Ramping Up for Prepapalooza 2014
May 27, 2014
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Over the next five days, thousands of teams representing more than 700 MHSAA high schools will compete for championships at the District, Regional and Finals levels in 11 sports in what annually is the busiest week in Michigan high school sports.
MHSAA.com and Second Half are the places to be for results, coverage and live video from championship events all over both Peninsulas.
Total, 26 Finals champions will be crowned in girls and boys tennis, girls and boys track and field and Upper Peninsula girls and boys golf, with 36 Regional champions rewarded in girls and boys lacrosse and Lower Peninsula boys golf and 320 winners earning trophies in softball, baseball and girls soccer. All tournament rounds combined, more than 8,000 medals will be presented to individual winners or contributors on those team champions.
Game scores as they are reported for baseball, softball, soccer and lacrosse will be available on the MHSAA Score Center throughout the week. Full results from golf Regionals also will be posted over the next five days, as will Finals tennis and golf results as we receive them from Lower and Upper Peninsula hosts (Lower Peninsula tennis opening rounds late Friday evening). Track and Field Finals results will be posted Saturday evening.
All MHSAA Finals from both peninsulas will be covered with stories and photos on Second Half by a crew of valuable correspondents from around the state. Second Half will continue its coverage at the Lacrosse and LP Boys Golf Finals on June 14 and the Baseball, Softball and Girls Soccer Finals from June 19-21.
Live championship races from all seven sites of MHSAA Track and Field Finals will be available on a subscription basis on MHSAA.TV, beginning with the 3,200-meter relays at 10 a.m. at each site. The rest of the Upper Peninsula races then will continue, with Lower Peninsula championship races beginning again at 1 p.m. Highlights from this week's golf and tennis championship events will debut on MHSAA.TV in July.
PHOTOS: (Top) Runners push toward the finish during the 2013 LP Division 3 Final. (Middle) Members of the Bloomfield Hills Academy of the Sacred Heart tennis team hold up number ones to signify their place at last season's LP Division 4 Final.
Grandville Emerges from Semifinal Tie-Breaker to Sweep 1st Championship Win
By
Perry A. Farrell
Special for MHSAA.com
March 1, 2024
ALLEN PARK – Grandville senior Mason VanDyke was looking at a difficult 1-2-4-6-10 in the eighth frame of the third game of Friday’s Division 1 Final against Davison at Thunderbowl Lanes.
He threw the ball and looked away, then was in shock when he heard cheering.
VanDyke indeed picked up the spare, Davison eventually opened in that frame and again in the ninth, and Grandville captured the team title 3-0 with a 162-144 win.
“Unbelievable; I couldn’t believe it honestly,’’ said VanDyke. “This means everything. Last year we missed the cut by 50 pins. Being able to go from 12th to fifth (in qualifying) was absolutely amazing.’’
Said Coach Nick Watkins: “I always tell the guys to concentrate on every shot. That was a big spare because they ended up opening that frame and the next one. Extremely proud of this group.”
Grandville’s lineup included senior Justin Schmidt, freshman Cash Pulcifer, senior VanDyke, junior Bonham Pulcifer, sophomore Ethan Brown, junior Carter Holt and junior Gavin Dailey.
Grandville won the first game 193-191 and went up 2-0 winning the second 195-156. The championship was the Bulldogs’ first.
The Team Bowling Finals went to a new format this season with five Baker games determining the champion.
Davison advanced to the Final by sweeping Holt 3-0, while Livonia Churchill and Grandville went to a five-frame roll-off in their Semifinal after tying the fifth game. Open frames were Churchill’s undoing, as Grandville advanced to the championship with a 93-74 victory.
Churchill had made a huge jump in the first regular game of qualifying, shooting 1,158 to vault from 14th into 10th. A 1,016 in the second regular game garnered Churchill the eighth seed and a match against top-seed Jenison, which finished qualifying with a 3,792.
Waterford Mott was second in qualifying at 3,682, Macomb Dakota third at 3,619 and Grand Haven fourth at 3,571. Grandville, Holt, Davison and Churchill rounded out the top eight.
Holt swept perennial contender Dakota in the Quarterfinals, rolling a 237 in the first game.
Churchill continued its momentum from qualifying, eliminating Jenison 3-1 to set up a Semifinal with Grandville, which had knocked off Grand Haven, 3-1.
Davison defeated Waterford Mott 3-2 to face Holt in the other Semifinal.