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.
Notre Dame Prep's Studt Sweeps, 'All Play Part' as Harbor Springs Ends Title Wait
By
Brian Freiberger
Special for MHSAA.com
February 24, 2025
HARBOR SPRINGS — Pontiac Notre Dame Prep junior Maren Studt had to watch last year's MHSAA Division 2 Girls Skiing Final from the sideline with a broken collarbone she suffered two days before the big race.
This time around, she competed and took advantage of the opportunity.
After contributing to a team championship as a freshman, Studt was especially determined to reach the pinnacle again, this time as an individual.
"I've been nervous about it for the race this whole season. Today, I decided I was going to go out and do my best and see what happens," she said. "This season, I had no expectations because I don't know how I would have ended up, and so I just went out and did my best this season."
After her first run in slalom Monday at Boyne Highlands, Studt knew she had to rip her second – which led to the first-place finish with a two-run combined time of 1:16.10. She was in high spirits heading into her favorite event, giant slalom.
"GS is my favorite discipline, so I was just ready to go to and had to put the morning aside and just try to go do it again. Then the second run, the snow was a little rough, but I willed through and I was happy with the finish," Studt said.
Studt won the giant slalom with a two-run time of 66.79 seconds.
The junior cherished the accomplishment but now has a crown to defend.
"I hope to do it again, two-peat, and the (2025-26) season starts tomorrow," she said.
Meanwhile, Harbor Springs earned its first girls Finals championship in 10 years behind a complete team performance.
"They believed they could, and they did it," Harbor Springs coach Ellen Beatty said. "They all played their part and stepped it up, and it was an awesome day."
Harbor Springs claimed first place with 68 points, and East Grand Rapids finished runner-up with 91. Bloomfield Hills Marian finished third, followed by Cadillac, Detroit Country Day, Grand Rapids Christian, Rochester Adams, Great North Alpine and Norway.
The Rams skied smart and fast despite the slushy conditions. All six skiers finished all 24 runs without any falls or disqualifications.
"I think they were fired up and ready to go and proved they could do it," Beatty said. "They're an extraordinary group of girls, and it was amazing to watch them grow over the season. Their competition was themselves. So they pushed each other to this level and won a state championship because of it."
Throughout the entire season, different Rams took first places, and even Monday, the whole roster was primed to run their best races.
The last time Harbor Springs won a Finals championship was 2015.
Harbor Springs senior Tara Shouldice took second in GS with a two-run time of 1:07. Keeler Brainard finished 11th, while Drew and Mackenzie Bowman finished 15th and 16th, respectively. Teammate Quinn Myers finished 17th overall to round out a stellar team GS section.
"I know a lot of people were watching us because we were the team to beat, and I think everybody skied well, and we stepped up to the competition," Shouldice said.
Mckenzie Bowman finished seventh overall in the slalom race, and Shouldice finished 16th, while Quinn Myers, Elliott Baetens, and Drew Bowman finished 25th, 29th, and 30th, respectively.
"I feel like we have pretty high expectations of ourselves, and we fulfilled those," Mckenzie Bowman said.
Baetens added: "I'm just really proud of our team. We did a good job, even with the sticky snow, and we all finished our runs. We just did a great job coming together as a team."
East Grand Rapids put on a stellar show to place second.
"The girls stuck together, even having those little problems, and gave Harbor Springs a battle. We'll be back with the ladies," East Grand Rapids girls and boys coach KC McGovern said.
EGR freshman Sophie Hicks led the Pioneers with a second-place finish in slalom (1:16). The top five spots in slalom were decided by 1.5 seconds.
"I'm really happy with slalom, but not so much GS. … I'd love to win states in the future," she said.
Hannah Darooge finished fifth in GS to round out her senior season and high school career.
"It's always good to end your season on a good note, but to end it all on a good note, just like, makes you happy. makes you feel like you did something good," Darooge said.
Brayden Winkel finished fourth overall in slalom and ninth in GS to conclude a stellar sophomore year.
"The experience helps because hopefully we're back here for the next two years until I'm a senior,” Winkel said. “Hopefully next time we bring it home all the way.”
Click for full results. Click to watch NFHS Network broadcasts: Slalom | Giant Slalom
PHOTOS (Top) Eventual champion Notre Dame Prep's Maren Studt approaches a gate during a giant slalom run Monday at Boyne Highlands. (Middle) Harbor Springs' Tara Shouldice races in GS on the way to finishing second to lead the team champion. (Below) East Grand Rapids' Sophie Hicks cuts into a turn in slalom; she finished runner-up. (Click for more photos by Sarah Shepherd - more will be added throughout this week.)