Montrose Junior Named NFHS Network's Best
By
John Johnson
MHSAA Communications Director emeritus
April 26, 2017
Eric Vandefifer, a junior at Montrose High School, was named today the Best Student Broadcaster nationally in the NFHS Network School Broadcast Program Awards.
For the second straight year, James Kitts, the coordinator of the School Broadcast Program at Montrose, was a finalist in the Teacher of the Year category.
Just last week, Montrose was named the “Program of the Year” in the MHSAA’s School Broadcast Program Excellence Awards for 2016-17, claiming the top honor for the fourth straight year. Montrose took first place in four categories.
Vandefifer also was honored recently by the Michigan Interscholastic Press Association as the top Student Broadcaster in Division 3. Vandefifer and his broadcast partner David Sackrider placed second in the Play-By-Play Category in the MHSAA SBP awards and first in the Michigan Association of Broadcasters Foundation Sports Announcing Team category this year.
In its eighth year, the School Broadcast Program gives members an opportunity to showcase excellence in their schools by creating video programming of athletic and non-athletic events, with students gaining skills in announcing, camera operation, directing/producing and graphics.
The program also gives schools the opportunity to raise money through advertising and viewing subscriptions.
All sporting events – live or delayed – are available on a subscription basis only for their first 72 hours online. They become available for free, on-demand viewing approximately 72 hours following their completion.
Here’s this week’s MHSAA.tv schedule of live video streams being produced by SBP members (All times Eastern):
Wednesday, April 26
- JV Softball – Onaway at Rogers City, 4 p.m.
- JV Softball – Onaway at Rogers City, 5:30 p.m.
Thursday, April 27
- Girls Soccer – Lake Fenton at Montrose, 4 p.m.
- Baseball – Rudyard at Rogers City, 4 p.m.
- Softball – Lake Linden-Hubbell at Calumet, 4 p.m.
- Softball – Troy Athens at Lake Orion, 4:30 p.m.
- Baseball – Rudyard at Rogers City, 5:30 p.m.
- Softball – Lake Linden-Hubbell at Calumet, 6 p.m.
- Boys Lacrosse – Holt at East Lansing, 7 p.m. (On Demand)
Monday, May 1
- Baseball – Mt. Morris at Montrose, 4 p.m.
- Softball – Baraga at Calumet, 4 p.m.
- Softball – Baraga at Calumet, 6 p.m.
- Girls Soccer – Clarkston at Lake Orion, 7 p.m.
Tuesday, May 2
- Baseball – L’Anse at Calumet, 4 p.m.
- JV Softball – Oscoda at Rogers City, 4 p.m.
- JV Softball – Oscoda at Rogers City, 5:30 p.m.
- Baseball – L’Anse at Calumet, 6 p.m.
- Girls Soccer – Montrose at Corunna, 7 p.m.
Be sure to check the Upcoming Events page at MHSAA.tv for schedule additions every day.
The NFHS Network has announced new pricing for 2016-17, eliminating the Day Pass and lowering the cost of a Month Pass to $9.95. Subscribers will have access to all live video and streaming statistics across the country. All content becomes available for free, on-demand viewing 72 hours after being shown live. A portion of every subscription sold by a school goes to benefit its program.
A complete list of participating schools can be found on the School Broadcast Program page of the MHSAA website.
PHOTO: Montrose's Eric Vandefifer (left) and Conner Pyrc call an MHSAA Girls Soccer Semifinal last season for the NFHS Network. (Photo courtesy of Montrose High School digital media.)
MHSAA TV Returns to the Mats
March 2, 2016
By John Johnson
MHSAA Communications Director
Most of the MHSAA Championship action on MHSAA.tv in the coming week can be found on the mat, with nearly 300 hours of live streaming video in Girls Competitive Cheer and Individual Wrestling, plus Student Broadcast Program-produced coverage of Basketball Districts.
Live streaming this week begins at 2 p.m. on Thursday (March 3) from The Palace of Auburn Hills at the Individual Wrestling Finals. A dedicated camera will be on each of 12 mats on the floor, and include full graphics to indicate the participants on each match, plus full in-progress scoring information via Trackwrestling.
Here’s the complete wrestling coverage schedule:
· Thursday – First Round – 2 p.m.
· Friday – Rounds 2-3-4 – 8:30 a.m. - Round 2 at 8:30 a.m. is the first Consolation round. Round 3 at about 10:30 a.m. is the second round in the Championship bracket. Round 4 at about 1:30 p.m. is the second round in the Consolation bracket.
· Friday – Semifinal Round – 7 p.m.
· Saturday – Rounds 6-7-8 – 8:30 a.m. - Round 6 at 8:30 a.m. is the third Consolation round. Round 7 at about 9:45 a.m. is the fourth Consolation Round. Round 8 at about 11 a.m. is the final round in the Consolation bracket.
· Saturday – Final Round & Awards Presentations – 4:45 p.m.
Girls Competitive Cheer coverage begins Friday (March 4) from The DeltaPlex in Grand Rapids. Here’s the complete schedule
· Friday – Division 1 – 6 p.m. (East Kentwood, Grandville, Hudsonville, Lake Orion, Livonia Stevenson, Rochester, Southgate Anderson, Sterling Heights Stevenson, Troy Athens)
· Saturday – Division 2 – 10 a.m. (Allen Park, Dearborn Divine Child, DeWitt, Gibraltar Carlson, Grand Rapids Kenowa Hills, Muskegon Mona Shores, Richland Gull Lake, Trenton)
· Saturday - Division 4 – 2 p.m. (Breckenridge, Farwell, Houghton Lake, Hudson, Merrill, Michigan Center, Pewamo-Westphalia, Sanford Meridian)
· Saturday - Division 3 – 6 p.m. (Comstock Park, Escanaba, Lake Odessa Lakewood, Monroe Jefferson, Paw Paw, Pontiac Notre Dame Prep, Ovid-Elsie, Richmond)
The continued Wrestling and full Cheer coverage is part of six straight weekends of live MHSAA Championship coverage on MHSAA.tv. Online viewers can catch every weekend of action for one low cost of $14.95.
A Month Pass on MHSAA.tv for $14.95 will give a viewer access to events over a 30-day period from the time it is purchased. Over the next three weekends of live Winter championship coverage, the following events will be featured:
- Girls Basketball Districts – March 2-4
- Boys Basketball Districts – March 7-9-11
- Girls Basketball Regionals – March 8-10
- Ice Hockey Semifinals & Finals – March 10-12
- Girls Gymnastics Finals – March 11-12
- Lower Peninsula Boys Swimming & Diving Finals – March 12
- Boys Basketball Regionals – March 14-16
- Girls Basketball Quarterfinals – March 15
- Girls Basketball Semifinals – March 17-18
- Boys Basketball Semifinals – March 22
- Boys Basketball Semifinals – March 24-25
A Day Pass is available for $9.95. All events become available for free, on-demand viewing approximately 72 hours following their completion.
The School Broadcast Program gives members an opportunity to showcase excellence in their schools by creating video programming of athletic and non-athletic events with students gaining skills in announcing, camera operation, directing/producing and graphics. The program also gives schools the opportunity to raise money through advertising and viewing subscriptions.
Upcoming MHSAA Tournament coverage by SBP members includes a Girls Basketball District at Mt. Pleasant which could have a rubber match in its Final on Friday between Saginaw Heritage and Midland Dow, two top five teams in Class A which split their regular-season meetings. At Laingsburg, the three teams that tied for the regular-season title in the Central Michigan Athletic Conference are in the Semifinals, with Bath and Laingsburg squaring off, and Pewamo-Westphalia on the other side of the bracket.
Here’s the schedule of events School Broadcast Program members plan to cover this week for broadcast on MHSAA.tv (As of March 1):
March 2
- Class C Girls Basketball District Semifinals at Laingsburg
· Saranac v. Pewamo-Westphalia – 5:30 p.m. - LIVE
· Laingsburg v. Bath – 7 p.m. - LIVE
- Class A Girls Basketball District Semifinals at Mt. Pleasant
· Saginaw Heritage v. Bay City Western – 5:30 p.m. - LIVE
· Midland v. Midland Dow winner – 7:30 p.m. - LIVE
- Class D Girls Basketball District at Rogers City
· Onaway at Rogers City – 6 p.m. – LIVE
- Class A Girls Basketball District Semifinals at Lake Orion
· Waterford Mott at Lake Orion – 7 p.m. – LIVE
- Division 3 Ice Hockey Regional at Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood
· Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood v. Madison Heights Bishop Foley – 7:45 p.m. – LIVE
March 3
- Tawas Area at Alpena – JV Boys Basketball – 5:30 p.m. – LIVDE
- Whittemore-Prescott at Rogers City – JV Boys Basketball – 6 p.m. - On-Demand
- OAA Crossover at Lake Orion – Boys Basketball – 7 p.m. – LIVE
- Lansing Waverly at East Lansing – Boys Basketball – 7 p.m. – On-Demand
- Escanaba at Calumet – Boys Basketball – 7:20 p.m. – LIVE
- Whittemore-Prescott at Rogers City – Boys Basketball – 7:30 p.m. - LIVE
March 4
- Class A Girls Basketball Finals at Mt. Pleasant – 6:30 p.m. - LIVE
- Class C Girls Basketball District Finals at Laingsburg – 7 p.m. - LIVE
March 5
- Division 3 Ice Hockey Regional at Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood
· Teams TBA – 3:15 p.m. – LIVE
March 7
- Class A Boys Basketball District First Round at East Lansing
· East Lansing v. Lansing Waverly – 5 p.m. - LIVE
· Haslett v. Grand Ledge – 7:30 p.m. – LIVE
March 8
- Class A Girls Basketball Regional Semifinals at Mason - 6 & 7:30 p.m. - LIVE
- Class A Girls Basketball Regional Semifinals at Hudsonville - 6 & 8 p.m. - LIVE
Schools interested in becoming a part of the School Broadcast Program should contact John Johnson at the MHSAA Office.