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.)
'Trojan Legend' Ream in 37th Year Providing Care as TC Central's Athletic Trainer
By
Tom Spencer
Special for MHSAA.com
September 25, 2026
Traverse City Central’s athletic trainer Amy Ream is exemplary – if not becoming the exception.
“I've been doing it for the 37 years,” Ream said. “It's probably not the norm anymore – especially being at the same location.”
Ream graduated in 1987 from Central Michigan University with a bachelor’s degree in sports medicine. Her first job was with the Trojans, and it likely will be her last.
Ream also has earned a teaching certificate since joining the staff and added teaching sports medicine classes at Central and Traverse City West to her daily duties.
“It’s been very rewarding ... seeing somebody that has torn their ACL and then the next year, they're able to come back … or someone struggling with an ankle sprain and taking them a couple weeks versus a couple days and they come back,” Ream said. “That's part of the reason why we do it. Being around the kids, they bring all the energy and they’re a joy to be around.”
John Sonneman has been near the Trojans for the past 61 years as a teacher, coach, athletic director and administrator. Nowadays, he’s the very recognizable voice of the Trojans as the public address announcer for football, soccer and track.
Sonneman has seen Ream, whose services are contracted through Munson Medical Center, pretty much do it all since she came on board.
“Amy is a real gem – she's a real pro,” said Sonneman. “She handles herself so well with the students. If you need a ‘ball boy’ she's the ball person. If you need somebody in volleyball to run a line or something like that, she'll do it. She isn't just a trainer.”
The Central coaching staff agrees. Fourth-year Central soccer coach Gavin Richmond can’t imagine getting through a game without Ream on the sidelines. Ream serves all of Central’s home varsity and junior varsity soccer matches.
“Amy’s always happy, she's always smiling, and the kids all love her, and she's just an incredible human being,” Richmond pointed out. “It's a privilege to work alongside her. I really love it when she's out there on the sidelines with us. It gives me a kind of sense of comfort knowing that anybody that might get hurt is going to get looked after. She's just a true, true, true professional. She’s a Trojan legend.”
Ream has a very busy schedule, attending all Central home football contests, including for freshman and junior varsity. During the same season she’s at Central’s freshman, JV and varsity volleyball home matches.
Ream sees athletic training as one of the best work-life balance careers. “Most of the time you can still have a good work-life balance, which is really nice,” she said.
This winter she’ll support boys and girls wresting, basketball and ice hockey before taking on the Trojans’ lacrosse, baseball, softball and track programs in the spring.
“I don't normally see tennis or golf, but I am there if they need some help,” Ream acknowledged. “I am at the school during sixth hour. There are some kids that come in for treatment if they don't have sixth hour, for taping or whatever, so that they're ready to get out.”
Ream won’t single out a sport as her favorite. But she will admit leans toward football in the fall, hockey in the winter, and softball in the spring.
“Spring depends on the day, but my kids played softball, so its softball,” she admitted. “And, we’re definitely getting more into boys and girls lacrosse.”
Being an athletic trainer has provided Ream opportunities to work at Ford Field, Little Caesars Arena and Comerica Park. Central’s basketball team played an exhibition game at Little Caesars, and West and Central played an outdoor hockey game at Comerica. But the Trojans reaching the MHSAA Division 2 11-Player Football Final at Ford Field in 2021 stands out most.
It happened while COVID-19 restrictions were still in place, and Ream said the pandemic led to schools reducing their athletic training staffs around the state. The sports medicine class she teaches is aimed at recruitment.
“We're trying to recruit – we always already need athletic trainers,” Ream said. “After COVID, athletic trainers were let go and some of them went on to different careers.”
With COVID restrictions in place, Ream was at Ford Field as the Trojans fell to Warren De La Salle Collegiate. That marked the final game of a stellar playing career for Central’s Josh Burnham.
Burnham and Ream embraced after the tough loss during which Burnham had put the Trojans on the board midway through the fourth quarter with a five-yard touchdown run. He also had eight tackles. Burnham went on to play four years at Notre Dame, helping the Irish reach the college football playoffs. He’s using a fifth year of college eligibility to play this season for Indiana, the reigning national champ.
If Ream had a bucket list, getting back to Ford Field would most likely be on it. She has hopes 25-year coach Eric Schugars can lead the Trojans to a return trip. Central did qualify for the playoffs last year and are off to a 2-2 start this fall. The Trojans will look to improve their playoff chances when they host Midland Dow, also 2-2, Friday at Thirlby Field.
Ream has no immediate plans to retire, but the Trojans are nonetheless prepared for it to happen someday. Justin Thorington, the Trojans athletic director, is a 2003 graduate of Central and recalls vividly Ream being a big part of the school’s athletics during his time as a student.
“I love Amy, and I want her to stay as long as she wants to stay and not any longer than she feels like she needs to stay,” Thorington said. “If she told me ‘Hey, I'm hanging ’em up at the end of the year,’ of course we would be like ‘what are we going to do? How are we going to replace her?’ But we would just be so happy for her. I hope she stays another 10 years if she wants to.”
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) Traverse City Central trainer Amy Ream escorts an injured Traverse City West player off the field during Thursday’s game. (Middle) Ream prepares ice for Central’s James Crigier during a junior varsity game at West. (Below) Ream and Josh Burnham embrace after the latter’s final high school football game, at Ford Field. (Top photo by Jan-Michael Stump/Traverse City Record-Eagle. Middle photo by Tom Spencer. Football photo by TC Rick Photo.)