Parade of Champions 2014-15
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
June 22, 2015
A total of 90 schools won one or more of the 127 Finals team championships awarded by the Michigan High School Athletic Association during the 2014-15 school year – with five programs winning the first MHSAA team titles in any sport for their respective schools.
The Detroit Western International boys basketball, Armada boys bowling, Detroit Loyola football, Birmingham Roeper boys soccer and Romeo girls volleyball teams all brought home the first MHSAA team championships in their schools’ histories.
A total of 32 teams won their first MHSAA titles. A total of 48 champions were repeat winners from 2013-14 – and 16 of those won for at least the third straight season. The Birmingham Brother Rice boys lacrosse team has the longest title streak of 11 seasons, while the Battle Creek St. Philip volleyball team has won ninth straight titles for the second-longest streak overall and longest among girls programs.
Marquette claimed the most championships, seven, winning in Division 1 boys skiing, Upper Peninsula Division 1 boys cross country and girls cross country, Upper Peninsula boys swimming & diving and girls swimming & diving, and Upper Peninsula Division 1 boys track & field and girls track & field. Three schools won four titles apiece – Birmingham Seaholm, Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood and Ishpeming – and four schools won three titles apiece: Birmingham Brother Rice, Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central, Orchard Lake St. Mary’s and Rockford.
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.
For a sport-by-sport listing of MHSAA champions for 2014-15 - Click Here (PDF)
PHOTO: The Romeo volleyball team hoists its Division 1 championship trophy, the first MHSAA Finals trophy won by the school in any sport.
Bedford's Gandee Honored for 'Spirit'
March 13, 2017
By John Gillis
Special from NFHS
Hunter Gandee, a student-athlete at Temperance Bedford High School, has been selected as the 2017 Section 4 recipient of the “National High School Spirit of Sport Award” by the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS).
The National High School Spirit of Sport Award was created by the NFHS to recognize those individuals who exemplify the ideals of the spirit of sport that represent the core mission of education-based athletics.
The mark of a “good big brother” is often to what lengths he might go to assist his younger siblings.
That sense of familial assistance has perhaps never been taken to the extremes that Hunter Gandee has repeatedly done for his younger brother Braden.
A standout student, Hunter is a junior with a 3.92 grade-point average and a member of the National Honor Society.
On the sports side, Hunter is in his third season on the varsity wrestling team, and participates in Greco-Roman and freestyle wrestling during the offseason. He's also a member of the MHSAA Student Advisory Council.
While those accomplishments are unquestionably outstanding, they might pale in comparison to what he has done for Braden.
Born with cerebral palsy, Braden has limited use of his legs. Nonetheless, Hunter has taken it upon himself to help Braden know what it feels like to walk long distances – and he’s done it three times. Organized for the purpose of raising awareness of cerebral palsy, Hunter literally carries Braden on his back for long walks known as “CP Swaggers.”
In 2014, Hunter carried Braden 40 miles from the Bedford Junior High School wrestling room to the University of Michigan’s Bahna Wrestling Center. The following year, they upped the trek’s mileage to 57 miles.
However, that couldn’t foreshadow what was to follow in April 2016 when Hunter carried Braden on his back an amazing 111 miles – some 14 miles more than the first two walks combined.
About the Award: The NFHS divides the nation into eight geographical sections. The states in Section 4 are Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa and Wisconsin.
Nominations for this award were generated through NFHS member state associations and reviewed by the NFHS Spirit of Sport Award Selection Committee composed of state association staff members.
While the national winner will be recognized June 29 at the NFHS Summer Meeting in Providence, Rhode Island, the section winners will be recognized within their respective states and will receive awards before the end of the current school year.
PHOTO: Hunter Gandee, second from right, carries his brother Braden as part of their effort to bring awareness to cerebral palsy. (Photo courtesy of The Cerebral Palsy Swagger.)