Casting Lines for Future Tournaments
August 12, 2016
By Jack Roberts
MHSAA Executive Director
The MHSAA is best known to the public for the tournaments it conducts to conclude the fall, winter and spring seasons each school year.
These tournaments, the first and largest program of the MHSAA, have survived the Vietnam War, the Korean conflict and two World Wars. They have survived the technology bubble, the housing collapse, the energy crisis and the Great Depression.
MHSAA tournaments existed at the dawn of aviation and at the time of our nation’s lunar landing. Popes, presidents and governors have changed and changed again and again, and MHSAA tournaments roll on year after year.
But the sense of tradition and permanence and inevitability of MHSAA tournaments doesn’t dissuade us from asking questions about our tournaments, even some of the most basic questions. Here are two.
Question #1
I have long been and will always be an advocate for a Ryder Cup format for the MHSAA Golf Finals, and a team tennis approach to the MHSAA Tennis Finals; but 90 years of tradition is hard to overcome. Might this be a more exciting format? Could it be co-ed? Could it reverse the decline in boys tennis participation, and increase girls golf participation? Wouldn’t it be fun to try?
Periodically, the International Olympic Committee requires each of the designated Olympic sports to defend its status, to state its case why the sport should remain a part of the Olympic program. Then, after a series or votes that retain one sport at a time, the IOC drops the sport that makes the weakest case. It does so to make room for one of the previously unlisted sports that makes the best case for inclusion.
This would appear to keep the existing Olympic sports on their toes, and to keep the Olympic movement fresh and reflective of modern trends in sports.
While I would not enjoy the controversy, I can see the potential for some positive results if the MHSAA were to invoke the same policy for determining the 14 tournaments it will provide for girls and the 14 for boys.
This might cause us to consider more deeply what a high school sport should look like, or at least what an MHSAA tournament sport should stand for.
On the one hand, we might be inclined to drop tournaments for those sports that involve mostly non-faculty coaches and non-school venues, or require cooperative programs to generate enough participants to support a team, or resort almost entirely to non-school funding, or cater to individuals more than teams.
Or perhaps this process would cause policymakers to forget traditional thinking and ask: “In this day and age, should we shake off traditional notions of sport and consider more where modern kids are coming from?” That might mean fewer team sports and more individual sports, more “extreme” sports like snowboarding and skateboarding, and more lifetime sports, meaning not just golf and tennis and running sports, but also fishing and even shooting sports.
Currently, MHSAA policy states that the MHSAA will consider sponsorship of a tournament series for any sport which 64 member schools conduct on an interscholastic basis as a result of action by the governing boards of those schools.
Should the only question be how many schools sponsor a sport, or must an activity also have certain qualities and/or avoid certain “defects?” What should an MHSAA tournament sport look like and stand for?
Question #2
Bristling from criticism that his association is a money-grabbing exploiter of children, my counterpart in another state said, “If we were running our programs just to make money, we would do very many things very differently.” I knew exactly what he meant.
Because we care about the health and welfare of students, because we mean what we say that the athletic program needs to maximize the ways it enhances the school experience while minimizing academic conflicts, and because we try to model our claim that no sport is a minor sport when it comes to its potential to teach young people life lessons, we operate our programs in ways that make promoters, marketers and business entrepreneurs laugh, cry or cringe.
If money were the only object, we would seed and select sites to assure the teams that attracted the most spectators had the best chance to advance in our tournaments, regardless of the travel for any team or its fan base. If money were the only object, we would never schedule two tournaments to overlap and compete for public attention, much less tolerate three or four overlapping events. If money were the only object, we would allow signage like NASCAR events and promotions like minor league baseball games.
Those approaches to event sponsorship may not be all wrong; they’re just not all right for us. And we will live with the consequences of our belief system.
During a typical school year, more than 20 percent of the MHSAA’s 2,097 District, Regional and Final tournaments lose money. Not a single site in golf, skiing or tennis makes a single penny. In no sport did every District, Regional and Final site have revenue in excess of direct expenses.
In fact, in only three sports – boys and girls basketball and football – is revenue so much greater than direct expenses overall that it helps to pay for all the other tournaments in which the MHSAA invests.
That’s right: invests. When we present our budget to our board, we talk about the MHSAA’s investment in providing tournament opportunities in all those sports and all those places that cannot sustain the cost of those events on their own. How much is this investment worth to students, schools and society?
These two are core questions that require our focus far in advance of talk about scheduling, site selection, seeding and the myriad matters that too often hijack our time and attention.
Preview: Reigning Gymnastics Champs Lead Title Chase Again, But Challengers Await
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
March 7, 2025
The reigning MHSAA Gymnastics Finals team champion appears as strong as ever heading into this weekend’s meet, and the Division 1 individual champion is back after another dominating Regional performance as well.
But both are set to face fierce challenges again at Grand Rapids Kenowa Hills.
Rockford is seeking a fourth-straight team title and scored the highest score at any Regional last week – but with surging Hartland less than a point off the pace.
Individually, Farmington United’s Leah Hodge is seeking a Division 1 repeat and will lead a chase that could include Rockford’s Ava Ezell and Hartland’s Alexis Fundich among several others. Farmington also will go for the individual sweep as Sophia Yee is a strong contender in Division 2.
Team competition begins at 2 p.m. Friday, with individual competition in both Divisions 1 and 2 beginning at noon Saturday. For information on purchasing tickets, Finals rotations for both days and Regional results, go to the Gymnastics page – and see below for several contenders to watch:
Team
Farmington United: Last season’s runner-up was most recently champion back-to-back in 2018 and 2019 and finished only two tenths of a point behind Rockford a year ago. Farmington United won its Regional by 5.4 points last week with a total of 145.925, paced by a 37.050 on floor exercise and at least a 35.200 on all four apparatuses.
Hartland: The Eagles are pursuing a first team championship since 1999 and coming off a Regional title last week won by more than nine points with a score of 149.175. Hartland made a nice run last season at the Final, finishing fourth but only 1.425 points off the lead. The Eagles scored at least 36.325 on every apparatus at last week’s Regional and broke 37 on three of them.
Northville: The Mustangs placed fifth last season, and they are seeking their first championship after most recently making a run with a runner-up finish in 2018. They won last week’s Regional at Salem with a 144.875, nearly four points more than the field and with scores of at least 35.100 on all four apparatuses and a high of 37.100 on balance beam.
Rockford: The Rams have won three straight team championships and are coming off a Regional win by nearly 14 points last week with a score of 150.05. They went over 38 points on both vault (38.1) and floor (38.425) and approached that total on beam (37.925) while placing the top three in Division 1 all-around and top four in Division 2.
Division 1
Ava Ezell, Rockford senior: She’ll compete at her first MHSAA Finals coming off a Regional all-around championship by nearly two points and sweeping all four apparatuses. She scored a 38.700, finishing first on vault (9.7), bars (9.525), beam (9.75) and floor (9.725).
Alexis Fundich, Hartland junior: She’s set multiple school records this season and won her Regional all-around last week with a score of 37.975 that included first places on beam (9.7) and floor (9.625 - tied). She tied for sixth on beam at last year’s Final.
Kate Gostlin, Hartland junior: Gostlin finished fifth all-around at her Regional with a 36.200 that included a championship on vault (9.8). She placed 23rd all-around at last season’s Final with a third on vault.
Abby Griffen, Hartland junior: She finished third all-around last season with third places on bars and beam and enters this weekend coming off a third-place all-around Regional finish (37.450) that included top-four places on all four apparatuses.
Leah Hodge, Farmington United senior: The reigning Division 1 champion did so with a 38.000 all-around last year that included a first place on bars and second on vault. She won her Regional last week by nearly two points at 38.075 with firsts on bars (9.6), beam (9.45), and vault (9.6).
Leah Koch, Rockford senior: She’s finished Regional all-around runner-up two seasons in a row, this time with a 36.725 that included second places on vault (9.6) and bars (8.525) and third places on floor (9.45) and beam (9.15). She won vault and finished 11th all-around at last year’s Final.
Noelle Licari, Northville senior: After tying for first all-around at her Regional last season, Licari won it outright this time with a 36.625 that included a championship on vault (9.25) and top-five places on the other three apparatuses. She placed 19th all-around at last year’s Final.
Stella Musialowski, Huron Valley United junior: A Regional runner-up for the second-straight season, she scored a 36.375 all-around last week finishing at least third on every apparatus and with a championship on floor (9.475). She tied for 15th all-around at last year’s Final.
Taylee Nadolski, Vassar senior: A Bay City Central student participating as part of a cooperative team, she’s coming off a 37.750 to finish Regional all-around runner-up to Fundich and after tying her to win floor (9.625) and finishing first on bars (9.6). She finished fourth on floor at last year’s Final.
Keira Sadler, Linden/Fenton/Lake Fenton senior: She improved from 12th all-around as a sophomore to 10th last season while tying for sixth on bars and beam. She’s coming off a fourth-place all-around Regional finish (36.775) that included a second on beam (9.5) and tie for third on floor (9.4).
Division 2
Reese Beauleaux, Adrian junior: She edged Livonia Stevenson’s Leah Ciavaglia by five hundredths of a point to win their Regional all-around last week with a 34.925, paced by a second place on floor.
Avi Einfeld, Rockford senior: She finished 15th all-around at last year’s Final with two top-nine (with ties) apparatus placings, and she was a Regional all-around runner-up last week (36.000) with a shared championship on vault (9.4) and second place on floor.
Lillian Green, Rockford sophomore: She finished third all-around at her Regional last week (35.850) thanks in part to a second place on beam.
Sydnee Schrauben, Rockford senior: She placed fourth at her Regional last week with a 35.800, just two tenths of a point out of second and with a championship on bars (8.85).
Kate Tracey, Rockford senior: The returning Division 2 Final champion on beam will compete this time coming off a Regional all-around title, as she scored 36.650 last week with a win on beam (9.7) and third place on bars.
Morgan Thomas, Fowlerville/Pinckney/Morrice/Webberville senior: She won her Regional all-around title with a 35.925 that included championships on beam (9.35) and floor (9.525).
Lucy Tull, Grosse Pointe United senior: She placed 14th all-around at last year’s Final and second at her Regional last week with a 35.350 that included top-three (with ties) finishes on vault, beam and floor.
Sophia Yee, Farmington United senior: She improved from 16th all-around at the Final as a sophomore to fifth last season and is coming off a second-straight Regional title as she scored a 35.925 all-around with a win on beam (9.45) last week.
PHOTO Rockford’s Leah Koch competes on balance beam during last season’s MHSAA Team Final at Kenowa Hills. (Click for more from High School Sports Scene.)