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Rep Council Wrap-Up: Fall 2016

December 12, 2016

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

The Representative Council of the Michigan High School Athletic Association took actions at its Fall Meeting on Dec. 2 in East Lansing that will affect baseball and Upper Peninsula golf teams this spring.

Generally, the Council takes only a few actions during its Fall Meeting, with topics often introduced for additional consideration and actions during its meetings in winter and spring. However, a rules change approved in baseball was required by the National Federation of State High School Associations before the start of the spring 2017 season, while the golf change is a result of multiple years of discussion concerning classifications for MHSAA Upper Peninsula Finals. 

Beginning this upcoming baseball season, pitchers will be required to follow a pitch count limit, instead of the previous rule that limited their innings based on the number of outs thrown. In July, the NFHS Baseball Rules Committee mandated that all states adopt a pitch count rule in an effort to further prevent pitcher arm injuries, effective with the 2016-17 school year. Pitchers will be allowed to throw a maximum of 105 pitches in one day; they will be required to rest three days if they throw more than 75. Pitchers must rest two days after throwing 51-75 pitches, one day after throwing 26-50, and will not be required to rest if they throw 25 or fewer pitches in one day. The MHSAA pitch count rule was the result of work by a task force made up of current and former coaches and administrators, including representatives of the Michigan High School Baseball Coaches Association. 

For Upper Peninsula Golf, both the girls and boys tournaments, the Council approved a change classifying participating schools into three equal divisions beginning in the spring of 2017. Previously, Class A, B and C schools were split evenly into Divisions 1 and 2, with Division 3 reserved for Class D schools. However, Class D had grown to include nearly twice as many participating schools as both Division 1 and 2, complicating tournament logistics. This proposal was advanced by the Upper Peninsula Athletic Committee. 

The Council also approved for the MHSAA’s Multi-Sport Participation Task Force to continue its work indefinitely beyond the end of 2016, and also approved possible expansion of the task force as it continues to work toward preparing strategies and specific tactics for the MHSAA, allied organizations and local schools and conferences to promote multi-sport participation by student-athletes. The task force has determined it must focus on educating students and parents on the benefits of multi-sport participation when students are at younger ages – as early as when they are attending elementary school – while providing service and support at the junior high/middle school level; both efforts aim to create an atmosphere promoting multi-sport participation that would carry on when students reach high school.

Results of efforts to grow junior high/middle school membership were reported, with 757 junior high/middle schools in the MHSAA’s membership for 2016-17, compared to 705 at the conclusion of the 2015-16 school year. Of those 757, there are 498 that have included sixth grade in their membership, as allowed this school year for the first time. The Council also heard reports related to the MHSAA’s “Defining & Defending Educational Athletics” mission, notably on a pair of efforts by the National Federation focused on enhancing participation, reducing risk, optimizing performance and spreading the positive message of educational athletics. In addition, the Council discussed results of a recent survey of officials who had left the avocation and their reasons why, with the hope of staff using that data as it works to recruit and retain officials.

The Council also began a discussion on the future of 8-player football, including its growth and potential tournament format modifications, and the potential effects on 11-player football. There were 52 8-player football teams in Michigan for the 2016 season, including four that were ineligible for postseason play because their enrollments were too high (only Class D schools are eligible for the playoffs in the 8-player format). Discussions will continue with the MHSAA Classification Committee and Football Committee and at the League Leadership meeting before returning to the Council’s agenda. 
 
The Fall Meeting saw the addition of Vicky Groat, principal and athletic director at Battle Creek St. Philip High School, to the 19-person Council. She was appointed to a two-year term. She also serves as her school’s varsity volleyball coach. Groat fills the position formerly held by Orlando Medina, athletic director at Harrison Township L’Anse Creuse High School, whose term ended. Also, Pat Watson, principal at West Bloomfield High School, was re-appointed for a second two-year term.
 
The Council re-elected Scott Grimes, assistant superintendent of human services for Grand Haven Area Public Schools, as its president; Benton Harbor athletic director Fred Smith was re-elected vice president and Vic Michaels, director of physical education and athletics for the Archdiocese of Detroit, was re-elected secretary-treasurer. 
 
The Representative Council is the legislative body of the MHSAA. All but five members are elected by member schools. Four members are appointed by the Council to facilitate representation of females and minorities, and the 19th position is occupied by the Superintendent of Public Instruction or designee.
 
The MHSAA is a private, not-for-profit corporation of voluntary membership by more than 1,400 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. 

Second Half by MHSAA

Week 9 Football Playoff Listing

October 22, 2013

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Here is a list of Michigan High School Athletic Association football playing schools, displaying their win-loss records and playoff averages through the eighth week of the season. Schools on this list are in enrollment order. An asterisk (*) beside a record indicates that a team has eight or fewer games scheduled. A caret (^) beside a school’s name indicates that a team is one win away from playoff qualification.

Those schools with 11-player teams with six or more wins playing nine-game schedules, or five or more wins playing eight games or fewer, will qualify for the MHSAA Football Playoffs beginning Nov. 1-2. Schools with 5-4, 4-3 or 4-4 records may qualify if the number of potential qualifiers by win total does not reach the 256 mark. Schools with six or more wins playing nine-game schedules or five or more wins playing eight games or fewer may be subtracted from the field based on playoff average if the number of potential qualifiers exceeds the 256 mark.

Once the 256 qualifying schools are determined, they will be divided by enrollment groups into eight equal divisions of 32 schools, and then drawn into regions of eight teams each and districts of four teams each.

Those schools with 8-player teams will be ranked by playoff average at season’s end, and the top 16 programs will be drawn into regions of eight teams each for the playoff in that division, which also begins Nov. 1-2.

To review a list of all football playoff schools, individual school playoff point details and to report errors, visit the Football page of the MHSAA Website.

The announcement of the qualifiers and first-round pairings for both the 11 and 8-player playoffs will take place on Oct. 27 on the Selection Sunday Show at 7 p.m. on FOX Sports Detroit. The playoff qualifiers and pairings will be posted to the MHSAA Website following the Selection Sunday Show.
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11-Player Playoff Listing

1. Sterling Heights Stevenson, 2781, 4-4, 51.500                 
2. Utica Eisenhower, 2772, 4-4, 53.750                                    
3. Clarkston, 2737, 7-1, 95.500                                     
4. Macomb Dakota, 2693, 8-0, 108.000                                    
5. Howell ^, 2672, 5-3, 64.625                                      
6. Grand Blanc, 2624, 6-2, 81.625                                               
7. East Kentwood ^, 2612, 5-3, 66.750                                     
8. Rockford, 2572, 7-1, 92.750                                     
9. Clinton Township Chippewa Valley, 2506, 7-1, 95.875  
10. Lake Orion, 2490, 6-2, 78.375                                                
11. Dearborn Fordson ^, 2309, 5-3, 68.589                             
12. Holland West Ottawa ^, 2293, 5-3, 66.000                       
13. Northville, 2275, 7-1, 97.250                                 
14. Detroit Cass Tech, 2262, 8-0, 107.000                                                
15. Brighton ^, 2164, 5-3, 69.000                                                                
16. Monroe ^, 2145, 5-3, 62.500                                 
17. Detroit Catholic Central, 2132, 7-1, 94.161                      
18. Plymouth ^, 2126, 5-3, 61.625                                              
19. Canton, 2078, 7-1, 95.750                                       
20. Novi, 1986, 4-4, 52.375                                                            
21. Livonia Stevenson, 1983, 4-4, 49.000                                 
22. Macomb L'Anse Creuse North, 1965, 7-1, 89.500         
23. West Bloomfield ^, 1941, 5-3, 63.750                                                
24. New Baltimore Anchor Bay, 1899, 4-4, 48.875                               
25. Saline, 1897, 7-1, 94.275                                         
26. Westland John Glenn ^, 1880, 5-3, 61.375                      
27. Holt, 1866, 4-4, 53.250                                                             
28. Warren Mott, 1796, 8-0, 99.000                                           
29. Romeo, 1793, 4-4, 54.750                                                       
30. Oxford, 1782, 4-4, 51.625                                                       
31. Rochester Hills Stoney Creek, 1759, 6-2, 79.250           
32. Hudsonville ^, 1736, 5-3, 70.875                                          
33. Ann Arbor Skyline, 1715, 4-4, 49.250                                 
34. Grand Ledge, 1715, 4-4, 51.250                                           
35. Belleville ^, 1714, 5-3, 64.750                                                
36. Davison, 1692, 4-4, 44.250                                                     
37. Walled Lake Northern, 1688, 6-2, 80.125                         
38. Traverse City West ^, 1653, 5-3, 66.500                            
39. Rochester, 1615, 4-4, 52.125                                 
40. Waterford Kettering ^, 1604, 5-3, 66.125                        
41. Temperance Bedford, 1600, 8-0, 114.000                        
42. Grosse Pointe South ^, 1598, 5-3, 62.500                        
43. Rochester Adams ^, 1582, 5-3, 67.000                                              
44. Saginaw Heritage ^, 1575, 5-3, 60.250                               
45. Warren DeLaSalle ^, 1564, 5-3, 74.500                                              
46. Walled Lake Western, 1556, 8-0, 108.000                        
47. Flint Carman-Ainsworth, 1488, 7-1, 86.875                     
48. Detroit U-D Jesuit, 1476, 4-4, 55.500                                 
49. Midland, 1462, 7-1, 90.750                                     
50. Ypsilanti Lincoln, 1460, 7-1, 85.875                                      
51. Pinckney ^, 1452, 5-3, 65.625                                               
52. Traverse City Central ^, 1448, 5-3, 60.571                        
53. Oak Park ^, 1438, 5-3, 64.875                                                
54. Detroit Martin Luther King *, 1432, 7-0, 103.571          
55. Royal Oak, 1414, 4-4, 47.625                                 
56. Southgate Anderson, 1409, 4-4, 48.500                           
57. Ypsilanti Community, 1399, 4-4, 45.000                            
58. Port Huron ^, 1398, 5-3, 63.107                                           
59. Wyandotte Roosevelt, 1373, 8-0, 110.000                       
60. Portage Central, 1372, 8-0, 108.000                                   
61. Lansing Everett ^, 1369, 5-3, 58.625                                   
62. Portage Northern, 1364, 6-2, 74.625                 
63. Garden City, 1362, 4-4, 47.125                                             
64. Southfield, 1356, 7-1, 95.875                                                
65. North Farmington *, 1352, 5-3, 56.286                             
66. Caledonia ^, 1350, 5-3, 60.000                                              
67. Battle Creek Lakeview, 1348, 8-0, 90.000                        
68. Birmingham Seaholm, 1337, 8-0, 103.000                        
69. Birmingham Brother Rice, 1326, 8-0, 111.200                 
70. Grosse Pointe North ^, 1323, 5-3, 65.375                        
71. Muskegon Mona Shores, 1314, 6-2, 79.500                    
72. Midland Dow, 1304, 7-1, 85.036                                          
73. Farmington Hills Harrison, 1300, 7-1, 93.750                   
74. South Lyon, 1277, 6-2, 82.250                                               
75. Swartz Creek, 1277, 4-4, 52.768                                           
76. Birmingham Groves, 1274, 7-1, 85.875                             
77. Grand Rapids Ottawa Hills ^, 1231, 5-3, 52.500                              
78. Fenton, 1188, 8-0, 101.000                                                    
79. Grand Rapids Northview, 1182, 4-4, 49.750                    
80. Mattawan, 1176, 4-4, 45.625                                                
81. Warren Woods Tower, 1170, 6-2, 62.750                         
82. Muskegon Reeths-Puffer, 1151, 7-1, 92.500                  
83. Lowell, 1146, 8-0, 118.000                                                      
84. Taylor Truman, 1131, 6-2, 74.500                                        
85. East Lansing, 1124, 4-4, 52.750                                             
86. Holly, 1124, 4-4, 49.375                                                           
87. Muskegon, 1118, 7-1, 97.875                                                
88. Lapeer East, 1113, 4-4, 50.625                                              
89. Marquette *, 1110, 5-2, 73.286                                           
90. Detroit East English ^, 1109, 5-3, 59.750                           
91. Detroit Cody ^, 1106, 5-3, 57.250                                        
92. Allen Park, 1103, 6-2, 76.625                                 
93. Detroit Renaissance ^, 1097, 5-3, 53.268                         
94. Detroit Mumford, 1090, 6-2, 72.732                  
95. Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern, 1079, 6-2, 71.250               
96. St. Johns, 1079, 4-4, 47.625                                   
97. Zeeland East ^, 1071, 5-3, 67.125                                        
98. Lapeer West, 1063, 7-1, 91.375                                            
99. Redford Thurston ^, 1063, 5-3, 65.375                              
100. Auburn Hills Avondale, 1055, 4-4, 42.375                      
101. Byron Center, 1039, 6-2, 68.750                                        
102. Mt. Pleasant, 1033, 7-1, 92.875                                         
103. Riverview, 993, 6-2, 66.625                                 
104. St. Joseph, 986, 7-1, 88.875                                 
105. Orchard Lake St. Mary's, 980, 4-4, 54.625                      
106. Petoskey ^, 965, 5-3, 62.000           &a