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.
Notre Dame Prep Accepts Challenge, Caps Undefeated Season Back on Top
By
Tom Kendra
Special for MHSAA.com
March 1, 2025
MOUNT PLEASANT – Pontiac Notre Dame Prep has been so close, so many times over the past six years.
This year, second-year coach Jocelyn Welsh challenged her talented team to take it to the next level.
“I pushed them past their comfort zone every day in practice,” explained Welsh, who took over the Notre Dame program in 2023 after serving as an assistant at Division 1 powerhouse Rochester Adams. “Staying at your comfort zone is not going to get you any better. You have to do the things that are uncomfortable, and these girls were willing to do that.”
That chip on their shoulder proved to be the difference Saturday afternoon, as the Irish posted the best score in all three rounds to claim a decisive victory at the Division 3 Competitive Cheer Finals at Central Michigan University’s McGuirk Arena.
Notre Dame Prep won with a three-round total of 784.22, holding off a challenge from Grosse Ile (781.62). Perennial power Richmond (778.52) placed third, and Armada (768.96) was fourth.
The victory capped an unbeaten season for the Irish, who were the favorites coming in after winning District and Regional titles.
Notre Dame is certainly one of the state’s top programs, having won five consecutive Division 3 titles from 2014 to 2018. However, the Irish have not won since that streak was snapped – finishing second four of the past six years, including the past two behind Croswell-Lexington.
“We should have won it last year, but we didn’t get it done,” said Notre Dame senior Paige Marlinga, a returning second-team all-stater. “Not winning it last year really lit a fire under us.”
Senior Leila Mains, a returning honorable mention all-state choice, said that ever since this team’s first summer practice, breaking through and ending the six-year title drought was the team’s sole focus.
“Our expectation was to get here and to win,” said Mains, one of seven seniors on the 28-athlete roster. “We finished the job today, and it feels great.”
Notre Dame has battled Richmond for supremacy in Division 3 for years, and the Blue Devils were in the mix again Saturday. One team that was not there was two-time reigning Division 3 champion Croswell-Lexington, which placed fifth in the loaded Hartland Regional on Feb. 22.
Stepping up to challenge ND this year was Grosse Ile, a historically strong cheer program which has won two Finals titles but hasn’t finished in the top two since 2010.
“When I took over the program eight years ago, my goal was to re-establish that standard of getting here and competing for the title,” said Grosse Ile coach Angie Raithel.
The Red Devils have risen to the challenge, finishing third last season and second this time – going before Notre Dame in Round 3 and putting the pressure on the favorite with an inspired final-round routine.
“We had a lot of fun choreographing a difficult Round 3,” said Raithel, whose team was led by seniors Marissa Trombley, Virginnia West, Arianna Bianchi and Avelinn Flynn. “We are working toward that top spot, but second place is awesome and we are proud to carry this trophy back to the island.”
The title was Notre Dame’s sixth overall, along with five runner-up finishes. The previous five titles all came under longtime coach Beth Campbell.
Leading the Irish back to the top this winter was senior Grace Kinkade, a returning first-team all-stater, and second team choices Gabrielle Phillips, Jenna Robin and Marlinga. Sophomore Eva Thomas was a returning honorable mention choice.
The Irish led from wire-to-wire Saturday, taking control after Round 1 and then capping the day by executing a challenging Round 3 under extreme pressure.
“We decided at the beginning of this year that we were really going to push ourselves – to be more like a Division 1 team, to be honest,” said Welsh. “We won it with an incredible Round 3, which was very difficult.
“But that’s what these girls wanted.”
PHOTOS (Top) Eventual champion Pontiac Notre Dame Prep competes during Saturday's Division 3 Final. (Middle) Grosse Ile takes the mat during its run to a runner-up finish.