AD Inducted to National Hall of Fame
May 7, 2014
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Winter gets hectic so quickly that we’re forced to save some intriguing items that come our way for a sunnier day – and that day is today.
Following are news, notes and a few key links collected over the last few months, including the national Hall of Fame induction of a longtime Michigan athletic director, local recognition for another and statewide acclaim for a group of students putting their video production equipment to good use benefiting all.
Ann Arbor AD Honored Nationally
Former Ann Arbor Huron athletic director Jane Bennett was among five inducted into the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association Hall of Fame in December.
Bennett served 26 years as a teacher, coach, athletic director and assistant principal in Michigan before spending the last decade as a principal at two schools in Montana. She served as athletic director at Huron for 15 years through 2002-03. The NIAAA reported that during her final decade in that position, participation in athletics doubled.
Bennett, who received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Michigan, began her career at Huron in 1977 as varsity softball coach and became a math teacher and the co-director of athletics a year later. She coached the softball team 14 seasons before moving into the full-time athletic director position. Bennett was co-founder of the Michigan High School Softball Coaches Association and served as MHSSCA president from 1982-87.
Among other achievements at Huron, Bennett was a leader in a successful campaign to gain voter approval of a $60 million bond package, which included $20 million to improve and expand athletic facilities. She also developed curriculum for an annual varsity captains/head coaches leadership training program and composed handbooks/guidebooks for coaches, athletes and parents.
Bennett also was a valuable contributor to the Michigan Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association and the NIAAA. She was president of the MIAAA in 1993-94 and a state conference speaker on several occasions. Bennett also served in various NIAAA leadership positions including on the committee that developed the Leadership Training Institute in 1996.
Bennett was named MIAAA Athletic Director of the Year in 1998 and received its State Award of Merit in 1997. She received the MHSAA’s Women in Sports Leadership Award in 1995 and was inducted into the MHSSCA Hall of Fame in 1995. Prior to her selection to the NIAAA Hall of Fame, Bennett was honored with the NIAAA Distinguished Service Award in 1998 and the NIAAA Thomas E. Frederick Award of Excellence in 2000. In 2005, she was inducted into the National Council of Secondary School Athletic Directors Hall of Fame, having served as its president in 2003 and been selected as its Athletic Director of the Year in 1998.
PSL's Ward: 'Pillar' of Detroit Athletics
Alvin Ward, the executive director of athletics for the Detroit Public School League and a member of the MHSAA Representative Council, received a 2014 Pillar in the Community Award in April from the Coast II Coast All-Stars, a Detroit-based pro basketball team that plays in the American Basketball Association.
Ward has served as a teacher, assistant principal and principal as well for Detroit Public Schools, and directs programs with a combined 500 coaches and 4,500 athletes.
Linked up
- This winter, the MHSAA Representative Council adopted a number of football practice rules changes aimed at improving player acclimatization at the start of fall and reducing head trauma and injuries. The Adrian Daily Telegram’s Doug Donnelly got responses from a number of coaches from that area of the state; click to find out why they feel these changes are important.
- Port Huron Times Herald writer Paul Costanzo let people know about our Student Advisory Council through the experience of Marlette’s Connor Thomas, one of our juniors and a great contributor this school year.
Power of Awareness
The Kimberly Anne Gillary Foundation works to educate Michigan schools on sudden cardiac arrest and train personnel in CPR and the use of an AED (automated external defibrillator). The video below teaches us again about the importance of awareness.
Saginaw Heritage was awarded $5,000 in April as the winner of the Gillary Foundation’s High School AED Contest. Students were asked to create a 3-minute video emphasizing the importance of Michigan high schools being adequately prepared to respond to a sudden cardiac arrest or related event on school property.
Randy and Sue Gillary created the foundation after their 15-year-old daughter Kimberly – an athlete at Troy Athens – died after suffering sudden cardiac arrest in 2000. The contest judges were Kimberly’s sisters Emily Kucinich, Jennifer Gregroy and Katie Gillary.
As of April 1, the Gillary Foundation had raised $1.2 million and donated 650 AEDs to schools – with three lives having been saved with donated AEDs. For more, click www.kimberlysgift.org.
Preview: Miss Soccer, Unforgettable Playoff Runs Headline Finals Lineup
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
June 15, 2023
The reigning Miss Soccer will play at Michigan State’s DeMartin Stadium this weekend, as will several more returning all-staters, three teams seeking first Finals championships and the second-winningest title winner in state girls soccer history.
And then there are a pair of programs enjoying two of the most incredible tournament runs from the sport’s four decades of MHSAA history.
Dating back to at least 1991 (when team records were first included on MHSAA Finals summaries currently published), no team had reached an MHSAA championship match with fewer than 10 wins – until Grosse Pointe North and Clarkston Everest Collegiate did so this week. North will play for the Division 2 title, and Everest for the championship in Division 4.
Following is this weekend’s schedule:
Division 1 - Saturday - 4 p.m.
Hudsonville vs. Rochester Hills Stoney Creek
Division 2 - Friday - 4 p.m.
East Grand Rapids vs. Grosse Pointe North
Division 3 - Friday - 1 p.m.
Hudsonville Unity Christian vs. Grosse Ile
Division 4 - Saturday - 1 p.m.
Kalamazoo Christian vs. Clarkston Everest Collegiate
Tickets cost $11 and may be purchased online only at GoFan. One ticket is good for all soccer, softball and baseball games at MSU’s Old College Field that day. All four Finals will be broadcast and available with subscription from MHSAA.tv, with free audio broadcasts on the MHSAA Network.
Below is a glance at all eight teams taking the field, with statistics through Regionals:
Division 1
HUDSONVILLE
Record/rank: 19-2-2, No. 4
League finish: First in Ottawa-Kent Conference Red
Coach: Holly VanNoord, sixth season (69-19-14)
Championship history: Has never played in an MHSAA Final.
Players to watch: Samantha Sokolove, sr. D (4 goals, 8 assists); Kendall Aikens, jr. M (19 goals, 14 assists); Maislin Joldersma, jr. F (16 goals, 1 assist); Raeleigh Woodwyk, sr. F (7 goals, 2 assists).
Outlook: Hudsonville has turned its first Regional title into its first championship match appearance, thanks to a 2-0 win over No. 2 Northville in Wednesday’s Semifinal. The Eagles have not allowed a goal in five postseason games, including a 1-0 win over No. 7 Portage Central in the Regional Final. It all adds up; VanNoord was one of the most accomplished keepers in MHSAA history and still holds single-season and career shutouts records from her four seasons at Unity Christian from 2009-12. Senior Clara Feenstra made the all-state first team last season and has shared duties with junior Reid DeGoede – together they’ve played all but 12 minutes in net this spring, allowing a combined 10 goals with a combined 15 shutouts. Aikens made the all-state third team last season, and Sokolove and Woodwyk earned honorable mentions.
ROCHESTER HILLS STONEY CREEK
Record/rank: 25-1-1, No. 3
League finish: Second in Oakland Activities Association Red
Coach: Bryan Mittelstadt, 13th season (191-39-19)
Championship history: Division 1 champion 2016, Division 2 runner-up 2005.
Players to watch: Lilley Bosley, sr. M/F (40 goals, 11 assists); Sarina Shaw, jr. M (6 goals, 7 assists); Kaeli Butcher, sr. M (4 goals, 15 assists); Madeline McGinlay, sr. M/F (12 goals, 7 assists).
Outlook: Paced by returning Miss Soccer Award honoree Bosley, Stoney Creek has navigated two overtime games including one decided by shootout against No. 12 Utica Eisenhower, plus downed top-ranked Rochester and No. 15 Saline on the way to East Lansing. Bosley had scored 40 of the team’s 79 goals through the Regional Final and has signed with Michigan. McGinlay earned an all-state honorable mention last season. Keepers Merrick Schwalbach, a sophomore, and freshman Jessica Kennedy have combined to give up only 10 goals with 19 shutouts. The Cougars had drawn with Rochester during the regular season, with their lone loss to No. 9 Rochester Adams.
Division 2
EAST GRAND RAPIDS
Record/rank: 18-2-3, No. 4
League finish: Third in O-K White
Coach: Fabian Rodriguez, sixth season (46-32-9)
Championship history: Three MHSAA titles (most recent 2002), two runner-up finishes.
Players to watch: Makenna Gessner, sr. GK; Gracie Lynn, fr. M; Reese Lynn, fr. M; Margaret Periard, sr. M. (Statistics not submitted.)
Outlook: East Grand Rapids will play in its first Final since 2009 after navigating a path that included wins over top-ranked Spring Lake, No. 11 Plainwell and No. 12 Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central. The team’s only losses were both to No. 3 Forest Hills Northern. The surge could continue into next season and beyond – only three seniors start, with Caitlin Brown joining the Reese sisters as freshmen among the top 11.
GROSSE POINTE NORTH
Record/rank: 9-7-7, unranked
League finish: Fifth in Macomb Area Conference Red
Coach: Olivia Dallaire, ninth season (78-60-20)
Championship history: Division 1 runner-up 2008.
Players to watch: Grace McCormick, sr. G (1.09 goals-against average, 8 shutouts); Megan Robert, sr. D (2 goals, 8 assists); Amelia Streberger, jr. M (16 goals, 5 assists); Ava Mattaliano, sr. G/D.
Outlook: Dallaire, a junior on GPN’s 2008 runner-up team who went on to play at Michigan State, has led the Norsemen past No. 2 Bloomfield Hills Marian in a Regional Semifinal shootout and also to wins over No. 6 Trenton and No. 10 Linden during this unforgettable run. North had closed the regular season 1-2-5 over its final eight games and had scored 16 goals total over 18 games heading into the postseason, but has outscored its five playoff opponents by a combined 7-3 margin.
Division 3
GROSSE ILE
Record/rank: 17-2-4, No. 10
League finish: Second in Huron League
Coach: Kyle Lesperance, fifth season (63-14-9)
Championship history: Has never played in an MHSAA Final.
Players to watch: Cailey O’Farrell, sr. GK (0.70 goals-against average, 10 shutouts); Cassidy Eblin, jr. M (7 goals, 13 assists); Natalee Kirk, sr. F (35 goals, 7 assists); Aubree Korody, soph. F (14 goals, 4 assists).
Outlook: Grosse Ile won its second Regional title, adding to its championship in 2016, and advanced to this weekend with a shootout win over No. 6 Flint Powers Catholic. The Red Devils also earned postseason wins over No. 5 Williamston and No. 11 Milan and are 8-1-3 since losing their first of three meetings with Milan this spring; the other loss came to Division 1 No. 5 Troy Athens. Kirk earned an all-state honorable mention last season, and Grosse Ile also gets a scoring boost from senior Mia Pascuzzi, who had eight goals and eight assists entering this week.
HUDSONVILLE UNITY CHRISTIAN
Record/rank: 20-1-2, No. 1
League finish: First in O-K Blue
Coach: Randy Heethuis, 34th (619-104-41)
Championship history: Ten MHSAA titles (most recent 2016), four runner-up finishes.
Players to watch: Morgan Scholten, sr. GK (0.37 goals-against average, 11 shutouts); Brianna Rose, sr. D (1 goal, 2 assists); Jessie Postma, sr. M (3 goals, 10 assists); Ava Lutke, soph. F (25 goals, 15 assists).
Outlook: A team that returned to the championship game last season featuring several juniors is back and a year older, with Rose coming off her second all-state first-team selection and Lutke also making the first team last year. Scholten made the all-state second team a year ago, Postma made the third and senior Olivia Bosworth (8 goals, 8 assists) earned an honorable mention. She’s one of seven players who entered this week with at least eight goals; other top scorers this spring are senior Jenna Schreiber (13/10), junior Stella DeSmit (11/8) and senior Jordan Steen (11/5). Unity’s only loss was to Division 2 No. 9 Richland Gull Lake, and it downed No. 3 Elk Rapids, No. 12 Allegan and No. 14 Holland Christian during this tournament run.
Division 4
CLARKSTON EVEREST COLLEGIATE
Record/rank: 8-7-1, unranked
League finish: Seventh in Detroit Catholic League AA
Coach: Richard Cross, seventh season (59-48-10)
Championship history: Division 4 champion (as part of a co-operative with Waterford Our Lady of the Lakes) in 2010, three runner-up finishes with Our Lady.
Players to watch: Kathleen Thibodeau, jr. F (8 goals); Maria Saad, soph. D/M (4 goals, 7 assists); Erica Walker, soph. F (7 goals, 8 assists); Morgan McNally, jr. M (9 goals, 11 assists).
Outlook: After starting 2-0-1, Everest didn’t win again until its regular-season finale – a stretch of seven games that included three against top-nine teams in Division 4 and the No. 7 team in Division 2. Switch to the postseason, and the Mountaineers opened with a shootout win over Rochester Hills Lutheran Northwest and then shut out its next four opponents including No. 6 Saginaw Nouvel and top-ranked Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett – the latter avenging a 5-1 loss a little more than a month earlier. There are only three senior starters, with Caroline Cross – an all-state honorable mention last season – out with an injury. Everest co-ops with Bloomfield Hills Academy of the Sacred Heart.
KALAMAZOO CHRISTIAN
Record/rank: 18-6, No. 7
League finish: First in Southwestern Athletic Conference Valley
Coach: Jay Allen, 10th season (162-31-6)
Championship history: Four MHSAA titles (most recent 2008), four runner-up finishes.
Players to watch: Taylor Leonard, sr. F (39 goals, 12 assists); Jordyn Bonnema, soph. M (15 goals, 20 assists); Rylan Smith, sr. F; Elizabeth Netz, jr. GK.
Outlook: Kalamazoo Christian has finished runner-up four of the last five seasons, last year falling only 1-0 to Royal Oak Shrine Catholic. Leonard made the all-state first team and Netz made the third team last spring, and for the second-straight year the Comets have given up only one goal during the postseason heading into the championship game. Those four shutouts were the latest of 14 total this year. This season’s playoff run has included victories over No. 2 North Muskegon and No. 13 Grandville Calvin Christian. Only one loss this spring came to a Division 4 team, No. 15 Lansing Christian.
PHOTO Grosse Pointe North’s Megan Robert steps into a kick against Romeo this spring. (Photo by Chris Mudd/National Photo Scout.)