Montrose To Receive Excellence Awards

By John Johnson
MHSAA Communications Director emeritus

September 16, 2015

Montrose High School, the MHSAA School Broadcast Program of the Year for the 2014-15 school year, will be honored at halftime of the Durand at Montrose football game on Friday. Kickoff is at 7 p.m.

Montrose has won the Program of the Year honor in each of the first two years the MHSAA, in partnership with Herff Jones, has sponsored the School Broadcast Program Excellence Awards. In addition to repeating as the top school in the program, Montrose captured first place honors in three of the five individual categories.

Montrose took first place in Best Play-By-Play (Eric Vandefifer, Trey Schmitz  – Boys Basketball game vs. Lake Fenton), Best Single Camera Production with PlayOn! Sports graphics (Trey Schmitz, Andrew Morley, Eric Vandefifer – Girls Soccer match vs. Hemlock), and the top two spots for Best Use of PlayOn! Sports Graphics (Eric Vandefifer, Trey Schmitz, Andrew Morley, Griffin Powell, Bradley Payne – Boys Basketball game vs. Goodrich; and Eric Vandefifer, Trey Schmitz, Andrew Morley – Girls Basketball game vs. Lake Fenton). The program also took a second place for Best Produced Commercial/Feature (Alyssa Bernard, Amanda Ramsey, Alicia Town, Allia Town – Sexual Assault PSA) and a third for Best Multicamera Production (Trey Schmitz, Andrew Morley, Amanda Ramsey, Nathan Brown, Eric Vandefifer, Brandon Smith – Genesee Area Conference Girls Competitive Cheer Finals). 

The presentation will be shown live on MHSAA.tv as one of a number of live events being streamed online this year by School Broadcast Program members.

In its seventh 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 the schedule of School Broadcast Program members planning to stream competition this week for broadcast at MHSAA.tv  (As of Sept. 14):

The SBP programming schedule is expected to expand now that school is in session across the state. A complete list of participating schools can be found on the School Broadcast Program page of the MHSAA website.

Schools interested in becoming a part of the School Broadcast Program should contact John Johnson at the MHSAA Office.

This week's MHSAA.tv highlights package includes clips from the South Haven/Plainwell and Lake Fenton/Montrose football games and Chassell/Calumet volleyball match.

Highlight Reel: Boys & Girls Lacrosse Finals

June 11, 2016

By John Johnson
MHSAA Communications Director

Three teams maintained their winning ways at the MHSAA Lacrosse Finals on June 11, as Birmingham Brother Rice, East Grand Rapids and Rockford all successfully defended their titles in games played in Brighton and Howell.

Below are links to video highlights from Saturday’s games. Click on the final scores to watch games in their entirety and purchase DVDs.

Boys Finals

Division 1: Birmingham Brother Rice 10, Detroit Catholic Central 8

Great Scott - Birmingham Brother Rice and Detroit Catholic Central traded goals for most of the first half of the Division 1 Final, but Brother Rice took a 5-4 halftime lead on a goal off a restart by Ryan Scott.

Shamrocks Keep It Close - Detroit Catholic Central pulls closer in the fourth period against Brother Rice on this goal from Brennan Kamish.

Division 2: Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central 10, East Grand Rapids 6

Hallock Hammers It - Tanner Hallock of Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central scored the first two goals of the Division 2 championship game against East Grand Rapids, the first coming on this blast with 8:31 remaining in the first period.

Pretty Play For Pioneers - In transition, East Grand Rapids gets its first goal against Forest Hills Central. Ben Keller finishes the play.

Girls Finals

Division 1: Rockford 12, Birmingham United 9

Stachler Steals One - Birmingham United jumped out to a 4-0 lead on Rockford midway through the first half of the Division 1 title game. The fourth goal came when Jena Bazil steals the ball from Rockford's goalkeeper, and Anna Stachler converts on the turnover.

Mac Attack - Rockford scored the last four goals of the game against Birmingham United; the second off a restart by Mekenzie Vander Molen proved to be the game winner.

Houle Stones Waechter - In the final minute of the Division 1 Final, Birmingham United's Abbie Waechter breaks loose for a 1 v. 1 on Rockford goalie Briana Houle, who makes the big save to preserve the lead.

Division 2: East Grand Rapids 13, Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood 11 

Cranes Start Hot - Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood started off the Division 2 Final against East Grand Rapids with three unanswered goals in less than four minutes. Here's some nifty work by Isabelle Scane on the second goal.

Elliott to Duca - East Grand Rapids opened up a six-goal lead in the second half. The goal that proved to be the game winner came from Auden Elliott with the assist by Lindsay Duca, who had eight assists on the day, one short of a Finals game record.

PHOTO: Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood and East Grand Rapids face off during the Division 2 girls championship game.