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.)
It's Hartland's Turn to Celebrate 'Ring Season' After Clinching 1st Finals Title
By
Steve Vedder
Special for MHSAA.com
March 7, 2025
GRAND RAPIDS – It may not yet possess the tradition of a holiday season, but the Hartland gymnastics team is ecstatic to have a whole new season to celebrate.
It's now Ring Season for the Eagles.
Hartland turned eight top-five finishes into its first MHSAA Finals team gymnastics championship Friday at Grand Rapids Kenowa Hills by outlasting three-time reigning champ Rockford. The Eagles finished with 148.57 points to 146.525 for the runner-up Rams.
Eagles coach Gavin Kress said the result lived up to the team's ultimate goal going way back to last year's narrow but promising fourth-place finish. And Kress said his team had the perfect expression for the success going back to the first days of practice this winter.
"Our motto all year has been ring season," he said. "That's what the girls call it – ring season."
While programs such as Rockford, Farmington United and Grand Ledge have dominated the sport with 14 Finals titles between them since 2008, Kress didn't think his team’s championship came out of the blue. Hartland finished fourth the last two years, missing out on last season’s title by 2.5 points and by 4.1 in 2023.
This time around, the Eagles were led by seven seniors, but with plenty of underclassmen talent. The team didn't score below 142 points in any significant meet this winter, topped off by arguably their best showing Friday.
"We've definitely built up to this, and we killed (routines) today," he said. "We've beat team and individual records all year. I didn't want to predict this, but the girls did."
Hartland was headed by junior Alexis Fundich, who finished first on bars (9.6750), beam (9.75), floor (9.7) and all-around (38.425). She said many of her teammates have been on varsity for two or three years while showing significant improvement. That improvement, Fundich said, is what pushed the Eagles from the cusp of a state title to taking home the hardware.
"We've worked hard, so it's not too surprising to us," she said. "We were a little frustrated after finishing fourth last year, but that motivated us. We worked hard and expected to do better than fourth."
Farmington United was third with 144.975 points, Northville fourth at 142.575 and Linden/Fenton/Lake Fenton was fifth at 139.925.
Rockford coach Michelle Ankney, part of a program which has collected six Finals titles since 2015, said she wasn't surprised by Hartland's solid showing, which also featured four top-five finishes by Abby Griffen, including a first on vault (9.725), as she placed fourth all-around (37.8).
"They have some amazing skills, hard skills. We're impressed with them, for sure," Ankney said. "But we're proud of ourselves. We're young (six seniors among 27 athletes). We had the highest team score we've had this year, so we're very proud."
Hartland senior Jayden Garcia said while some teams would be more than content with a top-five Finals finish, last year's meet left her teammates believing they could take the next step this season.
"We got fourth, but we tried to push ourselves more and more," she said. "This year we thought we could do better. We worked from the moment we got fourth last year. We were fired up at every event. Winning state was our main goal."
Kress said much of the team's strength can be traced to talent. But when you toss in the leadership of seven seniors, the motivation from being in the hunt a year ago and obvious improvement over the last three months, winning the championship actually shouldn't have been considered a longshot.
"One hundred percent," he said of the seniors' influence. "They support every single person on the team and help build up their confidence. That definitely contributed to our scoring."
Leah Hodge of Farmington United, last season’s Division 1 individual all-around champ, was second on vault (9.7), second on bars (9.675), third on floor (9.475) sixth on beam (9.325) and second all-around (38.175).
Rockford's Ava Ezell was runner-up on beam (9.65) and third all-around (37.875). Keira Sadler of Linden finished fifth (36.8) all-around.
The Individual Finals will be held at Kenowa Hills beginning at noon Saturday.
PHOTOS (Top) Hartland's Emma Beres competes on floor exercise during Friday's Team Gymnastics Final at Kenowa Hills. (Middle) Livonia Stevenson's Mya Chamberlain competes on balance beam. (Below) The Eagles take a team photo with their championship trophy. (Click for more from High School Sports Scene.)