MHSAA Historian Picks 10 to Remember
August 9, 2016
By Rob Kaminski
MHSAA benchmarks editor
It sounded simple and fun, the theme for the MHSAA's spring issue of benchmarks: a history of MHSAA tournaments.
It certainly was the latter, but simple? Not so much.
There’s no way to do justice to nearly a century’s worth of history in some sports. Complicating matters was the abundance of information and photographs for some, and the scant amount of detailed data and images for others.
MHSAA historian Ron Pesch was given an equally challenging task: recount a “Top 10” list from his days covering various MHSAA Finals. He shares them here and, he adds, they are in no order of favorites.
The Shot: 1986 Class B Boys Basketball Final at Crisler Arena – Saginaw Buena Vista’s Chris Coles’ desperation shot, launched at the buzzer from well beyond half court, dropped through the hoop to give the Knights a 33-32 win over defending champion Flint Beecher in a rematch of the 1985 Class B title game. The shot was Coles’ first of the second half and his only points in the contest.
The Smurfs: 1986 Class A Football Final at the Pontiac Silverdome – The "Smurfs" – Muskegon Coach Dave Taylor's nickname for his small, quick swarming defensive linemen – limited heavily favored Sterling Heights Stevenson to four yards rushing and 73 yards of total offense in a 10-0 win. As a 1979 graduate of Muskegon High School, I was elated.
The Drive: 1989 Class B Football Final at the Pontiac Silverdome – I slid down from the press box into the stands at the Silverdome for the end of this one. With 2:20 remaining, the atmosphere was simply electric, as Farmington Hills Harrison’s lauded quarterback Mill Coleman took the reins with his team down 27-21 to DeWitt. The senior executed a flawless two-minute drill, guiding his team to the DeWitt 9 before scampering into the end zone for the tying points. Steve Hill added his fourth PAT for the lead, then secured the victory with an interception on the next series.
King Kool: 2005 Class B Boys Basketball Final, Breslin Center, East Lansing – David Kool was a flawless 20 for 20 from the free-throw line and scored 43 points as Grand Rapids South Christian downed Muskegon Heights 67-60.
The Parade: 2004 Individual Wrestling Finals, The Palace of Auburn Hills – In 2004, I traveled to Auburn Hills to watch the MHSAA Individual Wrestling Finals for the first time. The pageantry of the Grand March, the skills on display, the roar of the massive crowd, and the ensuing beauty and chaos of a wrestling extravaganza of this scale is truly a sight to see.
A Marathon: 2007 Division 3 Football Final, Ford Field, Detroit – East Grand Rapids and Orchard Lake St. Mary’s ended regulation tied 14-14, and this would turn into a five overtime battle that required an extra hour of play. No previous football playoff game, from Districts up, had ever gone beyond four overtimes. After exchanging field goals, touchdowns, extra points and two-point conversions, East Grand Rapids emerged with a 46-39 victory.
Tawana Towers: 1994 Class A Girls Basketball Final at Kellogg Arena, Battle Creek – Flint Northern, coached by Leteia Hughley and led by 6-4 freshman Tawana McDonald, defeated 1993 runner-up Detroit Martin Luther King, 46-32, for the Class A championship. McDonald batted down an MHSAA-record 10 shots, pulled down 13 rebounds and added five points and seven assists in a stellar performance.
Never Quit: 2008 Division 2 Football Semifinal, Spartan Stadium, East Lansing – Unbeaten, No. 1-ranked and heavily favored Muskegon trailed Davison by 22 late in the third quarter and 16 with less than five minutes to play. In perhaps the greatest comeback in playoff history, Muskegon recovered two onside kicks and scored 19 points in the final 4:31 to escape with a 38-35 victory and its third trip in five years to an MHSAA Final.
MHSAA Legends: 1998-2008 – For 10 years, the MHSAA showcased great teams from the past with their Legends of the Game series. From a historian’s perspective it was a chance to meet and learn more about folks I had often known only from the pages of microfilm. It was quite the treat to see years fall away as coaches, team managers and players reunited, in many cases for the first time after decades apart.
The MHSAA Record Books: Online, 1994 – One of my first efforts as state historian was to expand the record books beyond their primary focus on football, basketball, track & field and swimming & diving. With the arrival of the internet, an enhanced version of the record books was brought online. Coaches and fans were quick to respond with letters and e-mails, happily listing entries that had been “missed.” Soon, five category headings in a sport grew to 20, then to 50 and beyond.
Kids: 2004 Football Finals, Pontiac Silverdome – (OK, this is No. 11 ... consider it an extra point). For the first time, my sons joined me for my annual excursion to Metro Detroit for a Thanksgiving Day football weekend. They got to see the Silverdome before the move of the MHSAA Football Finals to beautiful Ford Field. Future Big Reds, they also got to see their future alma mater win another title.
PHOTOS: (Top) An MHSAA boys basketball tournament game is played at Olympia Stadium in Detroit. (Middle) Flint Northern's Tawana McDonald blocks a shot during the 1994 Class A Final.
2026 MHSAA Bush Awards Honorees Exemplify Dedicated Service in Several Roles
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
June 30, 2026
Athletic administrators must balance multiple roles no matter the size of their school districts or numbers of sports they direct, and St. Ignace’s Don Gustafson, Brethren’s Jason Kemler, Grand Rapids’ Jolinda Lucas and Greenville’s Brian Zdanowski have thrived while shouldering wide-ranging responsibilities to provide first-rate athletic experiences for their students.
Their dedication to school sports and those athletes – both locally and statewide – made them clearly deserving recipients of 2026 Allen W. Bush Meritorious Service Awards as selected by the Michigan High School Athletic Association’s Representative Council.
Al Bush served as executive director of the MHSAA for 10 years. The award honors individuals for past and continuing service to school athletics as a coach, administrator, official, trainer, doctor or member of the media. The award was developed to bring recognition to people who are giving and serving locally, regionally or statewide without a lot of attention. This is the 35th year of the award.
Gustafson has taught at his alma mater St. Ignace since 1982 and continued even after retiring from administration in 2021. In addition to his classroom work, he served as assistant athletic director his first three years, then athletic director for four, as junior high principal from 1994-2005, high school principal from 2005-11 and superintendent for the next decade.
He’s also been an MHSAA-registered game official since 1978, working six Finals in football, one in basketball and numerous in cross country, in addition to several more postseason events during his time officiating seven sports. He was named to the Basketball Coaches Association of Michigan (BCAM) Hall of Honor in 2021 as an official and “Friend of Basketball.”
Gustafson served on the MHSAA Representative Council from 2015-21. The Michigan State University grad also has served on St. Ignace’s city council, taking time away only during his tenure as superintendent.
“Don Gustafson’s contributions to school sports span nearly half a century and have included everything from behind-the-scenes support to being considered one of the state’s top game officials and a valued voice on our Representative Council,” MHSAA Executive Director Mark Uyl said. “He has long been a knowledgeable and positive voice impacting not only the Upper Peninsula but our community statewide.”
Brethren High School athletic director Jason Kemler recently completed his 20th year with the Kaleva Norman Dickson school district, where he has hosted several MHSAA Tournament events in a variety of sports including Regionals in track & field both at the high school and middle school/junior high levels. He’s also served on multiple MHSAA committees including the Junior High/Middle School Committee.
Kemler has done extensive work as well as part of the Michigan Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association (MIAAA), serving as a regional representative, historical records chairperson and co-chair of the middle school/junior high committee, and also co-chair for the MIAAA’s 60th and 65th anniversary celebrations. He was named the MIAAA’s Region 3 Athletic Director of the Year in 2023.
Kemler is a graduate of Dansville High School and Albion College and received his teaching certificate from Michigan State University and master’s from Central Michigan University. He also serves as a captain for his local fire department.
“Jason Kemler’s stamp is all over the Brethren athletic department and community as a whole, as he’s embraced all of the roles that go with serving at a small school – teaching physical education and history and coaching as well as serving as athletic director and representing his school in significant ways among his colleagues statewide,” Uyl said. “His commitment and dedication are fine examples of what the Bush Award seeks to recognize.”
Lucas also has made an outsized impact at the middle school level during her 14 years serving in multiple roles for Grand Rapids Public Schools, including as middle school athletic director, director of all GRPS elementary sports and as athletic director for Grand Rapids University Prep Academy, whose students compete for either Ottawa Hills or Union High School. She has served on the MHSAA Junior High/Middle School Committee, contributing to an increasing emphasis at that level, and was selected as a meet manager for inaugural MHSAA Cross Country and Track & Field Regionals for junior high/middle school athletes.
Also a teacher at University Prep and an MHSAA-registered official the last six years for track & field and cross country – and the last two for volleyball – Lucas has served as sportsmanship chair for the MIAAA and as part of the MHSAA/Farm Bureau Insurance Scholar-Athlete Award Committee, and on the board for the Michigan-based Academy of Sports Leadership. She was named the MIAAA’s Region 14 Athletic Director of the Year in 2022.
Lucas graduated from Hobart (Ind.) High School and has a bachelor’s degree in physical education and health from Indiana State University, a master’s in educational leadership from Indiana University, and earned her certified athletic administrator designation from the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association (NIAAA). She is a Red Cross instructor and has served on the GRPS health and physical education leadership team. Prior to coming to Grand Rapids, Lucas served in multiple athletic administration roles in Indiana, where she also taught for 24 years and earned a 30-year coaching and multiple 20-year service awards.
“Jolinda Lucas has brought a special dedication to our junior high and middle school sports and their important roles in educational athletics,” Uyl said. “She has provided valuable input on a variety of historic decisions, including the addition of sixth graders to MHSAA competition and creation of Regional competitions in cross country and track & field. Her foresight is impacting Michigan’s school-sports athletes at the youngest levels and making a difference that will continue to benefit them as they advance to high school programs.”
Zdanowski recently completed his 28th school year as athletic director at Greenville after previously serving as a teacher, coach and athletic director over a decade at Onaway and Midland Bullock Creek. As an athletic director, he has hosted more than 100 MHSAA Tournament events, including five 8-Player Football Finals and 13 11-Player Semifinals. He also has been an MHSAA-registered game official for 44 years, working five sports including Finals in baseball in 1995 and football in 2001.
The longtime administrator also has served on multiple MHSAA committees, including more than a decade on the MHSAA/Farm Bureau Insurance Scholar-Athlete Award Committee, and served as Ottawa-Kent Conference president for two years. He’s been a member of the MIAAA for 34 years, Michigan Association of Secondary School Principals (MASSP) for 28 years and National Association of Sports Officials (NASO) for 25. He was named the MIAAA’s Region 4 Athletic Director of the Year in 2008.
Zdanowski, a graduate of Standish-Sterling, has a bachelor’s degree in teacher education from Saginaw Valley State University and a master’s in athletic administration from Central Michigan University. He’s also completed 24 courses from the NIAAA Leadership Training Institute.
“Brian Zdanowski has created a program at Greenville that is the model of quality, and that was proven deservedly when his athletic department was named an Exemplary Athletic Program by the MIAAA in 2000, the first year of that prestigious recognition program,” Uyl said. “He has consistently shared what he’s built at home with the rest of the state for now several decades, and we continue to be thankful for Brian’s desire to serve and contribute to school sports in a variety of leadership roles.”
The MHSAA is a private, not-for-profit corporation of voluntary membership by more than 1,500 public and private senior high schools and junior high/middle schools which exists to develop common rules for athletic eligibility and competition. No government funds or tax dollars support the MHSAA, which was the first such association nationally to not accept membership dues or tournament entry fees from schools. Member schools which enforce these rules are permitted to participate in MHSAA tournaments, which attract more than 1.4 million spectators each year.