'The Comeback is Always Better than the Setback'

By Rob Kaminski
MHSAA benchmarks editor

November 12, 2021

Following is the publisher’s note and cover story from the Fall 2021 edition of benchmarks, which was published earlier this school year and highlighted changes coming to tournaments as MHSAA activities moved back toward normal.

Suffice it to say, as we stride into the 2021-22 school year, it is not just another year for the MHSAA, nor will it be business as usual as we continue to monitor the COVID clouds that can’t dissipate quickly enough. However, we do intend to make it as close to “business as usual” as possible.

From the Publisher: Not “Just Another Year” Ahead, But Here’s Hoping

After the disheartening cancelation of numerous winter tournaments and the entire spring seasons of 2020, together we navigated through a tumultuous 2020-21 athletic campaign with plenty of blood, sweat and tears to combat a multitude of obstacles.

The entire MHSAA staff owes a debt of gratitude to every individual who made last year possible, from our school administrators to ticket takers, literally thousands of contributors who made sure we reached the finish line against seemingly insurmountable odds.

There were many occasions during the pandemic when the easiest path would have been to give up and give in. School sports was the one thread of normalcy in many school communities, and it provided the important opportunity to remain physically active. Even more critical, it offered an in-person avenue for personal connections and relationships with a student’s coaches, teammates and even opponents during a time that was so virtual and distant in most other ways.

And, now we move forward, taking steps toward a better future.

One of my favorite quotes is “The comeback is always better than the setback.” There have been many setbacks for all of us over the past 16 months, and we look forward to working with your school and school community in finding more normalcy for our kids in this year of the great comeback. 

Let’s continue to come together and support our young people during a time where school sports are needed now more than ever.

The end goal? Nothing new and earth-shattering. In fact, we’re shooting for the opposite.

– Mark Uyl, MHSAA Executive Director

Cross Country Finals

Off and Running

With the school year in full swing, hopes are high that the only changes for this year and beyond will be membership-driven.

The 2020-21 MHSAA athletic year could best be described as both unforgettable and forgettable. Seasons began, and were halted. Some sports didn’t begin, then they did, then were put on hold. Testing was mandated and modified. Masks were part of the uniform at some venues, and not required at others.

Last school year began, from the standpoint of the MHSAA and its constituents around the state, with the first of what would be 37 updates concerning processes and procedures outlining everything from testing to tournament schedules in the most fluid and chaotic period of time anyone currently in school sports has experienced.

In the end, through the tremendous leadership and fortitude of athletic administrators, coaches, contest officials and parents – and the resilience and the enthusiasm of the student-athletes we serve – the year culminated last June in settings as close to normal as things have been since March 2020.

Although some clouds remain overhead, and eyes and ears continue to closely monitor developments which threaten the health of athletics and participants, here’s hoping for mostly sunny skies and a 2021-22 year that will return to normalcy.

With that in mind, there are a few new wrinkles to this Fall’s tournament season.

One of the most anticipated sport-related changes for Fall 2021 is the full implementation of the “enhanced strength-of-schedule” format for selecting the 256-team field for the 11-Player Football Playoffs. The new format eliminates automatic qualification based on win total and bases it solely on playoff-point average, which also is determined differently in that it now awards teams more for playing tougher schedules.

The new playoff-point formula was used in 2020 to seed teams at the District and Regional levels, but its use for qualification was put on hold as COVID-19 caused a one-season switch in playoff format that allowed all teams to qualify.

"Schools for years have struggled finding opponents during the regular season, especially those programs that have had some success over the years,” said MHSAA Executive Director Mark Uyl. “Now, qualification for the playoffs will be based strictly on playoff points, so schools will benefit by scheduling tough opponents, win or lose. This new approach will build excitement, and will address a scheduling problem that has occurred for many years."

Lower Peninsula Cross Country also will implement a change that was postponed last year when adjustments were made to thin the Finals field by running in “sessions” and spreading the Finals over two days.

This year, spectators will likely see more runners at Michigan International Speedway than ever before due to a potential increase in Regional qualifiers to the Final.

The Cross Country/Track & Field Committee in January 2019 recommended a change to allow a minimum of seven individual qualifiers to advance from each Regional race. The MHSAA Representative Council approved the idea for 2020, and the change will take effect this fall.

Golf Finals“The Committee felt that in some years a Regional with a few strong teams limits or hinders the ability of individual runners not on those teams from advancing; meaning that if they weren’t in the top 15 they weren’t going to advance,” said MHSAA Assistant Director Cody Inglis, who oversees the Cross Country Tournament.

“Standardizing the amount of individual runners per race allows more competitors while also ‘guarding the gate’ against making the races too big in each division. This standardization of the individual qualifiers allows more kids to get a taste of the Finals while not limiting the strong teams that exist in several Regionals around the state in each Division.”

Previously, runners on teams that did not qualify as a whole could still advance to the Finals if they finished among the top 15 individuals at a Regional – but at some Regionals runners from the team qualifiers filled the great majority of those top 15 finishes. The seven individual qualifiers from each Regional this season will be the first seven finishers from teams that do not qualify as a whole, even if they finish outside of the top 15.

While COVID factors delayed action in most sports, the pandemic in fact expedited change in the sport of golf. The Golf Committee’s recommendation for live scoring in 2019 was implemented in tournaments during 2020-21, and now is required for regular-season events as well, beginning this school year.

“The state of the pandemic precipitated the move to the use of electronic scoring during the MHSAA Girls Golf Tournament in the fall of 2020, as eliminating the exchange of physical scorecards was a measure that decreased contact points between participants and helped ensure the safety of all at MHSAA events,” said Inglis, who also oversees all golf activities.

The scoring platform is made available through the MHSAA Golf app, which was created and is operated by iWanamaker and allows golfers, coaches and fans to chart scoring in real time.

“High school golf at times was one of the only sports where no one knew what the score was until after the round was completed, often times far too late to make any corrections or adjustments,” said MHSAA Project Coordinator Cole Malatinsky, who heads up the iWanamaker system. “The MHSAA Golf app and iWanamaker scoring platform allows people to track results in real time and helps the MHSAA better manage the logistics of tournaments, two aspects much needed in high school golf.”

Additionally, the system provides increased accountability and fair play.

Tennis Finals“This system not only provides coaches and tournament managers an easy and efficient means of setting up and scoring tournaments, but helps to increase scoring integrity,” Inglis said. “Recording only your score for each hole on a scorecard (electronic or paper) was defined as a deficiency in the scoring process for high school golf. While no system replaces integrity – which you either have or don’t have – iWanamaker allows more ‘eyeballs’ on all scores during the course of a match.”

Along the lines of competitive integrity, a change also has been made for the MHSAA Tennis Finals. If a seeded player withdraws on the day of the MHSAA Final, all seeded players below that withdrawing player (including the provisional seed in that flight) will move up and be placed on the proper line for that new seed. Playing against the same team more than twice at the Finals is permitted in this instance.

“The Tennis Committee felt that this was a logical solution to situations that sometimes arise on the day of the event,” said MHSAA Assistant Director Dan Hutcheson, who coordinates tennis events. “This way, individuals who have worked hard to earn seeded positions will be elevated to the next position on the brackets.”

Century of School Sports: 200+ Representatives Fill All-Time Council Roster

By Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor

May 6, 2025

When Plymouth-Canton Community Schools superintendent Monica Merritt attended her first meeting as a member of the MHSAA’s Representative Council on March 21 in East Lansing, she became the 203rd voting member to serve on the association’s legislative body since the first Council convened Dec. 13, 1924.

We covered how the Council is comprised in our Dec. 3 installment – “MHSAA Work Guided by Representative Council.” Briefly, the Council is the 19-member legislative body of the MHSAA. All but five members are elected by member schools. Four members are appointed by the Council to facilitate representation of females and minorities, and the 19th position is occupied by the Superintendent of Public Instruction or designee.

During a typical school year, the Council meets three times, and convened for the third time for 2024-25 this past Sunday and Monday in Gaylord.

The first Representative Council included 11 members, from Ann Arbor, Battle Creek, Detroit, Eaton Rapids, Escanaba, Flint, Grand Rapids, Ishpeming, Otsego, Petoskey and Saginaw. While it’s difficult to say how many high schools specifically have been represented over the years – for example, Detroit Public Schools as a district has one representative, and there are multiple statewide positions – it’s accurate to say at least 130 communities (made of one or more schools) have sent at least one delegate over the last century.

Total, 54 Council members have served at least a decade, and 11 of those 54 have served at least 20 years: Detroit’s George Mead (1930-62) and Roy Allen (1976-96), Gwinn’s Leo P. McDonald (1930-52), Saginaw’s Roy J. McMurray (1932-50, 1952-57), Escanaba’s Dan Flynn (1988-2010), Grand Haven's Scott Grimes (2001-24), Deerfield, Beal City, Hartford and Cheboygan’s Paul Ellinger (1985-2007); Gaylord, Benzonia and Bear Lake’s Karen Leinaar (2000-2021); Clare, Maple City and Sanford Meridian’s William Newkirk (1988-2007), Trenton and Gibraltar Carlson’s Eric Federico (1986-94, 1996-2009) and current director of physical education and athletics for the Archdiocese of Detroit Vic Michaels, who has represented non-public schools on the Council since 2003.

A total of 17 Council members have served multiple terms but not entirely consecutively, with Petoskey’s Robert Doctor the only one with two breaks; he was on the Council from 1972-80, 1988-90 and 1994-95. As noted by his 32 years above, Mead was on the Council longest, representing Detroit Public Schools during his tenure as health and physical education director.

At least eight Council members have represented multiple schools, including current member Fred Smith, who has served a combined 15 years over two tenures while employed at Comstock, Buchanan, Benton Harbor and currently Bangor.

Michigan Department of Education representatives are not counted in the totals above as they are non-voting members – but they has provided an invaluable viewpoint during Council proceedings over the years. The current MDE representative on Council is Ross Fort, who serves as special assistant to the deputy superintendent.

The photo above was taken Monday morning. Front row, from left, are MHSAA executive director Mark Uyl, Michaels (who also serves as Council secretary/treasurer), Midland athletic director and Council president Eric Albright, and Brighton athletic director and Council vice president John Thompson.

Second row, from left, are Gobles athletic director Chris Miller, Freeland Middle School principal Jennifer Thunberg, Kingsford athletic director Chris Hartman and Camden-Frontier superintendent Chris Adams.

Third row, from left: Boyne City High School principal Adam Stefanski, Harbor Springs athletic director Anna Novak, Wyoming Godfrey-Lee Public Schools superintendent Arnetta Thompson, Mt. Morris athletic director Jeff Kline and Fenton High School principal Mike Bakker.

Back row, from left: Westland John Glenn athletic director Jason Malloy, Smith, Merritt, Fort, Detroit Public Schools executive director of athletics Jay Alexander and Calumet assistant principal Sean Jacques. (Portage Northern athletic director Chris Riker is not pictured.)

Previous "Century of School Sports" Spotlights

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