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: MIS Could Play Host to Champions 1st-Time, Repeat and 3-Peat
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
November 1, 2024
Two reigning team champions are anticipated to celebrate again at this weekend’s Lower Peninsula Boys Cross Country Finals at Michigan International Speedway – but joined as well by a potential first-timer and first-time-in-a-long-time winner.
Northville is running for a third-straight championship in Division 1, and Traverse City St. Francis a repeat in Division 3, and both are ranked No. 1 in their respective divisions this week. In Division 4, Mason County Eastern is No. 1 and seeking its first Finals team title. In Division 2, top-ranked Allendale will run for its first this century.
See below for more on several team and individual contenders Saturday. The "season bests" list referred to frequently is a ranking list of every runner's best time this season, maintained by Athletic.net. The first boys race, in Division 4, begins at 9:30 a.m.; click here for the full schedule and ticket information.
Additionally, all eight races Saturday at MIS will be streamed live and viewable with subscription on the NFHS Network: Divisions 1 & 2 | Divisions 3 & 4.
Division 1
Reigning champion: Northville
2023 runner-up: Brighton
2024 top-ranked: 1. Northville, 2. Jenison, 3. Brighton.
Northville is anticipated to run its championship streak to three with five runners from last season’s Finals lineup back and all among the top eight during their Regional championship run last weekend. But once again, the Kensington Lakes Activities Association party doesn’t stop there, as Brighton is looking to add to its recent titles in 2019 and 2021 and brings back four runners from last year’s third-place team; the Bulldogs placed five among the top 14 at their Regional win. Jenison won its Regional on a tie-breaker ahead of No. 4 Grand Haven and will push to move up from seventh last year, when the lineup will filled with all juniors and one sophomore. Six of those seven runners will be back this weekend.
Individuals: Only four of the top 15 individual placers last season didn’t graduate, and fourth-place Kamari Ronfeldt of Ann Arbor Pioneer is the top returning finisher and has the fastest top time in Division 1 this fall at 15:02.3, just more than a second ahead of Jenison’s Seth Conner who placed fifth at the 2023 Final. Milford junior Kyle O’Rourke was 10th last fall and Northville senior Ethan Powell 13th; O’Rourke is third on this season’s top times list and won his Regional last weekend. Also winning Regionals were Conner, Okemos junior Ian Morgan, Kalamazoo Loy Norrix junior Jackson Lam, Howell sophomore Jack MacGregor, Canton junior Aiden Pengelly, Oxford senior James Cusick, Utica junior Harper Wesley and Pioneer junior Beckett Crooks just more than two seconds ahead of Ronfeldt.
Division 2
Reigning champion: Ada Forest Hills Eastern
2023 runner-up: Pinckney
2024 top-ranked: 1. Allendale, 2. Grand Rapids Christian, 3. Holland Christian.
West Michigan dominates the top of the rankings in Division 2 with East Grand Rapids also No. 4 and Forest Hills Eastern No. 5 this week. Allendale is seeking its first championship since 1999 in Class C, Grand Rapids Christian its first since 2014 and Holland Christian its first ever to go with a runner-up finish in 1999 in Class B. Allendale did finish fourth at last year’s Final with only one senior and placed the top six from 2023 among the top 11 during last weekend’s Regional win, when Holland Christian ran second. Grand Rapids Christian also won its Regional by three points ahead of EGR and six in front of FHE. The Eagles placed sixth last season at the Final and have three runners back. Holland Christian is looking to move up from 18th a year ago, when it ran without a senior. The Maroons have five this time.
Individuals: T.J. Hansen’s winning 14:52.8 last season is tied for the seventh-fastest 5K time in Finals history, and the Freeland senior has the fastest time in the state this season at 14:41.5. The second-fastest top time also belongs to a Division 2 runner, as Marshall senior Jack Bidwell posted a 14:56 at a different course but on the same day as Hansen’s 14:41. Bidwell placed fourth at last season’s Final. Forest Hills Eastern senior Henry Dixon (sixth), Dearborn Divine Child senior Colin Murray (ninth) and Allendale junior Ronnie Silveira (14th) were the only other non-seniors in last year’s top 15. Dixon, Bidwell, Hansen and Murray won Regionals last weekend, joined by Gladwin senior Elijah Christensen, Allendale sophomore Mason Hill, Parma Western junior Edison Lopeman, Macomb Lutheran North sophomore Joshua Macri and New Boston Huron junior Moises Salazar.
Division 3
Reigning champion: Traverse City St. Francis
2023 runner-up: St. Louis
2024 top-ranked: 1. Traverse City St. Francis, 2. Jackson Lumen Christi, 3. Ithaca.
St. Francis’ championship last season came with just one senior in the lineup, and five of six juniors on that team were among the top eight as the Gladiators won their Regional last weekend ahead of No. 5 Charlevoix. Lumen Christi is seeking to move up from 12th last season and win its first Finals title since 2012, paced in part by senior Leo Swager, who finished 12th last season while running for St. Francis. An Ithaca championship would be its first since 1948 in Class D, and the Yellowjackets finished 11th last season without a senior and only two juniors. Six of those seven runners will be back at MIS this weekend.
Individuals: Although last year’s winner graduated, Reed City senior August Rohde finished second and has the third-fastest top time in all divisions this fall at 14:58.7. Onsted senior Mitchell Hiatt was sixth last season, Central Montcalm junior Gage Hoffman eighth, and St. Louis senior Landon Pestrue 10th. Rohde, Hiatt and Hoffman are coming off Regional championships, as are St. Francis senior Josh Slocum, Muskegon Western Michigan Christian senior Matthias Morse, Watervliet senior Daniel Mandujano, Ithaca junior Landen Styka, Rochester Hills Lutheran Northwest freshman Nole Lorenzen and Flat Rock junior Jacob Stanislawski.
Division 4
Reigning champion: Hillsdale Academy
2023 runner-up: Holland Calvary
2024 top-ranked: 1. Mason County Eastern, 2. Hillsdale Academy, 3. Holland Calvary.
Hillsdale Academy’s championship last season was its second in three seasons, and Calvary’s runner-up finish was its highest in program history – and both are expected to be in the mix again. But Mason County Eastern – eighth a year ago – may be the team to chase this time. MCE is seeking its first top-two Finals finish and won last weekend’s Regional on a tie-breaker ahead of No. 5 Maple City Glen Lake, but with four of the top 14 finishers including three who were among the Cardinals’ top five a year ago. Hillsdale Academy placed the top five and seven of the top eight in its Regional win, and five of those runners were in the lineup a year ago, and Holland Calvary won its Regional with all seven runners among the top 17 including six who competed at last year’s Final as freshmen.
Individuals: Royal Oak Shrine Catholic junior Abenezer Cerone is the highest-returning placer from a year ago after finishing third, and he’s tied for the third-fastest top time in this division this fall. Kalamazoo Hackett Catholic Prep junior Marek Butkiewicz has the fastest by nearly 26 seconds at 15:11.8 after finishing sixth in 2023. Hillsdale Academy senior Reece Poole also is back after his fifth-place Finals finish last season, while Mesick sophomore Kyle Redman was seventh and Glen Lake senior Colebrook Sutherland ninth – and Dansville senior Theodore Davis ninth in Division 3. Butkiewicz, Davis and Cerone won Regionals last week, joined by Harbor Beach junior Brody Karg, Hillsdale Academy junior Grayson Rorick, White Cloud senior Coleson Cruzan, Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart sophomore Wesley Chaffee, Mason County Eastern senior Alex Tyndall and Petoskey St. Michael freshman Cody Bradley. Tyndall has the second-fastest top time in Division 4 this season at 15:37.2.
PHOTO Several runners, including Grand Rapids Christian’s Simon Triezenberg (514), run the Division 2 race Sept. 28 at the Otsego Invitational. (Photo by Gary Shook.)