Montrose Wins Top MHSAA/SBP Award

May 11, 2016

By John Johnson
MHSAA Communications Director

Make it three in row for Montrose High School, which was selected as the “Program of the Year” in the third annual MHSAA School Broadcast Program Excellence Awards for 2015-16.

The SBP Excellence Awards will award certificates and plaques to the schools which took individual honors, with the presentation dates and times to be announced.

Montrose took first place in Best Student Play-By-Play and the top two spots for Best Produced Commercial/Feature. The program also took a second place for Best Use of PlayOn! Sports Graphics.

Montrose also demonstrated during the year a good blend of productions in a variety of sports covered, the ability to cover home and away events and an overall command of the PlayOn! Sports software used for graphics and inserting commercials/features during the course of productions.

Other category winners were:  Cedar Springs High School for Best Multicamera Production and Best Single Camera Production with PlayOn! Graphics and Haslett High School for Best Use of PlayOn! Graphics. 

Here is the complete list by categories of the schools and students being honored in this year’s SBP Excellence Awards:

Best Multicamera Production

First Place – Cedar Springs – Ethan Lewis, John Grigsby, Leah Carter, Kelly Salmon – Football game v. Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern.

Second Place – Haslett – Conor Clifford, Torsten Holland, Alex Riley, Dylan Wolschleger, Brennan Simzak, Altair Boonraksa, Jacob Johnston, Nathan Glaza, Thomas Ashley – Girls Basketball game v. Mason.

Third Place – Montrose – Eric Vandefifer, Conner Pyrc, Jared Adams, Mandy Ramsey, John Blackford – Boys Basketball game v. Saginaw Arts & Sciences Academy.

Best Play-By-Play

First Place – Montrose – Eric Vandefifer and Conner Pyrc – Boys Basketball game v. Goodrich.

Second Place – Haslett – Conor Clifford and Torsten Holland – Girls Basketball game v. Mason.

Third Place – Cedar Springs - Jonathan Wolfarth and Jalen Jackson – Football game v. Wyoming.

Best Produced Commercial/Feature

First Place – Montrose – Eric Vandefifer, Conner Pyrc, Jared Adams, Mandy Rasmey, John Blackford – Ford Field Trip Feature.

Second Place – Montrose – Amanda Ramsey, Jared Adams, Alyssa Bernard, –  RAINN Sexual Assault PSA.

Best Single Camera Production with PlayOn! Graphics

First Place – Cedar Springs - Alex Tanis, Alex Robinson, Jonathan Wolfarth, Ethan Lewis – MHSAA Football Playoff – Muskegon at Muskegon Mona Shores.

Second Place – Haslett – Tyler Goldberg and Jonah Brown – MHSAA Football Playoff – Romeo v. Grand Ledge.

Third Place – Cedar Springs – Alex Tanis, Alex Robinson, Jonathan Wolfarth, Ethan Lewis – MHSAA Football Playoff – Lansing Catholic v. Grand Rapids West Catholic.

Best Use of PlayOn! Graphics/Software

First Place – Haslett – Dylan Wolschleger, Brennan Simzak, Jacob Johnston, Conor Clifford, Reece Huberts, Henrik Holland, David Weston – Girls Basketball game v. St. Johns.

Second Place – Montrose – Eric Vadnefifer, Conner Pyrc, Jared Adams, Mandy Ramsey, John Blackford – Boys Basketball game v. Saginaw Arts & Sciences Academy.

Third Place – Montrose - Peyton Hobson, John Blackford, Conner Pyrc – Boys Basketball game v. Corunna.

Michigan schools were represented recently when the NFHS Network announced its SBP awards for the 2015-16 school year on April 28. Jamie Kitts of Montrose High School was one of three finalists for the Best Teacher honor, and Rockford High School had a finalist for Highlight of the Year, a 65-yard touchdown run by quarterback Tyler Bradfield against Grandville.

The School Broadcast Program, powered by PlayOn! Sports, is a platform which schools can utilize to reach members of their communities about activities taking place in their buildings, providing recognition for students while at the same time giving them hands-on opportunities to gain broadcasting experience and providing schools an opportunity to realize additional revenues for their programs. Schools interested in becoming a part of the School Broadcast Program should contact John Johnson at the MHSAA Office.

Highlight Reel: Girls & Boys Lacrosse Finals

June 6, 2015

By John Johnson
MHSAA communications director

The boys and girls lacrosse seasons came to a close Saturday with four MHSAA Finals. 

Below are video highlights from each from MHSAA.tv broadcasts.

Division 1 Girls: Rockford 10, Bloomfield Hills Marian 9

Fisher Knocking On The Door Bloomfield Hills Marian gets on the board first on a pretty pass to Claire Fisher who is camped out on the doorstep of the goal. Rockford would eventually prevail in this Division 1 championship game, 10-9. 

Rams Rip Off Eight Straight Rockford responded to the first Marian goal with eight in a row. Here's the last goal in the bunch, when Alex Vandermolen takes the feed straight to the net.

Mustangs Bounce Back Bloomfield Hills Marian ended the Rockford run with three goals of its own later in the half. Michaella Renaud goes up high to score.

Vandermolen All The Way Off The Draw Bloomfield Hills Marian battled back to within two goals at 9-7, then Rockford's Alex Vandermolen won the ensuing draw and took it all the way in for a goal which proved to be the game winner.

Katie Comes Up Huge We don't often show goalie saves, but here's a big one late in the game by Rockford's Katie Elwell. Elwell stoned Bloomfield Hills Marian's Caroline Forester on a restart to preserve a two-goal lead. 

Forester Bounces Back Caroline Forester got another chance on a restart a couple of minutes later to score for Marian. It would be the last goal of the game.

Watch the entire game and order DVDs by Clicking Here.

Boys Division 1: Birmingham Brother Rice 16, Detroit Catholic Central 6

Rocco Rolls Detroit Catholic Central scored first against Birmingham Brother Rice in the Division 1 title game when Rocco Mularoni wheels from the back of the net to score.

Lockwood On The Run John Lockwood scoops up a long clearing pass in front of the bench and motors to the goal for Birmingham Brother Rice. Lockwood's goal was part of a six-goal run for the Warriors in the first quarter.

Baker Ends The Run Justin Baker of Detroit Catholic Central ended an eight-goal run by Brother Rice early in the second quarter with this tally. 

Pickens In Transition Late in the first half, Brother Rice got a pair of quick goals to expand its lead. The first came in transition when Scott Pickens is left free to shoot and score.

Macko Makes It Here's the second goal for Brother Rice in the closing moments of the Division 1 Final against Detroit Catholic Central. Morgan Macko takes the pass and blasts it into the upper corner of the net.

First Third Period Goal For Rice Brother Rice works the transition game to perfection off the Catholic Central shot, working the ball downfield quickly for another Morgan Macko goal. 

Watch the entire game and order DVDs by Clicking Here

Girls Division 2: East Grand Rapids 19, Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood 6

Elder Statement Liza Elder of East Grand Rapids makes it look easy for her team's first goal of the game, taking a restart pass and scoring. 

Cranbrook Ties It Up Cranbrook Kingswood ties the game with East Grand Rapids at 2-2, with Ari Vespa taking the pass and driving to the goal.

Duca's Double Lindsay Duca of East Grand Rapids scores her second goal of the game for the Pioneers late in the first half against Cranbrook Kingswood. It proved to be the game winner in East's 19-6 Division 2 title game victory. 

Scane Scores Cranbrook Kingswood gets off to a nice start in the second half, winning the opening draw with Isabella Scane scoring on a nice pass from Grace Giampetroni. 

Lexie Hits The Shot Lexie Duca circles around the goal and scores in the second half for East Grand Rapids against Cranbrook Kingswood. 

Watch the entire game and order DVDs by Clicking Here

Boys Division 2: Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood 10, Okemos 9

Sherman Ties The Game Okemos ties the game late in the first quarter at 2-2 when Bennett Sherman slices through the defense of Cranbrook Kingswood for a goal. 

Aikens Boosts The Halftime Lead Cranbrook Kingswood gets a late first half goal from Greg Aikens to take a 5-2 lead at halftime over Okemos.

Chiefs Force The Turnover - Tie The Game Okemos tied the game with 80 seconds to go after forcing a Cranbrook Kingswood turnover. In transition, Monty Frankfort gets the ball to Charlie Ciuk, who scored.

Johnny On The Spot For The Win! Like something out of the movie “Hoosiers,” Johnny Wagner of Cranbrook Kingswood runs the clock down before moving in to score the game-winning goal against Okemos with 10 seconds to go.

Last Chance For Chiefs Okemos had one last chance with 7 seconds to go, but the shot went wide and Cranbrook Kingswood held on.

Watch the entire game and order DVDs by Clicking Here.