Rivaling for a Cause
January 25, 2013
It’s impossible to include all the perspective we gain from every “Battle of the Fans” visit.
But this anecdote, although it didn't make Tuesday’s story about our Frankenmuth trip, tells of another great example for what student cheering sections can accomplish.
Frankenmuth and Millington are heated rivals, to say the least, separated by 13 miles and made more competitive by plenty of championship-deciding matchups over the years.
But for their boys basketball game Jan. 10 at Frankenmuth, student section leaders from both schools almost completely on their own set up the game as a cancer awareness night, complete with Frankenmuth students in black shirts and Millington’s wearing pink.
The idea was the brainchild of a of Frankenmuth section leader, who then received help from a local bank and contacted Millington to get the ball rolling.
Battle of the Fans has shown us the obvious – these student sections need strong leaders – but also the special things they can accomplish with additional initiative.
“Never Forgotten”
Two more rivals, Fennville and Saugatuck, met late last month for their second “Never Forgotten” boys and girls basketball games with proceeds going to the Wes Leonard Heart Team for the purchase of AEDs.
Players wore jerseys with names on the backs of friends and family members who had died, and those jerseys were then given to family members after the games. Officials Ace Cover, Chris Dennie and Kyle Bowen also donated their game checks to the Heart Team, as did the winner of that night’s 50-50 raffle.
Leonard died from sudden cardiac arrest after making the game-winning shot in a basketball game March 3, 2011. The two schools played their first “Never Forgotten” games last season.
More support for less specialization
I’m asked once a year at least about sport specialization – that is, athletes focusing on just one sport, often from an early age, and if it pays off some way down the road.
Most of my evidence to support my belief in the well-rounded athlete has been anecdotal, based on conversations with people at the high school and college levels over the years. But a British study published this fall in the Journal of Sport Sciences by University of Birmingham researchers provides some interesting empirical findings.
The study of 1,006 people from the United Kingdom showed that those who participated in three sports at ages 11, 13 and 15 were “significantly more likely to compete at a national rather than club standard” between ages 16-18 than those who had practiced only one sport.
In other words, the study found that those who played more sports at earlier ages played at a higher level during their high school-age years, which seems to contradict the one-sport focus philosophy.
Click for more perspective on the study from Chris Kennedy, the Superintendent of Schools in West Vancouver, British Columbia.
PHOTO: The boys and girls teams for Fennville and Saugatuck pose together after their "Never Forgotten" games Dec. 21 at Fennville High. (Photo courtesy of Al LaShell.)
Frankfort Relay Recipe Proven Winner as Panthers Seek to Extend Title Streaks
By
Tom Spencer
Special for MHSAA.com
April 7, 2026
FRANKFORT – Frankfort may not have written the recipe for winning MHSAA Finals relay championships.
But they follow one that’s shown growing dominance in Division 4 over the last half-decade.
It starts with four student-athletes able to make strong friendship bonds. Then, lots of practice is added to develop muscle memory and mix in ways to maximize speed potential in the designated 30-meter exchange zone. And, perhaps finally, it is highly recommended to blend in near-perfect handoffs.
Frankfort has been crowned the LPD4 400-meter relay champion the last five years. The Panthers also have run the LPD4 Finals record time in the event, in 2024. And to top it off, the Panthers broke the 800 relay meet record in winning that race last spring.
The championships have come with different tight-knit combinations of runners over the years. Current junior Alice Luther, current seniors Addison Jarosz and Sofia Alaimo Schindler and 2025 graduate Gwyneth Dunaway won both championships together last season and the 400 title in 2024 as well, and first-place combinations also have included Addison Chownyk, Reagan Thor, Tara Townsend, Keyan Clapp, Grace Wolfe and Eliza Frary.
To finalize the recipe, the Panthers add optional ingredients – a golden baton and pineapple socks
Be sure though, it is the golden baton but not the same pineapple socks.
“I get different pairs, because I wear them for all my sports,” said Jarosz, now a senior, who’s been on the last three 400 relay champions along with fellow senior Alaimo Schindler. “They get worn down, but I've worn them since like seventh grade.”
Jarosz is not sure how her special socks-wearing got started. She only knows the first time produced satisfying results. She also runs middle distances with her socks on display for multiple laps.
“I think I might have gotten them as a gift because I was in middle school and going through a phase of crazy socks and stuff,” Jarosz recalls. “I had good luck so now I always wear them.”
As for the golden baton, it’s currently stored in the home of Alaimo Schindler. It got there after last year’s team competed at the Nike Outdoor National Championships in Eugene, Ore. It’s there for safe keeping and only used for relays Jarosz and Alaimo Schindler race.
“We don't let anyone else use it but us – Addie and I have been running together since middle school, and that's the baton we use,” Alaimo Schindler said. “It's just special to us, and it has one tiny dent.”
The bonds – and skills – formed over the last three years by those two and Luther are expected to bode well for the Panthers again this year.
“I think that there's always kind of pressure going into state finals, but I think that we have great coaching and we all work really hard,” admitted Luther, who also runs hurdles. “Gwen's shoe is a hard one to fill, but I think that we have good candidates who are willing to work hard to do it.”
Sophomore Riley LeVack is expected to join Luther, Jarosz and Alaimo Schindler on the shorter relays at the Regional, which the Panthers will host in late May. LeVack filled in a handful of times last spring, helping the Panthers pick up key competition points as they collected team trophies as well.
“Getting on the relay team is a big deal for the girls because this won't go on forever, and it's going to be something they'll look back on and really appreciate how good they were in high school,” said sixth-year Frankfort head track & field coach Ed Schindler. “Sophia, Alice and Addie all had it where they joined a team that had already won the state, so now it's Riley’s turn to see if she can win the state championship with them.”
The composition of the 400 and 800 teams this year will be finalized in time for the Regional. Frankfort has won every relay over the last two Regionals on the way to claiming the team titles at those meets as well. The Panthers also won the Northwest Conference last season. Those team championships in both the league and Regional were the first won by the program over more than 50 years of competition.
“All of our girls are really fast in relays because once we get to max speed, we're pretty good and manage 30 meters of exchange well,” Schindler pointed out. “We have a person on our 4x4 team that pole vaults and another one on our 4x8 that does too. They're all great athletes. When you have a good core group of maybe eight of your total 13 athletes that really score in big meets, that's gives you a shot at the state championship.”
Frankfort placed second to Fowler at last year’s LPD4 Final, its highest MHSAA Finals team finish. In addition to repeating as Regional champion, and keeping the Finals relay title strings alive, Frankfort has its eyes on a Michigan Interscholastic Track Coaches Association team championship.
The Panthers will start the season with lots of confidence they’ll repeat their relay dominance – even if new fourth runners don’t lead to faster times than last year.
“Last year when we were competing against other teams, we were winning by a few seconds, so we have that room and space for another runner who is just a few seconds behind Gwyn,” Alaimo Schindler said. “We're really close to each other, and we hand it down each year. So I'm still I'm very confident, and I think with a lot of practice, we will get to where we were last year.”
“Our handoffs are so good it gives us just that little bit of advantage and helps us get a little bit ahead,” added Jarosz. “It just amazes me sometimes that just that little bit can do a lot.”
Tom Spencer is a longtime MHSAA-registered basketball and soccer official, and former softball and baseball official, and he also has coached in the northern Lower Peninsula area. He previously has written for the Saginaw News, Bay County Sports Page and Midland Daily News. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Manistee, Wexford, Missaukee, Roscommon, Ogemaw, Iosco, Alcona, Oscoda, Crawford, Kalkaska, Grand Traverse, Benzie, Leelanau, Antrim, Otsego, Montmorency, Alpena, Presque Isle, Cheboygan, Charlevoix and Emmet counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Frankfort's Sofia Alaimo Schindler crosses the finish line first in anchoring her 800 relay to last season's Division 4 championship. (Middle) Alice Luther rounds a curve during a winning relay. (Below) From left: now-graduated Gwyneth Dunaway, Luther, Alaimo Schindler and Addison Jarosz take a photo at last year's Finals holding their golden baton. (Photos by Ken Swart/RunMichigan.com.)