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.
After Finishing Close Second in 2021, Rockford Eyeing Return to #1
By
Dean Holzwarth
Special for MHSAA.com
February 17, 2022
ROCKFORD – The Rockford gymnastics team has put together quite the resume in the last seven years.
The Rams are hoping to add to their impressive list of past accomplishments in a couple of weeks.
Rockford, which won three straight MHSAA Finals from 2015-17 and placed runner-up in 2019 and last year, is preparing to make another charge after winning Wednesday night’s Ottawa-Kent Conference Rainbow championship meet.
“We’ve had a good season so far,” Rams coach Michelle Ankney said. “We’ve been solid, we’re consistent and we’re hanging in there with some of the other top teams in the state. We’re just hoping that we have enough to put in a good round at state this year.”
This year’s Finals are scheduled for March 11-12 at White Lake Lakeland High School.
Rockford is hoping to gain redemption after a near-miss last season. The Rams finished less than a point behind Finals champion Jackson Area.
“They definitely came in motivated this year, and they know what it’s like to be there,” Ankney said. “They know what it’s like to just miss out, and they want to win if they can. They are definitely working for it by trying to get new skills and get our consistency up so we’re ready for state in a few weeks.”
The Rams graduated only two gymnasts from a year ago, leaving the squad with plenty of returning experience and talent.
They went unbeaten through the conference dual season, and earlier this month proved their mettle state-wide with a victory at the prestigious Canton Invitational.
“We are setting some high expectations for ourselves, but we just need to go out and do our best and not focus on anyone else,” said junior Lacey Scheid, who placed runner-up in the Division 1 all-around last year to Grand Ledge’s Lizzie Maurer.
“We are all there for each other, and we help each other with everything. We are open with each other, and we push each other so much. We motivate each other, and we just work well together.”
Scheid and senior Anna Tracey combine to produce a formidable one-two punch for the Rams.
Tracey placed runner-up in the Division 2 all-around at last year’s Finals and also won an individual title on the beam.
“Both of those girls are going for it this year,” Ankney said. “Anna’s consistency has been there, and she is a rock. She is solid, and she just added two new skills that will definitely boost her skills a bit and just might be enough.”
Scheid and Tracey competed together in club gymnastics.
“I love Anna, and she motivates me so much,” Scheid said. “We are neck and neck with everything we do, and it’s been that way since club. She’s been doing amazing this year and has so many new skills. Her new skills and me recovering from surgery is motivating me to pick up the pace and step up my game.”
Scheid, who won bars at last year’s Finals, has persevered through injuries in both legs.
She was diagnosed with compartment syndrome, a painful condition that occurs when pressure within the muscles builds to dangerous levels.
Scheid had surgery on her right leg last summer and is expected to have surgery again this summer after experiencing similar symptoms this season in her left leg.
“She is coming back from an injury, but working hard,” Ankney said. “She is doing her best to get some new skills, and she definitely wants to make a run at the title this year.”
Scheid said the injury has hindered her ability to execute certain skills.
“There is discomfort, and I’ve had to limit practice time and do treatments,” she said. “This season has been hard on me physically and mentally, but hopefully after surgery this summer I will be able to go into my senior year pain-free.”
Scheid’s performance last year surprised even herself. It was her first year competing at the high school gymnastics championship meet due to the pandemic canceling the 2020 Finals.
“I didn’t have high expectations at all last year, so my goal was just to have fun, do my best and focus on myself,” Scheid said. “I was very shocked.”
Other top performers for the Rams include senior captains Joey Gair, who competes in the all-around, and Olivia Schubert (vault).
Among underclassmen, sophomores Hailey Hill (beam/floor) and Kayley Burke (floor) and freshmen Katie Tracey (beam/bars) and Avery Renberg (floor) also provide a boost.
Beam has become Rockford’s staple event this season with several gymnasts improving their scores.
“Most people hate going to beam, but we kind of celebrate it,” Ankney said. “We’ve just put up some good numbers and hopefully we’re consistent and among the top in the state in beam.”
Said Scheid: “Coach makes sure we hit every routine, and we are not allowed to leave until we have stuck at least three routines in a row. We have learned more about ourselves and have really grown as far as being calm and confident in that event.”
Dean Holzwarth has covered primarily high school sports for Grand Rapids-based WOOD-TV for four years after serving at the Grand Rapids Press and MLive for 16 years along with shorter stints at the Ionia Sentinel and WZZM. Contact him at [email protected] with story ideas for Allegan, Kent and Ottawa counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Rockford’s Anna Tracey prepares to begin her floor exercise during last season’s Team Finals at Rockford. (Middle) The Rams’ Lacey Scheid performs her routine in helping their team to an overall runner-up finish. (Click for more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)