Mourning Those Who Contributed Much
April 14, 2014
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
This weekend was a sad one for those who work in Michigan high school athletics or have appreciated the contributions from three who gave significantly to our games but died after long fights with cancer.
Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart's Keisha Brown, Grand Haven's Robin Bye and Haslett's Jamie Gent left memorable legacies in their passing – Brown on Thursday, Gent on Friday and Bye on Saturday.
Following are just a few details of their contributions to schools and sports, followed by a handful of Twitter posts celebrating their commitments.
- Brown in 2006 became the first and only female coach to lead a boys team to the MHSAA Basketball Finals, guiding the Irish to the Class D Final before they fell to Wyoming Tri-unity Christian. She also served as principal and athletic director at Sacred Heart and coached the boys basketball team to a 114-30 record before taking over the Alma College women’s program, which she coached through this season. Click to read the memorial column from the Mount Pleasant Morning Sun’s Jim Lahde.
"RIP Keisha Brown. What a truly inspiring human being that battled cancer with courage and strength. My thoughts are with her family.” – Oakland Press reporter Drew Ellis, formerly of the Morning Sun
“Rest in Peace Keisha Brown #TrueWarrior. Words cannot express my sadness #HeartBroken.” – Alma College Sports Information Director Mike Hanson
- Bye worked in the Grand Haven school system for 34 years, including the last two-plus as athletic director after formerly serving as an assistant and a girls basketball coach. He also had been a middle school art teacher in the district, and last year received its “Spirit of Grand Haven” award for commitment and dedication to Grand Haven schools. Click to read the story on his passing from the Muskegon Chronicle’s Scott Brandenburg.
“Thinking of the Bye family tonight. Robin will be missed. As a person and an AD, he made me want to be better a person/coach. God Bless.” – Grand Haven boys basketball coach Steve Hewitt.
“I will miss Robin Bye. He made a big difference for the youth in our town, more than an athletic director; an inspiration.” – Grand Haven parent Pat McGinnis
- Gent began his career at Haslett in 1967 as a middle school teacher and high school coach in three sports. He was head coach of the track and field, boys basketball and football varsity teams at different times and began his second stint as the school’s athletic director in 1991. He also was an MHSAA registered official for more than 15 years and a mentor to many both in the Lansing area and statewide through his contributions to the Michigan Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association. He received the MHSAA’s Charles E. Forsythe Award in 2008. See below for a video posted that year in honor of Gent as he retired as athletic director, and click for Dick Hoekstra's piece in the Lansing State Journal posted today.
“Sad to hear of the passing of Jamie Gent, long time Haslett HS athletic director. Really great guy, very kind hearted.” – former Haslett athlete, current White Pigeon teacher/coach Kurt Twichell
“Jamie Gent was one of the best ADs I had the privilege to know. A great loss tonight for the Haslett community.” – Chelsea football coach Brad Bush
PHOTOS: (Clockwise from left) Former Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart boys basketball coach Keisha Brown comforts one of her players after the Irish fell in the Class D Final in 2006. Jamie Gent, left, receives his Charles E. Forsythe Award from Negaunee's Jim Derocher during the 2008 Boys Basketball Finals. Grand Haven athletic director, Robin Bye, is recognized as an assistant coach on the 1981 girls basketball team inducted into the Grand Haven sports Hall of Fame.
Groves Rallies from 1st-Event DQ to Win Final Race, Repeat Finals Title
By
Tim Robinson
Special for MHSAA.com
March 9, 2024
YPSILANTI — Repeating as a Finals champion is never easy.
But the Birmingham Groves boys swim & dive team took it to a new level Saturday.
The Falcons, who won the Lower Peninsula Division 2 title by seven points last year, endured a disqualification in the 200 medley relay this time but battled back to win by a point after finishing first in the final event of the day, the 400-yard freestyle relay.
“I think it might have been the most up-and-down day of my life,” Groves first-year coach Nick Valise said. “I’ve never been in this position before. I still don’t believe it.”
Groves trailed until the final event but finished with 245 points, one point better than Seaholm and Farmington, which tied for second.
Groves did get a key break when crosstown rival Birmingham Seaholm also had a DQ, in the 200 free relay. But the key to the Falcons’ comeback was its resilience.
Joey Stebbins, one of the team’s senior leaders, set the tone after being responsible for the false start that led to the disqualification.
‘Honestly, I just had to shake it off,’ he said. “I knew I messed up as soon as I got in (the pool). I knew I DQ'd it. I'm like, I'd own up to it (and) shake it off.”
“I must say, I’ve never met a group of boys who handled something like that so well,” Valise noted. “I mean, right after the DQ, heads picked right up, (they) put their foot down, kept fighting. Gave us a chance at the end of the meet.”
Groves, Farmington and Seaholm were ranked in that order at the top of LPD3 entering the meet.
Seaholm won four events, including the 200 medley relay. Sophomore Elliot Rijnovean, who was on that relay, also won the butterfly and backstroke, while freshman Quinn O’Neill won the 500 freestyle.
Senior Gus MacDonald won the breaststroke and individual medley for Groves and swam on the winning 400 free relay.
“I knew it'd be close,’ he said. “I knew we had to win that final relay to win the meet. I didn't know the logistics of it. But finally hearing that we won was the best feeling in the world.”
Saturday’s meet was a standout chapter in the long crosstown rivalry.
“I go to class there once a day,” Stebbins said. “It's really, really good to go against them. It always pushes you up. It’s a friendly rivalry. Love those guys down the road.”
It was certainly a day to remember.
“A little surreal, actually,” Valise said. “But I got gifted a group of an amazing 25 boys that could not have worked harder and been more focused on the goal.”
Also winning championships Saturday were Grand Rapids Northview senior Caleb Howe in the 200 and 100 freestyles, Grosse Pointe South senior Troy Liu in the 50 free and Jenison senior Robby Russo in diving. Farmington won the 200 freestyle relay.
PHOTOS (Top) Birmingham Groves senior Zach Lezovich races for the eventual team champion; he scored points in three events Saturday. (Middle) Seaholm’s Elliot Rijnovean, bottom, holds off Ann Arbor Skyline’s Lucas Caswell to win the butterfly. (Below) Groves’ Gus MacDonald swims to the victory in the individual medley. (Click for more from High School Sports Scene.)