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.
All-Staters Tetil, Herron Spark Each Other's Pursuits to Push Pace for Caro XC
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
September 9, 2026
Luke Herron opened the 2026 cross country season with a dominant win at the Mike Jackson Invitational at Croswell-Lexington.
But after winning by 55 seconds, the competition wasn’t quite over for the Caro senior. He still had to beat his friend and classmate, Violet Tetil.
“We did kind of come up with a little joke,” Herron said. “I said, ‘You know, Violet, I beat the second-place guy by like a minute, so you have to see if you can beat the second-place runner by a minute, so we can see who can have the better winning margin. I think she was like somewhere over 30 seconds, and I was a little under a minute, so it was close.”
Tetil won her race by 41 seconds, giving Caro a sweep of the individual titles, and Herron a slight second victory.
But more importantly, both were well ahead of themselves on the same course a year ago with times of 15 minutes, 49.2 seconds and 19:10, respectively. That bodes well for another special season from the returning all-state runners.
“That’s kind of a testament to them, the commitment to putting time in during the summer,” Caro coach Jeff Schember said. “That makes the difference for kids that are going to be really good. They’re pretty fit right now. They’ve got a lot of work under their belt.”
Beyond the times they are putting up, and titles they are winning, the duo is also providing a blueprint for their teammates.
“They can relate to it,” Schember said. “I have sophomore boys, and Luke as a freshman, low 17s was his best time. They’re like, ‘If I can get into the low 17s, I have the potential with that work ethic to get there.’ I hope they see that. Violet went on a whole other level the past couple years. So, I hope they see that and are driven to wanting to be like that.”
Herron and Tetil already have established themselves as two of the best distance runners in Caro history.
Tetil, who placed 12th at the Lower Peninsula Division 3 Final a year ago, is the school-record holder with her time of 18:50.5, run at Ubly in October of 2025. She also holds the track records in the 3,200 meters (11:30.82), 1,600 (5:10.61), 800 (2:15.01) and 400 (58.63).
She was runner-up in the 800 and sixth in the 1,600 at the LP Division 3 Track & Field Finals this past spring.
“I think that I was more motivated from (track), but I did have a later start to my summer (cross country) training because I went to the New Balance Nationals,” Tetil said. “I think doing that also motivated me a little more, like, ‘Oh, I’m actually pretty decent.’ I didn’t get a PR, but I was really close to my PR (in the 800). The atmosphere was amazing.”
When she was able to turn her focus back to cross country, Tetil came at her training not just with motivation from her success, but also from a new angle.
“I added a few things like weightlifting and strength training that made me a little bit stronger and able to withstand more mileage,” she said. “Last year, I kind of had a hard time with a positive mindset in races, so I think I kind of built up a more positive mindset, and that helped me get through the (Mike Jackson) race. I didn’t really set myself any goals or anything, I just wanted to go out and race and see how I could do. I didn’t even know what time I was running until the last mile of that race, so that was pretty cool to see that I was able to run a minute faster than last year.”
Watching Tetil get to this point has been motivating for Herron.
“Her perseverance in the sport has been amazing to see,” he said. “It’s crazy how she’s been able to take it all on and get better. She has a winter sport, she plays basketball, so it’s been amazing to see her balance all of that.”
Herron was sixth at the 2025 Division 3 Cross Country Final, and has the second-fastest cross country time in school history with his personal best of 15:39.1. That’s about 10 seconds off the school record set by three-time Finals champion Yami Albrecht. Passing Albrecht would certainly be a thrill for Herron, who didn’t start running competitively until his freshman year. But he isn’t letting that chase define him.
“It would be pretty awesome, I think, to be able to do that,” Herron said. “But I will say, I run for myself, and I’m not running for a record. I know that would be great, but I would love to just be able to be pleased with what I’m able to do. (The record) is not a thing that I lose sleep over, but I will say the state meet is something that I’ve always looked forward to. Yami was a three-time state champ, so I obviously can’t win three state championships anymore, but I’m getting closer to just being better than I was last year. My goal is to just better myself each and every year and prepare myself for what the next steps are.”
He hopes those next steps involve running collegiately, and he appears to be on track for that. He said Hillsdale College and Cedarville University are the two schools he’s most interested in at the moment. Tetil also has had interest from Hillsdale, as well as Wayne State and Bowling Green.
Before they take that leap, however, they still have plenty of work to do in a Caro uniform, as both are eyeing a top-five finish (or better) at the Division 3 Finals on Nov. 7 at Michigan International Speedway.
“I think it would mean a lot because we’re really good friends and we talk to each other all the time,” Tetil said. “So, I think it would be very motivating (to see Herron run well), because I mean even at some of the smaller races, if I finish on top, he’ll tell me good job, and then I’ll say, ‘Well, now you gotta beat that.’ So, yeah, there’s always motivation in that.”
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) Caro’s Violet Tetil, left, and Luke Herron run their races at the 2025 Lower Peninsula Cross Country Finals at Michigan International Speedway. (Middle) Tetil (811) charges toward the finish line. (Click for more from RunMichigan.com.)