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.
Clarkston's Stephens, Waterford Mott's Riley Finish Strong to Clinch D1 Titles
By
Perry A. Farrell
Special for MHSAA.com
March 4, 2023
ALLEN PARK – With the loudest cheering section at the MHSAA Division 1 singles bowling championship Saturday at Thunderbowl Lanes, Clarkston sophomore Katie Stephens captured her first title with a 411-307 victory over junior Hannah Reid from Flushing.
“My dad is like that all the time,’’ said Stephens, who shook off a 19-pin deficit in the semifinal to advance on the way to claiming the title. “I was nervous. I was tired. I started and finished pretty good. I was happy about that. I thought the shot was tougher in the main arena. I didn’t start off well the first two games, but I finished well.’’
It was also a happy day for lefty Brendan Riley of Waterford Mott. The eighth seed after qualifying, he kept the tradition alive of left-handers doing well in the tournament by defeating Charlie Johnson of Mattawan 377-363 to claim the title.
“I had a 25-pin lead after the first game, so it took some of the pressure off,’’ said Riley. “I think the shot here is an advantage for left-handers. I struggled a little bit early, then I started to find the line. I was locked in during the championship game.’’
Johnson said nerves may have gotten the better of him in his first game when he shot 152.
“I was rushing,’’ he said. “Once I slowed down, I started carrying. It was my first time getting this far, so there were some nerves.’’
Reid made the match play by just four pins as the 16th seed. She took advantage of her good fortune, downing top-seeded New Baltimore Anchor Bay senior Melanie Straub 362-345. Straub had qualified first with a 1,272, followed by Traverse City West’s Jordan Lafleur at 1,218 and Stephens at 1,199.
“In the championship I struggled with open frames,” Reid said. “I tried to fix my shot and improve my carry. It was tough.’’
Other top seeds were able to survive as Lafleur eliminated Taylor’s Lily Adams, 363-323, and Stephens advanced against Karley Chouinard of Westland John Glenn 404-334.
Macomb Dakota’s Haylie Patterson struggled with spares and lost to Alyssa Tanner of Traverse City West, 376-286. Maddy Gazzarari moved into the semifinals by beating fellow sophomore Sophia Matheson of Utica Eisenhower, 355-335.
Reid proved that opening win was no fluke by defeating Alyssa Tanner of Traverse City West, 384-307 to advance to the semifinal against Gazzarari. Reid won that matchup by a close margin, 373-370.
Stephens moved into the semis by defeating Grace Polega of Utica Ford, 440-362. Her semifinal opponent was Taylor Phillips of Traverse West, who had eliminated teammate Lafleur, 405-383. Stephens then bested Phillips 349-326.
On the boys side, Dylan Harnden dominated qualifying, posting four games more than 240 and a total 1,416 to outdistance Nate Vanderbeek of Wyoming, who shot 1,371. Nick Schaberg of Holt was third at 1,368 and Traverse City Central’s Carter Bandon fourth at 1,363.
Harnden moved past Ethan Brown of Livonia Churchill, 428-331, to begin match play while No. 2 seed Vanderbeek was edged No. 15 Dylan Jablonski of Canton, 412-399.
Harnden’s run was ended in the quarterfinals by Riley, 368-335, as Riley moved into the semifinal against Traverse City Central sophomore Carter Banton, who had defeated Griffin Henderson of Swartz Creek, 412-374.
Rockford’s Tony Deluccia moved into the other semifinal with a 448-336 win over Monroe’s Evan Eagle. Johnson was his opponent after he eliminated Dylan Jablonski of Canton, 439-370.
Riley won his semifinal 421-368, and Johnson made the final with a 420-361 victory.