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.
Preview: Multiple Contenders Set to Pursue 1st-Time Finals Championships
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
May 28, 2025
In a sport frequently dominated at the Finals level by a handful of power programs, we could see a few emerge to join that group this weekend.
The top-three ranked teams in Lower Peninsula Division 1 all are seeking a first MHSAA Girls Tennis Finals championship, as is Division 2 top-ranked Farmington Hills Mercy.
Conversely, Ann Arbor Greenhills returns a significant portion of last season’s lineup as it plays for a fourth-straight Division 4 title, and Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood and Detroit Country Day are favorites again in Division 3 having combined to win the last 14 team championships in that bracket.
All four divisions will compete Friday and Saturday over multiple locations, with semifinals and finals to be played at the first sites listed below in each. Play begins between 8:15-8:30 each morning.
Below is a glance at the highest-ranked teams in each division and a few more highly-seeded flight contenders. Click for full brackets and more from MHSAA.com.
LP Division 1 at Byron Center West Sports Complex & Grand Rapids South Christian
Top-ranked: 1. Utica Eisenhower, 2. Novi, 3. Rochester Adams.
Utica Eisenhower: The Eagles made their strongest run at a first championship last season, finishing runner-up for the first time and six points off the lead. They are seeded at six flights this weekend with three top seeds – reigning No. 1 singles champion Gabriella Sadowski again at that flight now as a junior, freshman Morgan Emerick at No. 2 singles and junior Alexis Gabriel and senior Alayna Aamodt at No. 2 doubles; Gabriel was part of the No. 1 doubles champion last year. Two more doubles pairs are seeded third.
Novi: The Wildcats are seeking their first Finals team title as well after tying for fourth the last two seasons. Seven of eight flights are seeded with two top seeds and two seconds – junior Rebecca Liu earned the top line in No. 4 singles, and seniors Alice Chen and Rashi Bajpai are top-seeded at No. 1 doubles; Chen was part of last season’s runner-up pair at No. 1. Juniors Kyra Thomas and Samaara George are second-seeded for the second year in a row, this time at No. 2 doubles after reaching the semifinals at No. 4 in 2024.
Rochester Adams: The Highlanders are playing for a second Finals championship after winning Class A in 1987. They tied for eighth last season but enter this weekend with four seeded flights led by top-seeded juniors Joanna Ouyang and Monika Camaj at No. 1 doubles and second-seeded senior Nicole Fu at No. 1 singles. Fu has finished No. 1 singles runner-up the last three seasons, losing to Sadowski in three sets last year but more recently winning their May 8 match in two sets.
Isabella Barretto, Rochester Hills Stoney Creek senior: She’s seeded third at No. 1 singles and will try to break up a Sadowski/Fu rematch. Her only loss came to Sadowski, and she defeated Fu in April.
Rory Hoyle, Clarkston freshman: She missed out on the Wolves’ 2024 team title run by a year, but enters her first Finals seeded second at No. 1 singles and having played all three contenders seeded higher in this bracket.
Other returning flight champions: Charlotte Partchenko, Clarkston senior (No. 4 singles last season, No. 2 this weekend); Nainika Jasti, Troy junior (No. 2 doubles last season, No. 1 singles this weekend).
LP Division 2 at Kalamazoo College & Western Michigan University
Top-ranked: 1. Farmington Hills Mercy, 2. Birmingham Seaholm, 3. Midland Dow.
Farmington Hills Mercy: The Marlins are another team seeking a first Finals championship, having finished Division 1 runner-up in 2013 and placing third but just one point out of second a year ago in Division 2. All eight flights are seeded fifth or higher, with two top seeds and three seconds. The entire singles lineup is back from last year – senior Megan Sullivan at No. 1 (seeded second), followed by juniors Keira Kirkland (seeded second at No. 2), Alexa Dueweke (seeded fifth at No. 3) and Gabby Owens (seeded first at No. 4) – and Owens is the reigning champion at No. 4 while Sullivan was runner-up at No. 1 last season and Kirkland fell in the No. 2 final in three sets. Seniors Penelope Livermore and Reese Sinawi are seeded second at No. 3 doubles after finishing second at No. 4 last year, and freshman Anna Naida and sophomore Olivia Wiljhelm are seeded first at No. 4 this weekend.
Birmingham Seaholm: The Maples have 13 top-two team finishes over the last 19 seasons, including finishing runners-up last season and in 2022 and Division 2 champion in 2023. Junior Kate Crowley and sophomore Cate French are the team’s lone top seed, at No. 3 doubles, but Seaholm also has five second-seeded flights. Senior Jordyn Lusky and junior Lucy Jen are seeded second at No. 1 doubles after winning No. 3 last season, while junior Anna Olekszyk is teaming with sophomore Sophia Arndt on the second-seeded No. 3 pair and sophomores Katie Joyce and Alina Villaire are teaming up for a second seed at No. 4; Joyce and Olekszyk won the No. 4 championship last spring.
Midland Dow: The Chargers won two Division 1 titles and finished second twice between 2015-18 and are seeking their first top-two Finals team finish since that run; they placed fifth in Division 2 a year ago. Dow is seeded in six flights, with senior Tessa Wood and junior Sachi Togashi on the top line at No. 2 doubles.
Dalina Kokoshi, Grosse Pointe South freshman: She enters her first Finals with a 24-1 record and only loss to Stoney Creek’s Barretto in mid-April.
Andrea Wang, Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern senior: Last season’s No. 2 singles champion (and No. 3 runner-up in 2022) is seeded third at No. 1 singles with her only Division 2 loss to Kokoshi at the end of April.
Lauren Jaklitsch & Morgan McKenzie, Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern seniors: The top-seeded pair at No. 1 doubles is the reigning champion at No. 2, and Jaklitsch also was part of the No. 2 runner-up as a sophomore.
Additional returning flight champion: Harriet Ogilvie, Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern senior (No. 3 singles last season, No. 2 singles this weekend).
LP Division 3 at University of Michigan, Liberty Athletic Club & Chippewa Club
Top-ranked: 1. Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood, 2. Detroit Country Day, 3. Bloomfield Hills Marian.
Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood: After seeing its two-year title run end with a runner-up finish (four points back) last year, Cranbrook is the favorite again with all eight flights seeded and four doubles players back who won championships a year ago. Five flights are seeded first, starting with seniors Ava Clogg and Chiara Martella at No. 1 doubles; Clogg was part of the No. 3 doubles champ in 2022 and Martella the No. 2 singles runner-up in 2023. Seniors Sophia Kouza and Madeline Day are top-seeded at No. 2 doubles – Kouza a champion at No. 2 the last two years and Day part of the winning pair at No. 3 last season – and seniors Michelle Chen and Jessica Hall are second-seeded at No. 3 doubles after winning No. 4 last year and finishing runner-up in 2023. Senior Katelyn Dubrowsky and sophomore Brianna Giudici are seeded first at No. 4 this time. Cranbrook also has the top seeds at the top two singles flights with senior Chloe Qin at No. 1 and freshman Caroline Liu at No. 2. Qin was part of the No. 1 doubles runner-up as a freshman in 2022, and in her return this fall has lost only to Sadowski in early April.
Detroit Country Day: The reigning team champion will play for its third title in five years and with two flight winners returning to the singles lineup – senior Sophia Grzesiak seeking a repeat at No. 1 and junior Helen Benjamin at No. 4 after winning No. 3 last season. Benjamin is seeded first in her flight, and Grzesiak second. The Yellowjackets’ singles lineup also features second-seeded freshman Chloe Conniff at No. 2 and top-seeded Karishma Vakhariya at No. 3, and last season’s No. 2 singles runner-up sophomore Quinn Norlander is teaming with senior Katie Han – last year’s No. 4 singles champion – as the second-seeded No. 1 doubles pair.
Bloomfield Hills Marian: The Mustangs improved from fifth in 2023 to fourth a year ago as they seek their first team title since 2016 in Division 2. All eight flights are seeded again and six flights third or higher led by top-seeded sophomores Stella Glorio and Lexa Hindo at No. 3 doubles. Glorio was part of the No. 4 doubles runner-up last season, and senior Audrey Agbay is joined by senior Alex Freitag as the third-seeded pair at No. 2 doubles after Agbay was part of the runner-up at No. 3 a year ago.
Additional returning flight champion: Samantha Bieber, Chelsea junior (No. 2 last season, No. 1 this weekend).
LP Division 4 at Midland Tennis Center & Midland High School
Top-ranked: No. 1 Ann Arbor Greenhills, 2. Pontiac Notre Dame Prep, 3. Wixom St. Catherine.
Ann Arbor Greenhills: The Gryphons are seeking a fourth-straight Division 4 championship after claiming last year’s by 11 points. Senior Maddie Morgan and sophomore Ellie Kim are back and seeded first at Nos. 1 and 2 singles, respectively, after winning those flights last year (and Morgan winning No. 1 the last two seasons), and three of eight doubles players also were part of flight champions in 2024. Freshman Hazel Morgan at No. 3 and sophomore Nina Malani at No. 4 round out an all top-seeded singles lineup; Malani was part of the No. 1 doubles champ last spring. Senior Shangyang Xia and junior Danica Rakic-Dennis are the top-seeded No. 1 doubles pair after they won the Nos. 3 and 4 singles flights, respectively, a year ago. Junior Lauren Ye and sophomore Alyssa Hong are top-seeded at No. 3 doubles, Ye having partnered with Malani for that No. 1 doubles title and Hong part of last year’s No. 4 champ, and seniors Meera Pandey and Meera Tewari are seeded first at No. 4 this time. The only unseeded flight is No. 2 doubles with seniors Sophia Kleer and Jessica Shi, and Kleer was part of the champion at that flight last season.
Pontiac Notre Dame Prep: The Fighting Irish are coming off their best Finals finish, placing second last season, and they are seeded fourth or higher at every flight with four second seeds. Among those second seeds are senior Erin Delaney and junior Adriana Johnson at No. 3 doubles after Delaney was part of last season’s champion at that flight. Sophomore Ana Jarvis at No. 3 singles, sophomore Gemma Hofley and freshman Regina Carpenter at No. 2 doubles and freshmen Vanessa Artinian and Elena Vandieren at No. 4 also are second-seeded.
Wixom St. Catherine: The Stars are pursuing a first top-two Finals finish after tying for fifth a year ago. Six flights are seeded, led by senior Lily Wolocko and freshman Loren Nafso on the top line at No. 2 doubles and juniors Julia Ivezaj and Stephanie Lisch second-seeded at No. 1. Ivezaj was part of the No. 2 doubles runner-up in 2023.
Mary-Kate Ansley, Traverse City St. Francis junior: The second-seeded player at No. 1 singles reached the semifinals last season as the fourth seed at the top flight.
PHOTO Farmington Hills Mercy's Keira Kirkland drives a forehand during last season's LPD2 championship match at No. 2 singles. (Click for more from High School Sports Scene.)