10 to Remember: Winter 2014-15
April 2, 2015
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
As one might imagine, six straight weekends of MHSAA Finals produce enough highlights to distract us from our seemingly endless Michigan winters.
As explained to preface “10 to Remember” many times before, all championships are lifetime memories for those who achieved them. Those listed below are just one person’s thoughts on which moments from this season will continue to be discussed most in the seasons to come.
10. Brother Rice Rides Team Effort to Repeat
Birmingham Brother Rice repeated as Lower Peninsula Division 1 swimming and diving champion, and did so by winning by more than 100 points for the second consecutive season. But what made this Warriors finish so impressive was that it didn’t include a single individual championship – they won the opening and closing relays of the meet and took seven second-place individual finishes along the way.
9. Kearsley Sweeps Bowling Championships … Again
Flint Kearsley varsity bowlers are guaranteed one other title this season – MHSAA champions. Both the girls and boys teams won team titles in Division 2, just as they had in 2014. The Kearsley girls again defeated Bay City Western in the championship match, this time by a mere 30 pins, 1,242-1,212. The Kearsley boys also earned their title by defeating Bay City Western, and by only seven pins – 1,351-1,344.
8. Rockford/Sparta Owns the Weekend
Rockford hosted the MHSAA Gymnastics Finals, making the cliché “bringing home the title” a short trip – twice. The Rams, a co-op with Sparta, won the team competition by 1.750 points over reigning champion Canton; Rockford’s only other MHSAA gymnastics championship also was the first in any sport in school history, in the Lower Peninsula in 1989. Juniors Madi Myers and Morgan Korf led the effort with the third and fourth-highest all-around scores of the Team Final – and Korf came back the next day with a stunning move to take the Division 1 individual championship. She had finished 18th in Division 1 as a sophomore.
7. Breckenridge Returns to Cheer Elite
In its second season back as a competitive program, Breckenridge added to its stature as one of the most powerful competitive cheer programs in MHSAA history by claiming the Division 4 championship by nearly 24 points over runner-up Pewamo-Westphalia. Breckenridge has won eight MHSAA titles in cheer, but didn’t have a team for six seasons because of low participation until bringing back the program for 2013-14.
6. Cowboys Lasso First Basketball Title
First Detroit Western International won its first Detroit Public School League championship since 1922. Then it made its first MHSAA Semifinals since 1974. The Cowboys capped this season with its first MHSAA Final victory, a nail-biter 62-59 over Saginaw Arthur Hill in Class A. Western also defeated Detroit Catholic League A-B champion Detroit U-D Jesuit in the Semifinal, and finished the season 26-0.
No team traveled farther to the MHSAA Basketball Finals than the Calumet girls – and it can be argued that no team came from farther away in expectation to become an MHSAA champion. The unranked Copper Kings traveled more than 500 miles to arrive at the Breslin Center, then defeated top-ranked Laingsburg in a Class C Semifinal and perennial power Flint Hamady in the championship game to claim its first MHSAA title in the sport.
4. Skatzka, Olson Become Latest of the Greatest
Richmond’s Devin Skatzka and Davison’s Lincoln Olson pushed the list of MHSAA four-time individual champions to 21 by finishing their careers with big victories. Olson actually was the 20th, winning his match at 135 pounds by technical fall in Division 1. Skatzka then became No. 21 with four MHSAA titles, with a technical fall in the 160-pound match in Division 3.
3. Brighton Claims First Title in Final Match
Few Finals in any sport this winter carried the drama of Brighton’s 31-25 win over Hartland in Division 1 wrestling. Bulldogs 112-pounder Lee Grabowski entered the final match carrying his team’s three-point lead but facing the scenario that if he lost even by decision, and the team score went to 28-28, Brighton would lose the tie-breaker. Oh, and Grabowski was facing an opponent he’d lost to twice in league competition earlier in the winter. Grabowski won a 4-2 decision this time, and Brighton won its first team title.
2. Godwin Heights, Powers North Central Cap 3-Season Surges
Wyoming Godwin Heights and Powers North Central made the MHSAA record book by adding to a pair of the most successful three-season runs in boys basketball history – and capping them with championships. Godwin Heights won its first MHSAA title, downing Detroit Henry Ford 85-68 in the Class B Final, to finish the last three seasons a combined 74-5. North Central, meanwhile, downed Morenci 67-47 in Class D to win its first title since 1984 and cap a three-season 75-5 run.
1. Record Comeback Sends Saints Home as Champs
St. Ignace trailed undefeated Pittsford by 20 points two minutes into the Class D Final when it launched a comeback equaled by only one other team in MHSAA girls basketball history. The Saints tied the score with 35 seconds to play in regulation and continued the rally in the extra period to claim a 64-60 title-clinching victory. Detroit Cass Tech, in the 1987 Class A Final, also had come back from 20 down in the third quarter to win. The championship was St. Ignace’s fifth in girls basketball.
PHOTO: St. Ignace basketball players celebrate after the Saints tied the largest comeback in MHSAA Finals history on the way to claiming the Class D title. (Click to see more at HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)
No Individual Event Wins Needed as Parma Western Clinches 1st Finals Team Title
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
May 31, 2025
HAMILTON – Parma Western boys track & field coach Lucas Sponsler never has been happier to see one of his relay teams finish second.
Entering the 1,600 relay at Saturday’s Lower Peninsula Division 2 Finals, Sponsler knew his team needed to finish sixth or higher to overtake River Rouge, which held a two-point lead but didn’t have a team competing in that last race of the afternoon.
As it turns out, that closing event was a perfect reflection of Western’s day.
Western took second to win its first Finals team title by six points, with 44 total, despite not winning a single event throughout the competition.
Depth and versatility in running and field events allowed Western to prevail.
“That’s pretty sweet,” Sponsler said. “I felt like our team was built a lot more for team states. We knew we were built for this because we had a variety of strong athletes.”
While Parma Western made history by winning what Sponsler said was just the third state title by any sports team at the school, River Rouge also had reason to be proud.
After registering just one point at last year’s event, the Panthers took a major jump with their best Finals finish.
Leading the way for River Rouge were seniors Jaiden Melton and Donpaul Keith. Melton won the 100 meters in 10.62 seconds, while Keith won the 200 in 21.66. The two also were part of River Rouge’s winning 800 relay, which came in first with a time of 1:27.89.
“Those guys, they did everything they could and it was amazing for them,” River Rouge head coach Mike Carson said. “We bounced back and we showed up in the individuals, and we showed up in the relay. I’ll take a team runner-up.”
The multiple-event winners on the day individually were Marshall senior Jack Bidwell and Battle Creek Harper Creek junior DJ Wood.
Bidwell won 1,600 meters in 4:14.95 and the 3,200 meters in 9:12.13, using a lethal finishing kick to surge ahead at the finish line.
“I like to use my kick a lot, so I pushed on that today,” said Bidwell, who will run in college for Michigan. “I’ve kind of just always had a kick. I like to say it’s my mentality a lot. It’s like, ‘Why not?’ … I feel like that pushes me a lot and has helped me get to a lot of places I’ve been.”
After not competing at the Finals last year, Wood swept the hurdles events taking the 110 race in 14.15 seconds and winning the 300 hurdles in 39.24.
“I felt really confident doing it,” Wood said. “I put in a lot of work and really cared about it.”
Another standout performance came from Stevensville Lakeshore sophomore Kaden Griffiths, who broke a meet record in the long jump with a leap of 24-¼ .
PHOTOS (Top) Parma Western sprints to the finish in the 1,600 relay; the Panthers' runner-up finish in the race clinched their team title. (Middle) Marshall's Jack Bidwell, left, raises his hands in victory as he crosses the finish line. (Click for more from RunMichigan.com.)