10 to Remember: Spring 2015
June 25, 2015
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
The close of June officially ends of another school year. And this season’s MHSAA Finals provided another strong finish with a number of memorable moments sure to be recalled for years to come.
Below is one person’s list of the 10 most significant, drawn from the title-earning performances of 129 teams and hundreds of individuals this spring.
10. Rockford Holds On for Third Straight Girls Lacrosse Title
The Rams saw an 8-1 lead dissolve to a one-goal advantage after Bloomfield Hills Marian scored in the 22nd minute of the second half of their Division 1 Final. Rockford goalie Katie Elwell turned away a shot to tie the game with 55 seconds left, and her team won a jumpball deep on its side of the field with 36 seconds to play to hold on to a 10-9 victory – and claim a third straight MHSAA championship. Rockford is one of three programs to win four MHSAA titles during the 11 seasons of tournament sponsorship. Marian is a two-time runner-up.
9. Hartland Baseball Goes 10 Innings to Win First MHSAA Title
Hartland scored in the first inning of the Division 1 Final in pursuit of its first MHSAA championship in the sport – but then didn’t score again until the bottom of the 10th inning. Junior pitcher John Baker threw all 10 innings for the Eagles, allowing only five hits and striking out 11 batters, and he also had two hits and drove in the game’s first run. Portage Northern also was making its first MHSAA Final appearance in baseball.
8. Northville Girls Tennis Joins First-time Champs; Nguyen Joins Elite
The Northville girls tennis team was one of 32 teams over all sports that won their first MHSAA championships during the 2014-15 school year. The Wildcats finished an impressive five points ahead of Midland Dow, winning three doubles and two singles flights. Utica’s Davina Nguyen, meanwhile, finished as one of the most accomplished champions in MHSAA history, becoming only the sixth player to win at least three titles at No. 1 singles. Nguyen also won in Division 1 as a freshman and junior.
7. Cranbrook Kingswood Regains Boys Lacrosse Title on Last-Second Winner
Johnny Wagner scored 177 goals over his three-season varsity career for Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood, but his last had to be the most spectacular. Three days after sending the Cranes to the Final with an overtime game-winning goal, Wagner scored in the Division 2 championship decider with 10.5 seconds to play to give his team the final edge in a 10-9 victory over Okemos. The winner was his fifth goal of the game.
6. Gull Lake Girls Soccer Wins Again on Shootout Success
The only shots to find the net in the Division 2 Final came during an overtime shootout won by Gull Lake to give the Blue Devils a 1-0 victory and their third straight MHSAA championship. That’s not to say the game lacked for excitement, with the teams combining for 37 shots. Gull Lake had also won its Regional Semifinal in a shootout and finished the spring 25-1-1. Fenton was making its first MHSAA Finals appearance in the sport, seeking its first title in any sport since 1993.
5. Warren Regina Softball Stuns After Slow Start
Teams that open 3-11 usually don’t finish as championship contenders – but those teams don’t have the MHSAA’s winningest coach, Diane Laffey, running the show to go with a strong group of upperclassmen who emerged from a competative Detroit Catholic League Central. Regina won its sixth MHSAA title and first since 2007 by downing favored Caledonia 5-0 in the Division 1 Final. Senior Marissa Tiano struck out nine batters in giving up only two hits after giving up only four hits in a 7-1 Semifinal win over Mattawan.
4. DeWitt Boys Golf Sticks Winning Shots; Carlson Goes All-Time Low
DeWitt senior Geoffry Croley birdied off the flagstick on the No. 18 hole at Forest Akers East to help the Panthers edge Cranbrook Kingswood 594-595 and claim the Lower Peninsula Division 2 title, its first since 2011. His younger brother, freshman Joey, made par on his final hole (No. 16) to also help secure the win. Meanwhile, Hamilton’s Nick Carlson finished his high school career with a second individual title and the all-time low 36-hole score in MHSAA Finals history, a 134, to edge Matt Harmon’s 135 for East Kentwood in 2001.
3. Saline Unbeatable in Claiming First Girls Soccer Title
The Hornets compiled one of the most impressive seasons in MHSAA girls soccer history in making their first Final and then winning it. Saline gave up a mere four goals – tied for third-fewest in MHSAA history – in 25 games and finished with a 22-0-3 record capped by a 4-0 win over Grand Blanc in the Division 1 championship game. The team’s 22 shutouts also rank tied for third in MHSAA girls soccer history. Senior Taylor Mulder set a school record with 43 goals this season with her second of this game.
2. Legend of Beaubien Grows with Monroe St. Mary Softball Title
Meghan Beaubien already was known by those who follow softball statewide – not many sophomores get a chance to commit to the University of Michigan so early. But what she and the Kestrels did in winning the program’s first MHSAA championship was pretty legendary. Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central outscored its postseason opponents by a combined 29-0 over seven games, beating Bronson 2-0 in the Division 3 Final with Beaubien taking a perfect game into the seventh inning and hitting a two-run homer.
1. Fisher, Saline Finish Strong in Boys Track and Field Final
The Lower Peninsula Division 1 Final was filled with notable finishes – including a pair that will be listed in the national record book next month. Saline won its second MHSAA title in the sport and first since 2006, finishing ahead of East Kentwood – champion five of the last six seasons. The Hornets were keyed by a 3,200 relay of Logan Wetzel, Josiah Humphrey, Austin Welch and Kevin Hall that finished in 7:38.97 to rank among the best all-time in U.S. high school history Grand Blanc senior Grant Fisher posted the second-fastest 1,600 time in U.S. high school history, going 4:00.28.; he graduated with five individual MHSAA Finals titles. Grand Rapids Kenowa Hills’ Donavan Brazier also re-set the all-Finals record in the 800, running 1:48.98.
PHOTO: Grant Fisher, far right, set an MHSAA all-Finals record in the 1,600 that also ranks as the second-fastest in U.S. high school history. (Click to see more from RunMichigan.com. Photos by John Brabbs.)
Manistee Catholic Central's Excellence Bolstered by Experience
By
Tom Spencer
Special for MHSAA.com
January 6, 2023
Playing three guards happens probably most at the high school level, but still may be considered an uncommon lineup.
And it’s unlikely more than one Michigan high school girls basketball team can boast of having all three guards on the court playing at least their fifth seasons at the varsity level.
Manistee Catholic Central can. And these guards, playing more like a family as some say, are ready to undo the feeling of last year’s season-ending loss to Brethren in the District Semifinal.
Due to the school’s tiny enrollment, MCC is allowed under MHSAA rules to have seventh and eighth graders on the roster as they’ve had for some time. So when the Sabres gather around the seniors including Leah Stickney, Kaylyn Johnson, Emily Miller, Abbey Logan and Ashley VanAelst during their pregame warm-up, they fire up around a lot of experience.
MCC went 14-5 last year and shared the West Michigan D League championship. They’re off to a 7-2 start as they host Walkerville tonight. Both losses this season were by just one point.
VanAelst is one of the guards and captains in the starting lineup. She joined the Sabres late in her in eighth grade season.
“I’ve grown up with this team,” VanAelst said. “They have been (there) for me throughout everything.
“I see them as the best family I could ever have,” she continued. “I love to call them my family.”
Being so much a part of each other’s lives, including school days, has bode well for the Sabres, VanAelst said.
“We have such a good bonding aspect,” she said. “When we’re on the court, we forget about all of our troubles and we come together.
“I like when we’re on the court, we’re all one.”
Stickney, a 5-foot-5 senior guard, is the team’s leading rebounder. She regularly starts in the three-guard formation with VanAelst and junior Grace Kidd. Johnson, the team’s leading scorer at 12.2 points per game, starts in the post.
Stickney, Johnson, Kidd, and junior Elizabeth Logan all played on the varsity team prior to entering the high school. The experienced lineup has coach Todd Erickson looking for an extended postseason run.
“They got the court time over the year to play at this level,” Erickson said. “We’ve been waiting for this team to come into their own.
“We’re not where we think we can be yet.”
The Sabres are moving south to Walkerville to start the postseason this year. They will vie for the District title there with Walkerville, Baldwin, Mason County Eastern, McBain Northern Michigan Christian and Pentwater.
MCC picked up a 44-18 win this week over Pentwater, a potential District opponent.
Summer camps in Petoskey and Gaylord, along with a summer YMCA league in Traverse City, helped the Sabres prepare for this season. VanAelst was one of the players leading the charge.
“I wanted to do something great,” VanAelst said. “I just really wanted to make myself better and be a leader out on the court and help my teammates along the way.
“It was more a team building aspect and how we can work together and become a better team,” she continued. “Instead of working on ourselves individually, we worked together.”
Over the years, Erickson’s teams have won a dozen District championships and three Regionals. His Sabers advanced to the Semifinals in 1999 before falling to eventual Class D champion Portland St. Patrick. The Sabres had only eight players on that roster.
Erickson took over the Sabers girls program during the middle of the 1992 season when the head coach at the time suddenly stepped down. Erickson coached both varsity and JV for the remainder of the year.
He left Manistee Catholic briefly to coach Manistee High for two seasons, posting a combined 45-3 record there with two District titles and a Regional championship. He later returned to Catholic Central after taking a year off.
Last winter, his players and the school honored Erickson for reaching the 400-win milestone.
With this postseason in mind, Erickson now has his team working on rebounding and free throw shooting.
“Our rebounding has to change,” Erickson. “When you’ve got three guards leading your rebounding, we have a problem.
“There is no reason for a 5-foot-5 guard leading your rebounding.”
Erickson noted his players responded to the rebounding focus in their latest win. And, he loves the growth in his guards.
“All three of those guards — Leah, Ashley and Grace — the have learned to play really well together,” he said. “Every time they play, they are getting stronger and stronger to each other.
“They look out for each other on the floor,” he went on. “They always know where the other two are.”
The Sabres also improved their free throw shooting in the win over Pentwater, especially Johnson.
“Kaylin took it to heart,” Erickson said. “She turned around to me at the end and she goes, ‘Coach, I was 4 for 4 at the free throw line.’
“I said, ‘That’s where you should be, 3-for-4 or 4-for-4.’”
Erickson’s coaching has spanned five decades, and he’s not the only coach in his family. His wife Jan has done some coaching. His daughters, Kelly and Katie, currently serve as assistant coaches for St. Joseph Our Lady of the Lake Catholic and Traverse City St. Francis, respectively.
The Sabres’ success has not gone unnoticed. Among those taking note is Mike Kanitz, who serves now as assistant coach at St. Francis with Katie Erickson.
Kanitz coached against Manistee Catholic when he was the head coach at Traverse City Christian. The Gladiators also saw the Sabres at camp and the YMCA league this summer.
“Coach (Todd) Erickson takes the talent that he has each year and makes them more talented,” Kanitz said. “He does a great job of developing teams.
“His teams are always competitive.”
Tom Spencer is a longtime MHSAA-registered basketball and soccer official, and former softball and baseball official, and he also has coached in the northern Lower Peninsula area. He previously has written for the Saginaw News, Bay County Sports Page and Midland Daily News. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Manistee, Wexford, Missaukee, Roscommon, Ogemaw, Iosco, Alcona, Oscoda, Crawford, Kalkaska, Grand Traverse, Benzie, Leelanau, Antrim, Otsego, Montmorency, Alpena, Presque Isle, Cheboygan, Charlevoix and Emmet counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Manistee Catholic Central’s Kaylyn Johnson lines up for a free throw. (Middle) MCC coach Todd Erickson talks things over with Leah Stickney (3). (Below) Ashley VanAelst (11) considers her options on offense against Central Lake. (Photos by Mitch Vosburg/Manistee News Advocate.)