Beginning Another Tourney Journey
August 8, 2016
Below is the introductory commentary to the MHSAA's spring issue of benchmarks. Histories of MHSAA tournaments published in that issue have been appearing on Second Half every Tuesday and Friday.
By Jack Roberts
MHSAA Executive Director
Concussions and cutbacks. Participation fees and part-time employment. Student safety and specialization. International students and interstate travel. Transfers and trials.
Through a myriad of issues which periodically cloud our mission, the foundation on which the MHSAA was built still shines brightest three times each year: Tournament Time!
It can be daunting and overwhelming to make a living at this business of interscholastic athletics these days, not to mention a tad confusing. Do we need legal degrees? Medical degrees? Business degrees? Marketing degrees? There seems to be no escape from threat of legislative mandates which continually change the landscape of our product and how it’s delivered. Demands pile up, resources dwindle.
Add the daily challenges of scheduling issues, inclement weather and pleasing teenagers and their parents on a daily basis, and it’s easy to lose focus of the primary missions for the MHSAA and its member schools.
And then, scenes like this happen:
• Holly Bullough, a senior cross country runner from Traverse City St. Francis takes her second straight Division 3 championship, winning by 36.4 seconds ... with a stress fracture in her left foot.
• Detroit Martin Luther King QB Armani Posey directs a game-winning drive to give his school the Division 2 football championship ... a drive which started on his own 3-yard line with 37 seconds left and ended with a 40-yard heave to receiver Donnie Corley on the final play of the game.
• Leland sweeps the Class D volleyball title match 3-0 over Battle Creek St. Philip ... ending a string of nine straight titles for St. Phil, the 10th longest national streak in history.
• Davison’s Taylor Davis becomes only the fourth person in MHSAA Girls Bowling history to roll a 300 game in the Singles portion of the tournament ... and the first ever in the championship match.
• The Upper Peninsula’s Hancock HS wins the Division 3 ice hockey title in its first trip to the Final since 2000 ... a trip funded in part from a “Go Fund Me” web page that raised $6,620 from 99 donors in two days.
• Junior Kierra Fletcher of Warren Cousino carries her team to the Class A girls basketball championship with 27 points in the Final ... after scoring 37 of her team’s 60 points in the Semifinals and totaling 198 during eight tournament games.
That’s just a sampling of the magic from last fall and winter.
These moments shine through the current challenges and the unseen future that awaits us as they always have. The uniforms and faces are different, but the tournaments have always yielded the fruits of our labors, and the memories for our mental scrapbooks.
PHOTO: Leland's volleyball team hoists its Class D championship trophy last fall at Kellogg Arena.
Hartland Soars on Vault in Final Rotation To Finish Repeat Championship Run
By
Brad Emons
Special for MHSAA.com
March 7, 2026
HIGHLAND TOWNSHIP – Friday’s MHSAA Gymnastics Team Final went pretty much according to script in what became a three-team race at Milford High School.
Hartland, scoring 146.50 points, fended off challenges from upstart Farmington United (145.45) and last year’s runner-up Rockford (143.85) to earn its second-straight title and third in school history.
Rounding out the top six in the 12-team field were Plymouth (142.325), host Huron Valley United (141.375) and Parma Western (139.750).
“It’s the best feeling ever, honestly,” Hartland coach Gavin Kress said. “It’s such a great feeling. You honestly don’t think about it until you are actually in it.”
Rockford has nine Finals titles to its credit, including three straight from 2022-24, while Farmington has five.
Hartland, which entered the meet after scoring a Regional-best 147.750, saved its best for last nailing the vault routine with a 37.425 on its final rotation.
“Event-wise, it was vault where we got four top scores that we needed,” Kress said. “That’s what pulled us (away from the rest of the field). Floor was really a beneficial thing for us, and I think ending on the vault gave us the push to get us the win.”
Among Hartland’s standouts was senior Alexis Fundich, who will attempt to win the Division 1 individual title Saturday after finishing second a year ago.
“We had a few mess-ups, but overall, we were working hard and did well, it was good” Fundich said. “That was a great way to end the meet, and it really solidified our spot. I think definitely it’s one of our strongest (apparatus). Our floor is pretty strong for us as well, too.”
Hartland won last year’s crown by 2.05 points over Hartland, but this time it was Farmington making a serious push.
“Honestly, that was not expected, but they did great,” Kress said of United. “Honestly, when we go out there, we watch Farmington and Rockford because we know they are our biggest competitors. To hear that they got second place was amazing, and they deserved that spot.”
Veteran Farmington coach Jeff Dwyer, finishing his 38th season, was elated with his team’s result.
“I knew we were in it with Rockford, Plymouth, Huron Valley, and I knew Hartland,” he said. “I kind of thought they were not maybe untouchable, but they’ve got some studs that are really hard to touch.
“Just proud of our girls. We couldn’t have done any better, I think. That was our highest score all year. And to close on the beam, you’re saying, ‘Come on,’ that’s a nerve-wracking event and I think we were the highest scoring beam team.”
Senior Mikayla Dicks was the all-around individual star for Farmington United with the meet’s highest total of 37.925. She posted the highest score on the uneven bars (9.475) and had the second-highest score on the balance beam (9.6) behind Huron Valley’s Stella Musialowski (9.725).
Meanwhile, Fundich posted a 37.625 all-around that was the meet’s second highest, thanks to tying for the top score on floor exercise with Rockford’s Elise Watkins (9.65) and scoring the second highest on the uneven bars.
“I can always count on beginning with her ever since her sophomore year,” Kress said. “She’s always been a clean gymnast and a strong gymnast. I can always rely on her out there and showing what she can do. I couldn’t ask for anything else.”
Friday night’s event was a team competition, which will be followed by the individual Division 1 and 2 Finals competition beginning at noon Saturday at Milford.
“It feels really good especially losing those seniors (from last year), with all the hard work we put in,” Fundich said. “It’s an amazing feeling. We knew it was kind of between Farmington and Rockford. We kind of knew we had a little bit of competition. It got a little nerve-wracking towards the end, but we just still hit our routines and it paid off.”
PHOTOS (Top) Hartland’s gymnasts share a moment during their rotation on vault at Friday’s MHSAA Team Final. (Middle) A Huron Valley United gymnast competes on balance beam. (Click for more from High School Sports Scene.)