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.)
Dunfield Climbing Fenton's Record Board, Rankings of State's Distance Elite
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
October 1, 2025
Breaking the record of a program legend was an emotional moment for Katie Dunfield.
The Fenton junior had long looked up to Gracie Olsen, a six-time MHSAA Finals champion, so knocking her name off the school record board for the 500-yard freestyle was something she did not take for granted.
At the same time, it served as further motivation.
“I guess it just put into perspective that I know I can do it now,” Dunfield said. “Not that I’m going to settle. Now that I see my name on the board, I have to do whatever I can to post faster times so my name can be up there for longer. I’m less than a second off the pool record (in the 200 freestyle), so that’s my next goal – to get up there for that pool record.”
Dunfield has swum some of the fastest times in the state this year in the 200 and 500 as she moves toward becoming the next Fenton swimming superstar.
Her time of 4 minutes, 58.41 seconds at the Genesee County Invitational broke Olsen’s pool and program records. She also swam 1:51.22 in the 200, which broke Olsen’s meet record.
Both of those times are the fastest in Division 2 this year, and only West Bloomfield’s Elizabeth Eichbrecht – who has won Division 1 titles in those events each of the past three years – is ahead of her statewide.
“I completely and utterly surprised myself,” Dunfield said. “I don’t know what happened, actually. We didn’t taper at all. I remember going into that meet, I just wanted to win. When I look at that board and see what I posted, that’s not just me, that’s my team giving me the energy and confidence that I could do it.”
While the quickness with which she hit the marks may have been a surprise, the fact Dunfield is putting herself among the state’s best is not.
She placed eighth in the 200 freestyle at the Division 2 Finals as a freshman, and has won multiple state titles as a club swimmer, including a Michigan Age Group Championships championship when she was 14.
“Having coached Katie and been involved with Katie since she was 8 years old, I’ve always kind of known or suspected what Katie is capable of,” Fenton coach Brad Jones said. “She’s training right now to pretty much surpass all the things we thought were possible. Katie is just, physically, incredibly strong. She has the mentality that we had with Grace, that we had with Tess (Heavner), where Katie doesn’t like to lose. Whether it’s practice, a meet – big meet, little meet, best event, worst event – she’s a competitor. Those are the kids that usually end up setting themselves apart.”
Dunfield came into the season with the goal of swimming 4:58 in the 500 and 1:51 in the 200. She’s adjusted those now, in light of her recent performance, but it’s hard to tell how low to go.
“That’s the scary question,” Jones said. “We are training really hard right now. We didn’t rest for the county meet, so for here to get in on one day rest and hit times like that, we’re very excited. I hate to put limits on anybody, and the way she’s training right now, she definitely can end up near the top of the state in the (200 and 500 freestyle). There’s a really talented junior class right now across the state. It’s going to be fun to watch her at the end of the season when she has to race.”
For now, Dunfield is racing herself in those events, with which she’s OK.
“I’m very good at racing myself,” she said. “I can tell how fast I am based on the strokes I’m taking. I’ve been swimming for 11 years, so it’s kind of something that I’ve adapted to. Me and Jones have really been working this year on stroke counting. He’s started doing a thing where he won’t tell me what my time is, but he asks me what I think it was. I used to be way off, but I’ve gotten pretty good at it.”
That’s just a piece of the mental training Dunfield is incorporating into her physical training this fall.
“I know that I’m so close to staying at the top, so every single practice when I talk to my coach he explains why I’m doing this to get better, and that it doesn’t matter if it hurts, it doesn’t matter if I fail, because if I fail, I get better,” Dunfield said. “That’s made it easier on me, mentally, because I’m not feeling the pressure that I need to do everything perfect.”
As she works toward those new time goals, Dunfield is also taking her time working through the college recruiting process. She said she’s not in a hurry to make a commitment, but schools have been in contact, and she’s contacted some others.
She’s also preparing for the Lower Peninsula Division 2 Finals on Nov. 21 and 22 at Eastern Michigan University. While she’s currently the division’s fastest swimmer in the 200 and 500 freestyle, in her way are Ann Arbor Skyline’s Adrienne Schadler and Farmington Hills Mercy’s Ella Hafner, who finished first and second, respectively, in both events last year.
“I want to get top three,” Dunfield said. “I want to be more successful than I was freshman year. I got eighth, which is good for a freshman, but I want to be able to get higher. I want either second or third in the 500 or 200. First place would be amazing, but I like to be realistic with myself. I know I can finish in the top three.”
Paul Costanzo served as a sportswriter at The Port Huron Times Herald from 2006-15, including three years as lead sportswriter, and prior to that as sports editor at the Hillsdale Daily News from 2005-06. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Genesee, Lapeer, St. Clair, Sanilac, Huron, Tuscola, Saginaw, Bay, Arenac, Midland and Gladwin counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Fenton’s Katie Dunfield takes a photo with her addition to her school’s swim record board. (Middle) Dunfield holds up her medal after being announced as winner of the 200 freestyle at the Genesee County Invitational. (Photos courtesy of Katie Dunfield.)