Article - High School Sports Scene

From MHSAA

EAST LANSING – The Michigan High School Athletic Association has selected 14 student-athletes from Class A member schools to receive scholarships through its Scholar-Athlete Award program. Jessica Hacker of Bay City Western was among the finalists.

Farm Bureau Insurance, in its 25th year of sponsoring the award, will give $1,000 college scholarships to 32 individuals who represent their member schools in at least one sport in which the Association sponsors a postseason tournament. The first 30 scholarships are awarded proportionately by school classification and number of student-athletes involved in those classes; also, there are two at-large honorees who can come from any classification.

Each of the scholarship recipients will be honored at halftime ceremonies of the Class C Boys Basketball Final game March 22 at the Breslin Student Events Center in East Lansing. Commemorative medallions will be given to the finalists in recognition of their accomplishments.

The Class A Scholar-Athlete Award honorees are: Paige Blakeslee, Gibraltar Carlson; Kirsten Avery Chambers, Riverview; Elizabeth Cowger, Fenton; Caroline Ann Hagan, East Lansing; Anna Haritos, Auburn Hills Avondale; Grace Kao, Okemos; Elianna Shwayder, Saline; Ryan S. Fischer, Grandville; Rami Kadouh, Dearborn; Cody James McKay, Utica Ford; Samuel A. Mousigian, Dearborn; Vikram Shanker, Midland Dow; Jalal Taleb, Dearborn Heights Crestwood; and Tanner Vincent, Novi.

Other Class A girls finalists for the Scholar-Athlete Award were: Saige Tomczak, Bay City Central; Jessica Hacker, Bay City Western; Tatyanna Dadabbo, Bloomfield Hills Marian; Clare Nienstedt, Bloomfield Hills Marian; Tala Taleb, Dearborn Heights Crestwood; Mallory Beswick, Grand Haven; Claire Elise Borchers, Grand Haven; Joslyn Mae TenBrink, Jenison; Jessica Graves, Lowell; Gabrielle Gencheff, Marquette; Fiona B. Shea, Middleville Thornapple Kellogg; Kallisse R. Dent, Midland Dow; Rachel Barrett, Milford; Meghan Datema, Rockford; Molly Peregrine, Traverse City Central; Sarah O’Connor, Waterford Kettering; and Jenna Ciennik, Waterford Mott.

Back

From MHSAA

EAST LANSING – The Michigan High School Athletic Association has selected 14 student-athletes from Class A member schools to receive scholarships through its Scholar-Athlete Award program. Saige Tomczak of Bay City Central was among the finalists.

Back

From MHSAA

EAST LANSING – The Michigan High School Athletic Association has selected 14 student-athletes including Vikram Shanker of Midland Dow from Class A member schools to receive scholarships through its Scholar-Athlete Award program.

Vikram Shanker, Midland Dow

Played four years of varsity tennis, earned all-state honors all four years with four Regional individual championships, two individual MHSAA Finals championships and as part of four MHSAA team champions. Served as team captain the last two seasons. Finished a combined 73-1 the last two seasons and ranks in the MHSAA record book for career and single-season doubles wins and consecutive doubles wins. Named a National Merit Scholarship semifinalist and earned an AP Scholar with Distinction award. Participated in Dow’s student union government four years and as a Mentor Center tutor the last two. Also participated two years on the varsity debate team, including as captain, and four on the school’s DECA team including as treasurer and then president. Expects to complete the highest Student Achievement Testing ranking for piano this year. Participated on regional champion Science Olympiad teams. Undecided on where he will attend college, but will study electrical engineering and computer science.

Essay Quote: “In both life and athletics, we encounter thrilling wins and heartbreaking losses, engage with all types of personalities and persevere through obstacles with hard work, determination and the support of those who are close to us. Sportsmanship provides a moral compass by which to guide our behavior and our demeanor on and off-court.”

Back

From MHSAA

EAST LANSING, Mich. – Feb. 18 – The Michigan High School Athletic Association has selected 14 student-athletes from Class A member schools, including Grace Kao of Okemos, to receive scholarships through its Scholar-Athlete Award program.

Grace Kao, Okemos

Participated in her fourth season of varsity swimming and diving and holds one team, three league and four pool records. Helped team to four league meet championships and served as captain this fall. Earned all-state as part of two relays during career, and this fall also finished 10th in the 100-yard backstroke at the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 2 Finals. Earned academic all-state honors and a National AP Scholar award, also is a two-year member of the National Honor Society, serving as secretary. Participated on Science Olympiad team that qualified for the state tournament. Earned highest or superior performance ratings playing the viola and piano, respectively. Served as captain of ACTION Volunteer Club and started Chieftain Champs mentoring program to assist elementary students. Taught culture class for Lansing Chinese School and earned first place in Michigan Chinese Schools speech competition. Will attend Carnegie Mellon University and study computer science.

Essay Quote: “Sometimes we forget that everything is just a game. We get so buried in our thoughts of winning that we forget that at the end of the game, we are all just peers, and even friends. … Everyone is playing for the fun of the sport and the feeling of accomplishment after all of the time and work put in.”

Back

From the MHSAA

EAST LANSING – The Michigan High School Athletic Association has selected 14 student-athletes from Class A member schools, including Carline Ann Hagen of East Lansing to receive scholarships through its Scholar-Athlete Award program.

Caroline Ann Hagan, East Lansing

Ran four years of varsity cross country and will play her third season of varsity soccer this spring, also played varsity basketball as a junior and competes at a statewide level in figure skating. Qualified for the MHSAA Finals in cross country as both a freshman and sophomore and earned all-District recognition in soccer. Served as captain multiple seasons in soccer and basketball. Serving as student body president after two years as her class president as a sophomore and junior. Participating in National Honor Society for the third year and earned school’s Distinguished Scholar Award all four years. Participated in Young Life youth group four years and as a volunteer for the LINKS autism program, the Sparrow Foundation’s Women Working Wonders group and as a youth soccer coach. Will attend Michigan State University and study business and broadcast journalism.

Essay Quote: “Sportsmanship to me is not the amount of medals you win or state championships you bring home. It is about being with your teammates, knowing how to help them when they are down. Sportsmanship is about picking your friends up, giving hugs and high fives, so you both succeed.”

Back

High school hockey remains a competitive sport in Michigan. But it’s never been one of the least inexpensive sports for participants, and getting enough players to field a team has been challenging for some area teams.

“Generally, we have no more than 26 players that try out each year, and usually it’s less than that,” said Big Rapids coachTim Blashill. “We have not seen a tremendous increase or decrease.”

Big Rapids is currently not co-oping with other schools.

“Our numbers have continued to be good through the years,” said Big Rapids athletic director Nick Scheible. “There has been a given year or two where we have gone with a smaller team, but that was more of a coach’s decision than interest.

“I think there are a group of people that think travel hockey is the way to go, but that isn’t a new problem. People have been making that choice for years.”

Jeff Bell, athletic director at Freeland, said his school had an increase in numbers due to a new co-op agreement between Freeland, Nouvel Catholic Central, and Valley Lutheran. “I would hope [numbers] increase as the program grows,” he said. “I would say that the youth programs in the area will be the feeders for our team.”

Tim Beurer is the hockey coach at Lowell High School, which co-ops with Caledonia and South Christian. “We have seen the number of players on our team hold steady over the past couple of seasons, give or take a player or two,” he said. “However, our tryouts are not producing a large selection of potential players to select our team from.

“Ideally, I would like to get 20 players on the roster [18 skaters and two goalies] each season. This past season, we started the season with 18 players and will finish with just 16. We had just over 20 players at the tryouts back in early November for the team.”

Beurer said the economy has more than likely caused a downturn in numbers at the youth level. “Although we have seen somewhat of a rebound in the economy, the kids just have not come back like some may have expected. All of the costs to play this sport are continuing to rise, which makes it more difficult for families to make the financial commitment. We have even experienced families unable to pay their bill and had to take their son off of the ice in order to get them to pay.”

The numbers have been looking good at Midland Dow. The program doesn’t have a co-op arrangement, but the numbers have been higher than average.

“We have a very strong team, and boys wanted to be part of it,” said head coach Dick Blasy. He added that the numbers “should be normal in the near future but may go down in the distant future.”

Travel and house hockey programs in the Midland area are healthy. “But the enrollment in elementary schools in Midland is down,” Blasy said.

Mike Willett is the coach at Mount Pleasant, and he said numbers have been staying around 18 to 20 the past couple of years.

It’s Willett’s first season coaching. The school is not in a co-op, and he is concerned with numbers. “Next season, we will drop to around 15 because of a mix of players staying with travel teams and a lack of incoming ninth graders. Mount Pleasant does have a local house program and travel programs that are between 30 to 60 minutes away.”

JJ Bamberger, coach at Saginaw Heritage, has had some challenges with his program. “We had 39 kids try out this year, which is slightly down,” he said. “I like our future. We have a lot of kids that are going to try out for our team.” he said.

Heritage draws from a number of travel teams, he added.

Peter Ryan is Heritage’s athletic director. He indicated that the number of players who tried out for the hockey team is consistent with past seasons.

For the future, some coaches and athletic directors are optimistic. Youth programs from Saginaw, Bay City, and Midland continue to feed his high school program, Ryan indicated.

“The numbers look good, a tribute to the USA ADM program,” Blashill said. “It looks like it will produce more sustained numbers for our area. Our local youth association [has had] a steady increase in number over the past three years.”

Scheible agreed with his coach. “I believe that the numbers in Big Rapids will continue to stay healthy into the future,” he said. “Hockey is a big sport in our community, and I think that will continue, although numbers have decreased slightly at the youth level.”

“I suspect the next couple of seasons to be around the same or slightly down from this season. There are quite of a few players playing hockey, but many are either leaving the game or choosing to play youth hockey versus high school,” Beurer said.

“According to the information we have been able to gather from local area associations, there are a lot of young kids playing hockey from Caledonia.

“Our primary feeder program for the varsity team is our JV club team, which provides kids an opportunity to continue to work on their skills before making the jump to varsity hockey. There are also several youth hockey associations in the Grand Rapids area where in-district youth players are playing. For example, there are approximately 40-plus kids playing hockey in the Kentwood hockey association this season. However, it will be several years before they are age eligible to play at the varsity level.”

Beurer is cautiously optimistic about the future. “I would really like to see the numbers go back up to where they were like 5-10 years ago,” he said. “However, I just do not think that will ever happen.”

Back

Brianna Zimmer doesn’t mind the heavy snowfall that has blanketed the area this winter.

It’s no wonder. Zimmer is a talented junior skiing for the Mount Pleasant athletic program. She has been skiing overall for four seasons and in high school for three.

Zimmer went to the state meet as a sophomore. In her first two seasons, she’s had strong performances at various meets.

“This year, I think I’ve taken another giant step in becoming an all-around skier,” she said, adding that her conference meet was a strong performance, while she struggled somewhat in the regional.

This season, she won the slalom event at the Cadillac Invitational. She also took the slalom at the conference championship meet, which qualified her for the Division state finals in that event. In meet at Harbor Springs, Zimmer took 17th place in the giant slalom.

“She’s had a stellar season,” said coach Charlie Zeiter. “She’s one of the best female ski racers I’ve ever had, and this is my 47th year of doing this. She’s the complete package. She knows how to get ready for race day, she knows how to train. She’s always working hard.

“She’s a scholar-athlete in the truest sense of the word,” Zeiter said. “I got a hold of her in about eighth grade and she got hooked on ski racing. She’s the kind of athlete that is the coach’s dream. She’s so coachable. You tell her how to take a certain part of the course, or a combination or whatever, and it’s a done deal.”

“Coach always tells me I usually have a pretty good line in GS,” Zimmer said. “I’ve always been good at that. The slalom, it’s my competitiveness, I guess.”

Two teammates from the boys’ team qualified for the slalom event at state finals.

“Skiing isn’t really a big sport at my school,” Zimmer said. “We don’t have a big amount of girls for the team This year’s team had five girls. You usually want six on a team. Our guys’ team had a fair amount of boys. It’s growing.”

Zimmer got interested in the ski team through her brother. “He is three years older than me,” she said. “In his junior year, he was on the ski team. The coach asked me to be a manager. So I would go up to Snow Snake with the team. Then I started doing it from then on.”

Snow Snake Ski and Golf in Harrison is the team’s home course.

Zimmer, like other skiers, benefitted from the onslaught of snow that started falling in late November and continued all season.

“Usually we never get to go to the hill before Christmas break,” Zimmer said. “Usually Christmas is the first time we get to go. This year we got to go to Snow Snake a few days before Christmas break. It gave us a better chance to start training.”

Zimmer also takes advantage of her chances to ski when the high school season is done. “I’ve been to Utah a couple of times, and I’ve been to Canada,” she said.

At Mount Pleasant, Zimmer also plays volleyball and soccer. Her favorite sport is a tossup between volleyball and skiing.

“The atmosphere in skiing is laid back, and it’s a lot of fun,” Zimmer said.

Back

Wally Schneider has coached a boys’ bowling team this season at Ithaca that has pulled off some impressive accomplishments. The top one occurred at the Division 4 state finals on Feb. 28 at M-66 Lanes in Battle Creek.

Ithaca advanced to the finals against Jonesville and fell 1,153-1094. But the Jackets stll brought home a runner-up trophy. Contributing for Ithaca in the finals were Blake Gulick at 151, Jared Baublit at 156, Kaeden Greer at 167, donal Carl at 137 and Joe Whittaker at 172.

February was quite a month for Ithac.

On Saturday, Feb. 1, at Riverwood Lanes in Mount Pleasant, the Yellowjackets had an outstanding performance. “In our first Peterson game against Alma, the boys shot a 1,292 game, which is the highest game ever shot by a Division 4 school and the third highest game ever shot in MHSAA history,” Schneider said. “Joe Whitaker shot 300 during the game, and Kaeden Greer carried a possible 300 into the 10th frame before settling for a 277. Donald Carl shot 247 and Jared Baublitz 236 and Blake Gulick 232.

“Everything went right. All five guys were hitting so well. They were all throwing a lot of strikes. It was a great day, a really fun day. It was an amazing thing to be a part of.”

Carl, Greer, and Whitaker are seniors, while Baublitz and Gulick are sophomores. Baublitz started out with the junior varsity and was moved up to the varsity during the season.

The Yellowjackets finished second in the Tri-Valley West with an 8-2 record. Both losses came to St. Louis. Overall, Ithaca was 15-2.

“The boys are bowling really well,” Schneider said. “It’s not always the same person. It’s important that our big guys are hitting. But we’ve had times when those guys aren’t necessarily right on. Someone else comes up to fill that void. It’s been an amazing season.”

The intensive rivalry between Ithaca and St. Louis has continued onto the bowling lanes.

“It’s always been a great rivalry,” Schneider said. “I’ve been doing this for 11 years. St. Louis coach’ has been Al Post or his brother basically that period of time. It’s always been tough between the two of us. We’ve always battled, it seems like every year.

“We get along well with each other. It’s been a lot of fun. It’s always back and forth between those two teams. We and St. Louis have always been tight. I’m sure there’s been a year or two where one of the teams has been up or down. It’s not very often. We’re both usually there.”

Ithaca has been in the top six of the final Division 4 state standings a couple of times. In February, Ithaca competed in the entire Tri-Valley Conference meet and took second in that tournament behind Caro. Several Class B schools participated.

“It’s pretty competitive,” said nine-year bowling coach Al Post of St. Louis, referring to the rivalry with Ithaca. “Ithaca and us always seem to butt heads.”

St. Louis advanced to the state quarterfinals but lost to Sandusky 1,209-1,208.

The previous week at regiojnals, Ithaca was first, Hemlock second and St. Louis third.

It’s the type of rivalry that seems to bring out the best between the two teams.

“Their only loss was to us,” Post said. “They wanted to win. We had a good match, and we happened to win it.”

Geographically, the two schools are close, and they are competitive in the conference and in the postseason.

“The kids all know each other pretty well,” Post said. “It’s a very respected rivalry, I will say that. It might not have been a few years back. But now, it’s a very respectable rivalry. Both programs are so strong now. We both want to beat each other bad. Wally has a great program, so do we.”

Back

Boyd Hubbard comes from an avid wrestling family in Alma, and it’s not surprising that he had a strong season on the mat for the Panthers.

Hubbard is a junior who has been wrestling for 13 years, three years in high school. He went to the state finals in 2013 and lost in the blood round.

He won the Sparta and Leslie tournaments this season as well as a District Title beating eventual state champ, Tristin Zienkiewicz and qualified for state after placing second in the regional , losing Zienkiewic. He entered the state tournament with a record of 44-6.

At The Palace of Auburn Hills for the state finals, Hubbard was eighth at 160 pounds in Division 3. He lost his first match, won his next two and fell to Brandon Dyke of Allendale in the match for seventh place.

“This is my best season so far,” Hubbard said. “It’s probably from a lot of mat time, like wrestling over the summer.”

On the mat, Hubbard considers himself quick on his feet. “I get in on a lot of shots,” he said. “I normally escape from everyone I wrestle.”

He’s wrestling at 160 pounds this year after being at 145 and 152 his previous seasons. “It was kind of a struggle at first,” Hubbard said. “Now, it’s just as easy as it was last year, I just need to continue to work harder this summer and come back stronger and quicker than ever!”

Hubbard has three older brothers who wrestled at Alma, Bruce, Brett, and William. Bruce placed eighth at one state final. Brett and William were both state qualifiers.

“I’m a lot like them,” Boyd said. “The reason I’m wrestling is because of them. I had them to wrestle with me. Bruce and Brett were lighter weights. Will was a heavier weight.”

Their dad, William, wrestled in a high school briefly, also, Boyd noted.

Boyd has also lettered in football and has run track and played baseball in the spring.

Teammate Damian Castillo, who has also had a strong season, is a junior at 130 pounds. He has wrestled since he was four years old and is in his third high school season. As a freshman at 103, he qualified for state. As a sophomore at 125, he was TVC champ. He didn’t qualify for state last season but did this year as a district and regional champ. At the state finals, he won his first match but lost his next two and didn’t place.

“I’ve been pretty satisfied with my season,” he said. “There have been a couple of matches here and there that i should not have lost, It happens.”

It was Damian’s best high school season.

“I’ve improved a lot,” he said. “I’ve been working on moving my feet more and getting off from bottom. That’s the main thing, keeping my feet moving.”

Working on his feet and getting takedowns have been major strengths for Castillo.

Standing as high as he can on the podium at the state finals is a major goal for Castillo.

“A state championship is very reasonable for me, I am ready to continue to work for that and see what happens?” I will continue to get better, “I need to wrestle my best.”

Back

It’s the inaugural Ohio-Michigan Border Classic, and it will feature Michigan’s best vs. Ohio’s best on Saturday, June 14, at Donnell Stadium at the University of Findlay in Findlay, Ohio.

The Michigan High School Football Coaches Association announced its first Border Classic team that will be playing an Ohio all-star squad. All players will be members of the Class of 2014.

Local players who have been selected to the team team include quarterback Travis Smith of Ithaca, wide receiver Amari Cleman of New Lothrop, offensive guard Curtis Doyle of Alma, and wide receiver Malik Taylor of Montrose.

“We’re pretty excited,” said Larry Merx, executive director of the MHSFCA. “We’ll have a chance to build a lot of bridges between the two states.”

Head coach is Mike Zdebski and offensive line coach is Mike Weiskoph, both from Walled Lake Western. Zdebski is also coaching quarterbacks, tailbacks, and kickers. Other coaches are Ed Greeman of Harper Creek with the wide receivers, Tim Szegda and Brian Lemons of Father Gabriel Richard with the defensive line and linebackers, and Scott Merchant of Chippewa Valley with the defensive backs.

The game will replace the annual Michigan East-West all-star game, a summer fixture since 1981.

“This will take the place of our East-West game, because there are only two weekends in June you can have an all-star game and get players to come,” Merx said. “More and more of them report to their college [teams] in late June or early July. The only two weekends this year would be June 14, which we’re doing, and June 21. We can’t man two back-to-back all-star games. There’s not enough people and enough time to do two games back-to-back.

“Ohio has the ability because of their [governing] body, the Ohio High School Athletic Association. They can do their North and South game in the spring. But we can’t do that, because we can’t have an all-star game during the school year or kids would lose their eligibility for other sports. That’s an MHSAA rule.”

Merx said the MHSFCA was approached by the Ohio association in October 2012 to see if there was an interest in having an all-star game.

“We’re committed one year at a time,” Merx said. “We anticipate that we’ll host it in Michigan next year and it will be continuing.”

At one time, MHSFCA all-star games were staged at Division I sites such as Michigan State University, University of Michigan, and Central Michigan University. Recent years have seen the game at Division II Grand Valley State University and Division III Alma College.

“The NCAA has a rule that prohibits Division I schools from hosting any high school-related event that’s not associated with a specific high school, non-scholastic,” Merx said. “So we have to go to DII. We’re trying to get that rule changed.”

Profits from the game will go to the scholarship funds of the respective organizations.

The Michigan East-West all-star game format involved twice as many players and coaches, and Merx said there was plenty of discussion about the change.

“We hope to be able to get back to that,” he explained. “But there’s also a lot more regional games. There’s a Muskegon area all-star game. There’s an Upper Peninsula all-star game. There’s one in Monroe County. Kids still get that all-star experience. We’d like to have that statewide experience. At this time, we can’t do both.”

This will mark the first time Michigan football all-stars have played all-stars from another state. “Ohio is the first to approach us,” Merx said.

The MHSFCA selected the six all-star coaches, who then recruited the players, he noted. “There was a lot of research done to do it,” Merx said.

Smith, who led Ithaca to its fourth straight 14-0 season and state title, will have one last high school game prior to going to Wake Forest University. The thought of playing in the game excites him.

“It’s a great feeling,” he said. “It’s top competition in the Midwest. It’ a good feeling to know they picked me to compete in one of the most competitive football games you could compete in in the Midwest. It’s going to be a lot of fun.”

Back

Bay CIty Western Scholar athlete is MHSAA finalist

Bay City Central scholar athlete is MHSAA finalist

Midland Dow girl is MHSAA scholar-athlete

Okemos girl is MHSAA student-athlete

East Lansing girl is a scholar-athlete for MHSAA

Hockey numbers struggling for some high schools

Mount Pleasant girl skier getting the job done

Ithaca boys are state runners-up and continue unique bowling rivalry with St. Louis

Alma wrestlers eye success at state finals

Michigan football all-stars all set to play Ohio in Border Classic