division 1 1,600 before cutting nine seconds off her 2012 time in setting an all-Finals record in the 3,200. Click to read more.
Warriors Earn First Title for Winning Coach
Bay City Western’s baseball team strung together two 1-0 shutouts by pitchers Brett Adcock and then Connor Foley to claim its first MHSAA baseball championship – and the first to go with coach Tim McDonald’s other 563 wins over the last 21 seasons. The 1-0 championship game victory over Brother Rice was Western's 35th straight of the season; Western finished 42-2. Click to read more.
Gull Lake Soccer Makes Mark
Richland Gull Lake hadn’t played in a girls soccer Final since 1999, but survived two overtimes against reigning champion Bloomfield Hills Marian to win the Division 2 championship game 1-0. The title was Gull Lake’s first since 1992 and came against a program that not only won in 2012, but three of the last five Division 2 championships. Click to read more.
Upper Peninsula Ace Shoots Record Round
Snow and rain put a damper on a good portion of the girls golf season in the Upper Peninsula this spring. But no U.P. female golfer has ever finished as strongly as Marquette’s Avery Rochester. She claimed her second straight individual Finals championship with a U.P. Finals-record 69, which was three under par at Portage Lake Golf Course in Houghton. Her score also was just one more stroke than the all-Finals record of 68 shot by Grandville’s Stacy Snider in 1998. Click to read more.
7 ... 2 ... 1 ... Champion Tecumseh
Tecumseh entered the MHSAA Tournament after finishing the regular season an honorable mention in the Division 2 softball coaches poll. But the Indians defeated No. 1 Stevensville Lakeshore in the Quarterfinal, reigning champion and No. 2 Livonia Ladywood in the Semifinal and No. 7 Saginaw Swan Valley in the Final to claim their first championship since 2008. Click to read more.
Bishop Foley Sets Baseball Bar
Madison Heights Bishop Foley claimed its third straight Division 3 baseball championship to become the first in MHSAA baseball history to win that many consecutive titles. Bishop Foley is 112-8-1 over the last three seasons and finished 35-2-1 this spring. The Ventures outscored their Bailey Park competition by a combined 18-5 over Finals weekend – getting junior Garrett Schilling to 15-0 for this season and 31-0 for his career with a 6-0 Semifinal win. Click to read more.
Done Deal for Dundee
The Dundee softball team eliminated two-time reigning champion Clinton on the way to Bailey Park this spring, and then beat three-time champion Unionville-Sebewaing in the Division 3 Final to claim its first MHSAA championship in the sport. In the process, Dundee finished 45-1 – setting an MHSAA record for wins in a softball season. Click to read more.
Troy Moves Up to No. 1
After two-straight Division 1 runner-up finishes, Troy earned its first girls soccer championship since 2003 with a 2-1 Final win over Grandville. The Colts had been outscored a combined 3-0 in the last two MHSAA Division 1 Finals, and began this season 3-6-2 before rattling off 15 wins and a tie on the way to claiming the championship. Click to read more.
Tie-Breaker After Heart-Breaker
The Battle Creek Lakeview boys golf team had finished one stroke behind Birmingham Brother Rice at the 2012 Lower Peninsula Division 1 Final, and found itself tied with Plymouth this month after the final round was complete. But thanks to a fifth-player tie-breaker, Lakeview claimed its first MHSAA championship since 2008. Click to read more.
EGR Adds to Team Title Tradition, Divine Child's Dziobak Finishes Career Finals Sweep
By
Scott Hassinger
Special for MHSAA.com
November 22, 2025
HOLLAND – East Grand Rapids won six events, including a sweep of the relays, on its way to earning a third consecutive Lower Peninsula Division 3 championship in girls swimming & diving Saturday at the Holland Aquatic Center.
Butch Briggs' Pioneers totaled 373 points to outdistance runner-up Bloomfield Hills Marian (228). St. Joseph (171) placed third, followed by Holland Christian (162) in fourth and Hudsonville Unity Christian (151) in fifth.
Led by University of Arkansas commit Ellery Chandler, East Grand Rapids was able to pull away from its closest competitors early during the final day of the two-day competition.
Chandler was extremely pleased with her performances Saturday after the star senior earned individual victories in the 100-yard butterfly (54.11) and the 100-yard breaststroke (1:01.78) along with completing a leg on the Pioneers' winning 200-yard medley relay (1:44.65) and 200-yard freestyle relay (1:36.74).
"I dropped all my times today from Friday's preliminaries. It was exciting to win my individual events, and it was great being a part of our two victorious relay teams,” Chandler said. “Coming into the state meet this weekend, I was looking to see if some records were attainable in my events. Getting a couple of those were among my goals.”
Chandler, along with juniors Meredith Sperling and Addie Hein and freshman Catherine Sowerby, combined to break the Division 3 Finals record in the 200 medley. Chandler also eclipsed meet records in both of her individual events, the breaststroke during Friday's prelims with a time of 1:01.60.
Joining Chandler and Ivy Chu on the Pioneers' winning 200-yard freestyle relay were senior Nora Camfferman and freshman Della Avendt. Hein also collected a first for the Pioneers in the 200-yard individual medley (2:06.74). Sperling and Sowerby teamed up with sophomore Nalah Mamatela and Chu, a junior, as the Pioneers took first in the meet's final event, the 400-yard freestyle relay (3:32.82).
Briggs had plenty of praise to dish out regarding his team afterwards.
"Ellery gets her share of the first places, but our freshmen class really stepped up and were huge in our success this season," said Briggs, who on Saturday completed his 52nd season coaching at East Grand Rapids.
"We have a very deep team and a squad that got along with one another very well without any drama. There were a few events in which we had three state placers in. That piles up a ton of points for you. It was such a fun season, and I can't say enough good things about these kids. My assistant coach runs the little kids' program for me at East Grand Rapids. Coaching continuity has had a great deal to do with our success as well."
Holland Christian junior Camryn Siegers was named Most Outstanding Swimmer in the meet by the coaches association following her individual wins in the 50-yard freestyle (22.79) and 100-yard backstroke (53.37), the latter a meet record.
Hamilton junior Josi Popma scored 399.40 points to earn first in diving, edging Chelsea junior Anna McCallister (397.90).
Popma admitted she battled nerves coming into Saturday's final round.
"I came in today feeling really stressed and didn't think I could do this. I just had to remind myself to just go out there and approach it like I do every other day and be confident,” Popma said. “Just being with my friends and teammates and keeping a positive attitude are what carried me through.”
"It's been a long road for Josi,” Hamilton head coach Liz Vandewege said. “As a freshmen she qualified for state and was overwhelmed by the moment, and last year as a sophomore she proved she could move up the ranks. During the offseason she worked hard to get a bigger list of dives to compete with Anna (McCallister), who is a great diver. She really improved her technique this year, is really strong and has lot of God-given abilities to spin."
Dearborn Divine Child senior Ella Dziobak won her fourth consecutive Finals title in the 500-yard freestyle (4:56.20) while also claiming a first-place finish in the 200-yard freestyle (1:51.10).
"This was a real fun way to wrap up high school swimming by winning the 500 a fourth time,” said Dziobak, who will continue her swimming career at Purdue University next fall. “I could see all of my teammates cheering for me before the race started, and that got me fired up. I definitely excel in the distance events more than the sprints. I swam my fastest time of the year in the 200 as well, so that was nice too.”
Dearborn Divine Child head coach Kevin Hafner was pleased to see Dziobak come away with her fourth title.
"Ella puts in a great deal of time in this sport. … She is a tremendous young lady and has a real good head on her shoulders while coming up with her own game plan and executing it very well," Hafner said.
Wayland senior Laney Wolf captured first in the 100-yard freestyle (50.60).
(Photos by High School Sports Scene.)