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.)
Oak Park Sprints to 4th-Straight Team Title Win, Zielinski Rebounds for Winning Finish
By
Steve Vedder
Special for MHSAA.com
May 30, 2026
ROCKFORD – It would have been the perfect time for Lorelai Zielinski to toss her cards on the table and walk away.
After suffering a crushing disqualification Saturday in the discus, a disastrous development that ensured she wouldn't repeat her dream of defending her Lower Peninsula Division 1 Finals title in that event as well as the shot put, Zielinski could have called it a season.
Instead, the Traverse City Central junior mentally gathered herself by taking several slow walks around the shot put area, listening to some music and generally clearing her head.
"Just tried to keep calm in the moment," she said. "I didn't dwell on what was done."
So instead of falling off a mental cliff, Zielinski went out and captured the shot put with a toss of 48-6¼, two feet farther than the rest of the field.
"I had worked so hard to get better," she said. "But it was a mental battle. I just had to compose myself and get ready for the shot."
While Zielinski had to overcome her mental roadblocks, the Oak Park girls had to overcome their own adversity as well – but employed the same formula they used to win the last three Division 1 titles and claim their 10th over the last 12 years: power in the sprints.
Oak Park finished with 61 points to 48 for runner-up Detroit Cass Tech and 28.5 for third-place East Kentwood. West Bloomfield was fourth with 28. The Knights took firsts in the 1,600 and 800 relays, seconds in the 400 relay, open 100 and 400, a third in the 300 hurdles and a fourth in the 200.
Put it all together and it was business as usual for the team, coach Brandon Jiles said.
"Today was a little tough because we had battles with Cass Tech and East Kentwood," he said. "We had a few tough breaks, but when bad things happen you pick yourself up. The result is you deal with adversity."
Because the team has only two seniors, Jiles said Oak Park had to rely on a handful of younger athletes who were mainstays on the 2025 championship team, including junior Nevaeh Burns, who while not winning the 400 for a third straight time did post one of team's highest individual finishes with a second in the race. Teammate Aubrey Douglas was second in the 100.
"We had to spread things out," Jiles said. "Even though we were the favorite, we knew it would be tough. We do have a lot of experience from last year, but it's always tough to see what a young team will do. Twice we've gone for four in a row and didn't do it. This year we did."
Senior Kamryn Tatum of West Bloomfield won the 100 (11.74) while finishing second behind Malise Brown of Detroit Cass Tech in the 200 (23.13). Brown's time was an all-Finals record and sixth-best in the country this spring.
Tatum said she actually prefers running the longer 200-meter dash over the 100. She entered Saturday as a three-time Finals champ in the 200 while also winning the 100 a year ago.
"I hate the 100," Tatum said. "You have to get out strong to win the 100 because it's shorter. But I do what I do, and it's nice to win. My sophomore year was hard because I was injured, but now I was pretty much healthy."
East Lansing freshman Cayla Hawkins pulled one of the biggest upsets at the meet when she edged Oak Park's Burns in the 400. Hawkins had a 52.89 to creep past Burns' mark of 53.63.
"I know her from AAU," Hawkins said of Burns. "I was kind of shocked with myself, but I really pushed for this. I've had my days this year, kind of in and out. We call it "deep water," which means we save some of the hardest workouts for leading up to the state meet so we know what our bodies are capable of."
Richland Gull Lake junior Lane Isom won the 800 (2:11.06) after finishing just ninth a year ago. She was the best of a strong field which featured seven runners separated by less than three seconds. Isom had run a 2:09 a week ago.
"I knew I could run a fast time," she said. "It just depended on what would happen. I just went out and tried to do my best."
Grand Ledge's Katie Blue was a two-time champion in events with little in common. The Comet senior won the pole vault (14-0) as well as the 300 hurdles (43.14). The pole vault was an all-Finals record after her previous best was a 13-10 two weeks ago.
"My main goal was to go 14-feet," said Blue, who missed on her first attempt at three heights. "It just depends on the person. If you're mentally strong, you can bounce back from that. You can't let it get in your head because that just makes the next two or three attempts harder."
Other individual champs were Natasza Dudek in the 3,200 (10:15.25), Elliana Neuer of Hartland in the 1,600 (4:51.73), Kyleigh Peacock of Troy in the long jump (19-1), Olivia Latunski of Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central (138-2) in the discus, Detroit Cass Tech's Laila Hawkins in the 100 hurdles (14.15) and Alannah Love of Lansing Waverly in the high jump (5-0).
West Bloomfield won the 400 relay (46.88) and Ann Arbor Skyline took the 3,200 (9:05.75). Clarkston’s Allison Thurman (100, 400) and Fenton’s Molly Katic (200) finished first in adaptive events.
PHOTOS (Top) Oak Park's Nevaeh Burns bursts forward after taking a handoff during for her team's winning 1,600 relay Saturday. (Middle) Detroit Cass Tech's Malise Brown, middle, crosses the finish line in record time in the 100. (Click for more from John Brabbs, Carter Sherline and Jamie McNinch/RunMichigan.com.)