Get Prepped for a Fantastic Finale
May 24, 2013
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
We love this time of year. And not just because school is nearly out for summer.
There’s little argument that the week ahead is the most exciting of each MHSAA school year. And you’ll want to set your bookmarks for MHSAA.com and Second Half for updated results and coverage not just next week – but through the rest of this spring season.
The MHSAA.com Score Center is our home for scores from all District softball, baseball and soccer games, which begin Tuesday. You also can view real-time brackets for every District by going to the “Sports” page for each, and updated brackets for lacrosse by visiting our girls and boys pages for that sport as well.
In the Lower Peninsula, we’ll have same day or next morning results as golf Districts are played, and first-day results from next weekend’s Girls Tennis Finals on May 31 – followed by final results at the conclusion of play June 1. We’ll post Finals results for Upper Peninsula golf and tennis as we receive them Wednesday and Thursday, and then results for all seven Lower and Upper Peninsula Track and Field Finals as they come in June 1.
But results are only the start. As we have during the fall and winter, Second Half will provide coverage including photos from every MHSAA Final – beginning with Wednesday’s Upper Peninsula Girls and Boys Golf and Boys Tennis Finals. Keep an eye on Second Half throughout the week, or follow the Second Half feed on the cover page of MHSAA.com.
Transfer rule clarification
We released Monday the actions our Representative Council took earlier this month at its Spring Meeting, including an addition to the athletics-related portion of our transfer rule. Based on some questions we’ve received and read, here’s some further explanation of what will be installed for 2014-15:
The longer period of ineligibility for athletes who transfer because of athletics is not new. This has previously existed for cases in which a school could prove that it lost a student to another school purely for sports-related reasons.
What’s new is what must be proven and by whom for the longer ineligibility period to take effect. Now, a school that lost a student does not have to file a report with the MHSAA for the case to be considered. As long as one of a set of offending activities can be verified – including practicing, competing or training with a member of the new school’s coaching staff during summer or non-school sports activities or seasons – that student will have to sit 180 days instead of the usual period of roughly a semester. The 15 exemptions that allow a student to be eligible immediately – like making a full move to a new district or a student’s school closing – may still apply.
So, to conclude: The longer athletics-related ineligibility period is not new, just how athletics-related transfers are considered and reported. Click to read the full release.
Kickoff is coming
And that means we’re collecting varsity football schedules.
In fact, we have most of them thanks to our athletic directors, their secretaries, coaches and many others who chip in to help us keep complete and accurate information throughout the season.
But there are still plenty of steps in getting ready for August – and a huge one is locking down correct leagues for our teams this season, especially as schools continue to switch things up.
Check out your school’s schedule page by click on the “Schools” button in the menu bar at the top of MHSAA.com and searching for your school. Once on the school page, click the blue “Boys” button next to football. The schedule will appear in the middle of the page, with standings to the left.
See an error in a schedule or the standings? Email me at [email protected]. I thank you in advance.
Kramer’s words of wisdom
Long before Roy Kramer served as athletic director at Vanderbilt University, commissioner of the Southeastern Conference and creator of the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) for Division I college football, he coached multiple sports at East Lansing High School.
He recently was named winner of this year’s Duffy Daugherty Award, given in honor of the former Michigan State University coach to a valued coach or contributor to college football. The award, presented in East Lansing, is among those recognized by the College Football Hall of Fame.
Kramer finished his acceptance speech with a stirring endorsement of the sport that brought the crowd of more than 300 to its feet. If you’re a fan, former or current player or coach, see below.
PHOTO: Athletes race toward the finish of a relay during this spring's Alma College Invitational. (Click to see more at HighSchoolsSportsScene.com.)
Thankful for Move to Forward, De La Salle Record-Setter Looking Forward to 3-Peat Possibility
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
October 16, 2026
WARREN — There was no hesitation for Andrew Corder about whom he would make the recipient of this thank-you note.
Each Thanksgiving, students at Warren De La Salle Collegiate are asked to write a note to a teacher or coach at the school detailing why they are thankful for them and the positive influences they’ve had on their lives.
Last year, Corder, who is now a senior soccer standout at De La Salle, chose to write a note to longtime teacher and soccer coach Thaier Mukhtar, essentially thanking him for an impactful decision that was made when Corder was a freshman.
Throughout his club soccer days growing up, Corder primarily played as a defender/center back. But when he arrived at De La Salle, Mukhtar had other ideas and put him at forward.
“I think it said, ‘Thank you for everything you’ve done, or like, thank you for putting me at forward,’” Corder said of what was written in the note. “‘I wouldn’t be where I am today if you didn’t do that.’ Something like that.”
That decision certainly changed the course of Corder’s soccer career and the history books for De La Salle’s tradition-rich program.
The Pilots have had a lot of great players, but Corder has achieved statistics unmatched in program history.
Last year, Corder broke the single-season goals record when he netted 38, overtaking the previous set by Brady O’Toole (31) in 1987.
Earlier this year, Corder also surpassed O’Toole (who scored 74 career goals) as the school’s all-time goal-scoring leader, and Corder also became the program’s all-time points leader.
To achieve the latter, Corder surpassed De La Salle legend Brian Maisonneuve, the Mr. Soccer Award winner in 1990 who went on at Indiana to win the Hermann Trophy as the nation’s top college soccer player before an extensive career with the Columbus Crew.
Maisonneuve, who had 104 career points at De La Salle, is currently the men’s soccer head coach at Ohio State and is showing interest in Corder as a college prospect.
“It means a lot, and I’m grateful,” said Corder, who had a goal and three assists in a Division 2 District game Thursday against St. Clair to run his career total to 90 goals, 19 of which have come this year despite constant double and triple teams.
Mukhtar said the big motivation for putting Corder at forward when he was a freshman was De La Salle had been decimated by graduation losses heading into that season, and putting Corder up top gave the team its best chance to win.
Admittedly, Mukhtar is a hard coach to please – and he has made it a point to push Corder equally as hard as everyone else on the roster.
However, it speaks to what Corder’s done that he not only has embraced that type of coaching but has earned such high praise from Mukhtar.
“Andrew is the most explosive and dynamic offensive player I’ve coached in my 43-year career,” Mukhtar said.
There also hasn’t been anything cheap about Corder’s stats. De La Salle always plays a tough schedule including several bigger schools that often are ranked, so he’s not simply feasting on inferior competition.
“We’re fortunate that when you have someone like that, it doesn’t matter who you play, you can always find a way to win the game because of his ability to lift a team offensively,” Mukhtar said.
Corder could also pass as a great historian for the De La Salle program, given his father played there and was part of two Class A championship teams during the 1990s, and Andrew grew up attending camps at the school.
There is plenty of motivation in the coming weeks for Corder to be a part of a third-straight Division 2 championship team at De La Salle. One, it would mean he wins one more Finals title than his father did. Two, De La Salle would become the first Division 1 or Division 2 program to win three straight Finals championships.
“Coach says it all the time and tries to motivate us,” Corder said.
Keith Dunlap has served in Detroit-area sports media for more than two decades, including as a sportswriter at the Oakland Press from 2001-16 primarily covering high school sports but also college and professional teams. His bylines also have appeared in USA Today, the Washington Post, the Detroit Free Press, the Houston Chronicle and the Boston Globe. He served as the administrator for the Oakland Activities Association’s website from 2017-2020. Contact him at [email protected] with story ideas for Oakland, Macomb and Wayne counties.
PHOTOS (Top) De La Salle’s Andrew Corder (14) makes a break toward the goal during last season’s Division 2 championship win over Hudsonville Unity Christian. (Middle) Corder wears his championship medal.