Paying Tribute with Diamond Donation
May 14, 2014
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Rochester Adams and Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood baseball players and coaches both had loved ones on their minds when they took the field at Comerica Park earlier this month.
And they paid tribute to those loved ones over their hearts and across the backs of their jerseys.
Together, the teams raised more than $3,500 for the Coaches vs. Cancer research initiative.
Instead of its usual brown and yellow, Adams wore jerseys of light blue with a green ribbon as the middle “A” in its name across the front in honor of those suffering with lymphoma, including 2011 graduate and former standout Matt Williams.
Cranbrook-Kingswood wore dark blue jerseys with a pink ribbon as the “A” in Cranbrook and with lime green writing on the back as the Cranes remembered longtime coach Jack Sanders, who died in 2012 after also battling lymphoma.
Sanders’ was among names adorning the backs of jerseys, along with other cancer victims the players and coaches knew.
Adams won the May 1 game, 18-3. Click to read more from the Oakland Press’ Keith Dunlap, who leading up to the game detailed both Williams’ fight and Sanders’ longtime contributions.
Net finder
Lake Fenton’s Jordan Newman will finish her high school soccer career later this spring as the top goal-scorer in MHSAA girls soccer history.
The Blue Devils’ senior forward broke the career record on April 28, scoring her 169th goal against Perry to pass the mark set by Newaygo’s Jaleen Dingledine from 2004-07. Newman also is a four-year varsity player.
Click to read more on her record run from the Flint Journal's Eric Woodyard.
5 K, 1 IP
The MHSAA doesn't keep a record for most strikeouts in an inning. But if it did, there’s a great chance Brighton’s Garrett Russell would top the list.
Against Ann Arbor Pioneer on April 5, Russell struck out five batters in an inning.
Yes, five.
Here’s how:
Russell struck out the first two batters of the inning swinging, leaving one out to get. He then struck out that third batter as well, but that batter reached first base because the third strike turned into a wild pitch.
The fourth batter of the inning was the only one to not strike out – he walked, putting runners on first and second base with two outs. Those runners advanced to second and third base, respectively, on a wild pitch thrown to the fifth batter of the inning.
That fifth batter then struck out swinging (which made it four strikeouts in the inning), but that third strike turned into a passed ball – and that batter ended up on first base, loading them for the sixth hitter of the inning.
But Russell found enough for one more K, striking out that sixth hitter swinging on a 2-2 pitch.
His line for the inning: 0 hits, 0 runs, 1 bases on balls, 5 strikeouts.
Brighton went on to sweep the doubleheader 12-4 and 11-1.
Family ties
Basketball clearly runs in a pair of families who have come through Corunna High School.
This winter, brothers M.J. and Mikhail Myles both scored their 1,000th career points – M.J., a senior, on Jan. 3 and Mikhail, a junior, in the team’s District Semifinal on March 5.
On Feb. 18, senior Payton Birchmeier became the fifth player in girls program history to score her 1,000th point – despite scoring only four points as a freshman before suffering a season-ending knee injury in her first high school game. She became the first Corunna girl to score 1,000 since her sister Megan finished accomplishing the feat in 2010.
Payton Birchmeier went on to play her final three seasons also on varsity, and M.J. Myles also was a four-year varsity player. Mykhail Myles has played three on varsity with next season still to play. The Myles' stepsister Klarissa Bell this winter finished an outstanding career at Michigan State University and won the Miss Basketball Award as a senior at East Lansing High School in 2010, and stepbrother Devlin Bell also was a Trojans standout.
PHOTOS: (Top) Rochester Adams players congratulate each other during their May 1 game at Comerica Park. (Middle) The Adams' first baseman and a Cranbrook-Kingswood base runner await the next pitch. (Photos courtesy of Rochester Adams baseball.)
Century of School Sports: All-Time 'Parade of Champions'
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
June 25, 2025
As we do every June, we will complete 2024-25 this week by publishing our “Parade of Champions” – a listing of every team to win an MHSAA Finals championship trophy this school year.
Recognizing about 130 champions annually – give or take a few if there were shared titles along the way during that past fall, winter and spring – it’s always an impressive list. So we’re plenty stoked – maybe even 100 times more – to present as our second-to-last “Century of School Sports” feature a few findings from our work-in-progress all-time “Parade of Champions.”
Eventually, the data we’ve collected will be provided on the MHSAA website as a searchable data base – there’s more work to come, and I’ll explain some of that below. But for today, here are some of the first facts that jump off the pages from this massive collection.
Starting with the biggest: Since its first titles were awarded to finish the Winter 1924-25 season, the MHSAA has recognized 6,876 teams for winning Finals championships.
Five schools have won at least 100 Finals titles, and 17 schools have won 50 or more. Marquette leads the list with 295, followed by East Grand Rapids (145), Escanaba (134), Ann Arbor Pioneer (122) and Detroit Country Day (107).
For several reasons, it’s difficult to compare championship totals among Upper Peninsula and Lower Peninsula schools as apples to apples – chiefly, schools in both peninsulas compete against each other in postseason competition in only 16 of 28 MHSAA-sponsored sports, and a handful of those 16 have little or no representation from the U.P. despite being statewide tournaments.
That said, here’s a look at some expanded school Finals title rankings, but by peninsula, going deeper on Lower Peninsula schools ranked because the majority of Michigan’s high schools are below Mackinac Bridge:
Lower Peninsula: 1. East Grand Rapids (145), 2. Ann Arbor Pioneer (122), 3. Detroit Country Day (107), 4. Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood 88, 5. Detroit Catholic Central (74), 6. Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice (69), 7. Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett (64), 8. Jackson Lumen Christi (55), 9. Petoskey (46), 10. Traverse City Central (45).
11. Okemos (44), 12. Detroit St. Martin dePorres (41), 13. East Lansing (39), 14. Rockford (37), T-15. Ann Arbor Greenhills (35), T-15. Birmingham Seaholm (35), 17. Flint Powers Catholic (33), T-18. Bloomfield Hills Marian (32), T-18. Kalamazoo Central (32), 20. Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern (31).
Upper Peninsula: 1. Marquette (295), 2. Escanaba (134), 3. Iron Mountain (78), 4. Menominee (66), 5. Ishpeming Westwood (65), T-6. Ishpeming (64), T-6. Pickford (64), T-8. Negaunee (50), T-8. Ontonagon (50), 10. Houghton (49).
A few more interesting notes:
• Note Detroit dePorres at No. 12 among Lower Peninsula schools; dePorres closed in 2005. Flint Northern ranks 21st among Lower Peninsula schools with 30 championships despite closing in 2013. The former Ypsilanti High School, which consolidated with Willow Run in 2013 to form Ypsilanti Community, also is high on the list with 24 titles.
• Larger schools generally play more sports, and hence have more opportunities to win Finals titles. But Lower Peninsula small schools fell just outside those listed above, including Battle Creek St. Philip and Fowler – both with 29 championships – and Flint Beecher, Kalamazoo Hackett Catholic Prep and Pewamo-Westphalia with 26 apiece.
• We don’t have an easy way – yet – to figure out which schools have won at least once in the most sports. But among the top five, East Grand Rapids and Marquette both have won titles in 18 sports, Country Day has won in 17, Ann Arbor Pioneer in 15 and Escanaba in 13. Pioneer’s 15 include boys gymnastics, which was sponsored by the MHSAA from 1925-31 and 1961-81.
• Detroit Catholic Central has the most championships among all-boys schools, among 11 sports. Bloomfield Hills Marian ranks highest among all-girls schools, with its titles covering seven sports.
As noted, this remains a work in progress, as we’re continuing to research several school closings, consolidations or other name changes over the last 100 years and how those might affect our championship totals. We also need to continue figuring in how to list championships won by cooperative programs and if those are credited to primary schools or as standalone programs.
In the meantime, we’ll continue to update the data with championships won each season, including in our new sports of girls field hockey and boys volleyball debuting in 2025-26. Once the data is fully edited and complete, we’ll add this substantial source to our growing collection of historical information available for all to enjoy.
Previous "Century of School Sports" Spotlights
June 17: Top Performers Tell Us What High School Sports Mean to Them - Read
June 10: 'The Mitten' Becomes Sought-After Symbol of MHSAA Greatness - Read
June 3: MHSAA's Move to TV, Now Internet, 60 Years Old & Growing - Read
May 27: Upper Peninsula Helps Make Michigan's School Sports Story Unique - Read
May 20: From Nearly A to Z, Schools Repped by 221 Nicknames - Read
May 13: These Record-Setters were Nearly Impossible to Defeat - Read
May 6: 200+ Representatives Fill All-Time Council Roster - Read
April 29: MHSAA Programs Prioritize Health & Safety - Read
April 23: Patches Signify Registered Officials' Role in MHSAA Story - Read
April 16: Student Advisory Council Gives Voice to Athletes - Read
April 9: State's Storytellers Share Spring Memories - Read
April 2: Sharp Leadership Synonymous with MHSAA Success - Read
March 25: Athletic Directors Indispensable to Mission of School Sports - Read
March 18: 2025 Finals Begin Next Half-Century of Girls Hoops Championships - Read
March 11: Boys Basketball's Best 1st to Earn MHSAA Finals Titles - Read
March 5: Everything We Do Begins with Participation - Read
Feb. 25: Slogans & Logos Remain Unforgettable Parts of MHSAA History - Read
Feb. 19: MHSAA Tickets Continue to Provide Fan-Friendly Value - Read
Feb. 11: We Recognize Those Who Make Our Games Go - Read
Feb. 4: WISL Conference Continues to Inspire Aspiring Leaders - Read
Jan. 28: Michigan's National Impact Begins at NFHS' Start - Read
Jan. 21: Awards Celebrate Well-Rounded Educational Experience - Read
Jan. 14: Predecessors Laid Foundation for MHSAA's Formation - Read
Jan. 9: MHSAA Blazes Trail Into Cyberspace - Read
Dec. 31: State's Storytellers Share Winter Memories - Read
Dec. 17: MHSAA Over Time - Read
Dec. 10: On This Day, December 13, We Will Celebrate - Read
Dec. 3: MHSAA Work Guided by Representative Council - Read
Nov. 26: Finals Provide Future Pros Early Ford Field Glory - Read
Nov. 19: Connection at Heart of Coaches Advancement Program - Read
Nov. 12: Good Sports are Winners Then, Now & Always - Read
Nov. 5: MHSAA's Home Sweet Home - Read
Oct. 29: MHSAA Summits Draw Thousands to Promote Sportsmanship - Read
Oct. 23: Cross Country Finals Among MHSAA's Longest Running - Read
Oct. 15: State's Storytellers Share Fall Memories - Read
Oct. 8: Guided by 4 S's of Educational Athletics - Read
Oct. 1: Michigan Sends 10 to National Hall of Fame - Read
Sept. 25: MHSAA Record Books Filled with 1000s of Achievements - Read
Sept. 18: Why Does the MHSAA Have These Rules? - Read
Sept. 10: Special Medals, Patches to Commemorate Special Year - Read
Sept. 4: Fall to Finish with 50th Football Championships - Read
Aug. 28: Let the Celebration Begin - Read
PHOTOS These are all past MHSAA Finals champions, clockwise from top left: The 2016 Detroit Country Day girls tennis team, 2004 Marquette ice hockey team, 1978 Ann Arbor Pioneer girls cross country team, 1981 Escanaba football team and 2013 East Grand Rapids girls lacrosse team.