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.
Decision to Return Pays Off for Hodge, Hill Adds Individual Title to Team Win
By
Steve Vedder
Special for MHSAA.com
March 9, 2024
GRAND RAPIDS - Leah Hodge had every reason to believe her gymnastics career was over.
At various times, the Farmington United junior has overcome illness, knee surgery and finally an ankle injury at Saturday's MHSAA Individual Finals at Grand Rapids Kenowa Hills.
Put it all together and Hodge, who didn't compete as a freshman, admits she was content to call it a career prior to this season.
And then came a conversation with longtime friend and eventual teammate Elena Anzivino, who "convinced" her to give high school gymnastics a last shot. How does Hodge recall that conversation?
"She yelled at me," Hodge laughed. "She told me it would be fun and that I should do it. I mean, I'm here."
The friends' tale has a storybook ending as Hodge notched first place in Saturday's Division 1 all-around (38.0). She won bars (9.55) and was runner-up on vault (9.5) while taking fourth on beam (9.425) and sixth in floor (9.525).
Instead of focusing on how someone bounces back from myriad of problems, Hodge said the title can best be described in another way.
"Mostly I'm happy for the team," she said. "We took second overall (in Friday's Team Final) and we've come a long way. Every single person has improved."
Hodge said her toughest expected event was vault. But she was topped only by Rockford/Sparta's Leah Koch, who finished first with a 9.525.
"I knew if I did well there, I would have a shot at all-around. But floor was also tough for me because I was so tired," she said.
Another gymnast who overcame a couple of rugged moments was Howell senior Maria Petru, whose falls on the bars and beam ended any hopes of an all-around title. But she bounced back to win floor (9.7). She was fifth at the Finals in all-around a year ago and wound up fourth Saturday.
"It was a rough start," said the four-year letterwinner who will attend Spring Arbor in the fall. "I was excited to win floor, especially since I had been forgetting my routine lately. But I put all I had into it, and it felt good."
Novi's Alisa Shiriashi captured first on beam (9.7) to round out the Division 1 event winners. Shiriashi, who took three years off after ending her club gymnastics career, was making her first appearance at the Finals.
"A couple people convinced me to get back in it, and I'm very happy they did," she said. "They got me back into it, and I've got no regrets about that at all."
Salem senior Katie Stewart finished second in Division 1 all-around at 37.675, and Hartland sophomore Abby Griffen was third at 37.175.
The Division 2 winners were Anna Barczyk of Salem in vault (9.3) and floor (9.45), Aubrey Woodman of Farmington on bars (8.9), Kate Tracey of Rockford on beam (9.4) and Hailey Hill of Rockford in all-around (36.325).
Hill, who also competed all-around as Rockford/Sparta won Friday’s team championship, finished her high school career with her first individual Finals title after placing fourth in Division 2 a year ago.
Barczyk was second in Divison 2 all-around at 35.65, and Escanaba senior Sophia Wagner was third at 35.5.
PHOTOS (Top) Farmington United's Leah Hodge focuses while competing at Saturday's Individual Finals. (Middle) Salem's Katie Stewart competes on floor exercise. (Below) Rockford/Sparta's Hailey Hill also competes on floor on the way to winning the Division 2 all-around title. (Click for more from High School Sports Scene.)