2018-19 Parade of Champions

By Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor

June 20, 2019

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

A total of 105 schools won one or more of the 128 Michigan High School Athletic Association team championships awarded during 2018-19, with two teams earning the first Finals championship in any sport in their schools’ histories.

Ypsilanti Lincoln celebrated its first MHSAA Finals championship by winning the Division 1 boys basketball title in the winter, and Millington claimed its first by earning the Division 3 softball championship this spring.

A total of 19 schools won two or more championships this school year, paced by two schools winning four: Pewamo-Westphalia won in boys basketball, girls basketball, competitive cheer and girls track & field; and Marquette won in boys skiing, girls skiing, girls swimming & diving and girls track & field. Five schools won three MHSAA Finals championships: Bronson, Detroit Country Day, East Grand Rapids, Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern and Hudsonville Unity Christian.

Winning two titles in 2018-19 were Chassell, Detroit Catholic Central, Houghton, Ishpeming, Ishpeming Westwood, Kalamazoo Hackett Catholic Prep, Lake Orion, Negaunee, Ontonagon, Sault Ste. Marie and West Iron County. Farmington Hills Harrison – in its final school year before closing this summer – also was part of two championships, winning the Division 1 boys bowling title and then as a secondary school in a cooperative program with Farmington and North Farmington that finished first in girls gymnastics.

A total of 28 teams won first MHSAA titles in their respective sports. A total of 53 champions were repeat winners from 2017-18 – and 22 of those won for at least the third straight season, while 12 extended title streaks to at least four consecutive years.

The Rockford girls lacrosse and Marquette boys skiing programs own the longest title streaks at seven seasons, while Lowell wrestling and Flint Kearsley girls bowling both have won six straight championships.

Sixteen of the MHSAA's 28 championship tournaments are unified, involving teams from the Upper and Lower Peninsulas, while separate competition to determine titlists in both Peninsulas is conducted in remaining sports.

Click Here for a sport-by-sport listing of MHSAA champions for 2018-19.

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.

SBP Excellence Awards Announced

May 16, 2014

Montrose High School captured first place in two of five individual categories in the inaugural MHSAA School Broadcast Program Excellence Awards, and with it the “Program of the Year” honor.

The SBP Excellence Awards are underwritten by Herff Jones, which will award certificates and plaques to the ten schools which took individual honors.  Presentations will be scheduled in the coming weeks to the recipient schools.

Montrose took first place in two categories:  Best Multicamera Production for a basketball game against Saginaw Michigan Lutheran Seminary; and Best Produced Commercial/Feature for a public service announcement about texting while driving.  The program also demonstrated during the year a good blend of productions in a variety of sports covered and an overall command of the PlayOn! Sports software used for graphics and inserting commercials during the course of productions.

Other category winners were:  St. Ignace High School for Best Use of PlayOn! graphics in a football game against Hillman; Rogers City High School for the Best Overall Single Camera Production of a Game Using PlayOn! Graphics in a football game against Mio; and Haslett High School for Best Student Play-by-Play in a girls basketball game against DeWitt.

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

Best Single Camera Production with PlayOn! Graphics

First Place – Rogers City Sarah Meredith, Amber Nowicki – Football game v. Mio

Second Place – Petoskey – Stuart Green, Nick Snider, Josh Kuhlman, Joe LeBlanc – Girls Volleyball match with Ogemaw Heights

Third Place – St. Ignace – Alysse Bentley, Jenny Campbell, Dillian Denman – Football game v. Hillman

Best Multicamera Production

First Place – Montrose – Tyler J. Anderson, Eric Vandefifer, Cabresha Nard, Ashley Abair, Sidney Trantham – Boys Basketball game v. Saginaw Michigan Lutheran Seminary

Second Place – Johannesburg-Lewiston – Girls Basketball game v. Gaylord St. Mary

Third Place – Cedar Springs – Ian Murphy, Alex Tanis, Alex Hughes, Kody Hall, Liz Moore, Alec Lachniet, Jake Detloff – Boys District Basketball game, Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern v. Grand Rapids Northview

Best use of PlayOn! Graphics/Software

First Place – St. Ignace – Alysse Bentley, Jenny Campbell, Dillian Denman – Football game v. Hillman

Second Place – Haslett – Delany McFate – Girls basketball game v. DeWitt

hird Place – Petoskey - Stuart Green, Nick Snider, Josh Kuhlman, Joe LeBlanc – Girls Volleyball match with Ogemaw Heights

Best Produced Commercial/Feature

First Place – Montrose – Cabresha Nard, Tyler J. Anderson, Haley Ruiz – Texting/Driving PSA

Second Place – Charlevoix – Ben Boss,  Benny Patkai – Classroom electives offerings promo

Third Place – Rogers City – Morgan Hall, Sarah Meredith – Rogers City Softball Preview

Best Student Play-by-Play Commentary

First Place – Haslett – Andy Stamm, Tyler Mehigh – Girls basketball game v. DeWitt

Second Place – Rockford – Riley O’Keefe, Kevin DeLaFuente, Lucas Henry – Football game v. East Kentwood

Third Place – Escanaba – Jon Perrault, Todd Rose – Boys basketball game v. Gladstone      

The School Broadcast Program, powered by PlayOn! Sports, is a platform which schools can utilize to reach members of their community 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.