Portage Unites 'Frenemies' Into Lacrosse Force
By
Pam Shebest
Special for MHSAA.com
May 11, 2021
PORTAGE — On the basketball court, Brooke Hoag and Grace Cheatham were “frenemies.”
But now that spring sports are here, that has changed.
The two seniors from rival schools are teammates.
Hoag, from Northern, and Cheatham, from Central, are both members of the Portage girls lacrosse team, a co-op composed of players from both schools.
When playing against each other, “you have to be focused on your team,” Hoag said. “When you come to lacrosse, it’s almost like you flip a switch because they’re your team now.
“Playing against them is just fun. You look at them and you know how they play in different sports, so it’s fun because you can kind of pick on them. It’s also a competition, and you definitely learn how to separate the two sports.”
After being shut down last year because of COVID-19 restrictions, the lacrosse team is having one of its best seasons ever.
Portage is 12-2 so far and currently ranked No. 8 in Division I, according to LaxNumbers.com
“For our returners, I think (the year off) has given them more motivation to want to play,” said Kate Twichell, in her seventh year as head coach. “There’s a fire lit, especially under my seniors.
“They’re playing so hard. They understand every opportunity is another opportunity they weren’t going to get.”
This season is different from any other, with mandated masks and rapid testing. Adapting to cool weather and then hot makes masking up a little more challenging, Hoag said, but worth it to have a chance to play. Twichell said Portage schools provide a mask that is easier to wear. “None of them will claim they love it,” she added. “The second we say they can take them off, they will 100 percent take them off.”
But in spite of the drawbacks, “This year, our varsity team is playing together the best I think it’s ever played together,” Twichell said. “The team chemistry is just phenomenal.
“That’s really all them. They’ve really taken extra time to make sure that they are putting in the work to come together.”
For the first time, Portage is hosting an MHSAA Division 1 Regional, facing Zeeland East on May 20. Finals are June 12 at Novi High School.
Other Northern varsity players are seniors Mairin Boshoven and Karly Turchan, junior Annie Galin and freshman Avery Kelly.
Central players include seniors Kyla Meyle, Jenna Camp, Calista Richmond and Lauren DeHaan; juniors Ryan Knauer, Olivia Jensenius and Lauren King; and sophomores Sam Swafford and Lexie Springman. Casey Hendrixson coaches the junior varsity team.
Learning Fast
Neither Hoag nor Cheatham grew up playing lacrosse, but that is not a problem, Twichell said.
“My varsity players are all returning, so I have six returning starters on varsity right now,” she said. “My JV team, of the 15 of them, 10 are new to the sport this year.
“They’ve never touched a stick before. MHSAA gave us some small practices so we had a few in earlier, but most of them are brand new within the last 12 months.”
Learning that the stick is actually an extension of their hand is one of the hardest adjustments for new players, she said.
“I always tell the kids the first week is going to be the hardest – the frustration of dropping the ball and not being able to figure out the mechanics of it is always going to be the most difficult,” she said.
Hoag first played the sport when she was in eighth grade and took to it immediately.
“The only downside is the bruises you can get from it, but I like to say they’re like trophies showing you’re an aggressive player and it’s just something that you almost want to show that you play,” the midfielder said.
She kept in shape during the shutdown by working out at home.
“I have a net and a rebounder in my backyard, so I would practice shooting and my stick skills by myself,” she said.
Losing last season was especially difficult for the midfielder.
Not only is the junior season a big year for college recruitment but “my sister (Ashleigh) was a senior and I got my last chance to play with her taken away.”
Cheatham also has played lacrosse for five years, with her interest piqued by her father and brother.
Family helped her hone her skills during the shutdown.
“I live super close to Portage Central High School, so me and my brother (Andrew, a freshman who plays lacrosse at Central) used to go and play a lot of wall ball against The Stable. We did a lot of shooting drills on our own, just to keep busy.”
Both Hoag and Cheatham also played on summer and fall travel teams, which helped keep them in shape.
One unexpected moment for the two happened May 1 at the Matt Thrasher Memorial Games when each received a $500 scholarship, awarded each year to two players from the girls team and a player from each school’s boys team.
Thrasher played lacrosse and, while a freshman at Northern, died in a boating accident in 2004.
Cheatham echoed Hoag in saying it was an honor to receive the award.
“The fact that his family still does this is really amazing,” she said.
Hoag is headed to Trine University and will play lacrosse there, while Cheatham will attend Kent State in the nursing program and hopes to continue to play the sport, possibly at the club level.
Ultimate goal
While the ultimate goal is to one day have enough players to field a girls team at each school, the co-op team is under the umbrella of Portage Northern.
That poses one of the few problems for Twichell, who teaches Spanish at Hackett Catholic Prep.
“For me, honestly, the biggest thing is recruiting, getting into both schools equally to get enough kids to field a team,” she said. “Trying to get in the schools as one person from outside the school is pretty difficult.
“Likewise, especially during the offseason, getting enough practice time at both facilities so that each player gets their home facility or their home games or home practices, that can be a challenge.”
Next year that could be a bit easier. Twichell’s husband, Kurt, was recently named Northern’s head football coach after longtime coach Pete Schermerhorn retired. The past seven years, he was on the Portage Central football staff.
One future recruit for the girls team should be a shoo-in. The couple’s 2½-year-old twins – daughter Aubrey and son Griffin – already have lacrosse sticks.
Pam Shebest served as a sportswriter at the Kalamazoo Gazette from 1985-2009 after 11 years part-time with the Gazette while teaching French and English at White Pigeon High School. She can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Calhoun, Kalamazoo and Van Buren counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) Portage’s Brooke Hoag fires a shot against Grand Rapids Northview this spring. (2) From left: Portage coach Kate Twichell, Grace Cheatham and Brooke Hoag. (3) Grace Cheatham (45) advances the ball against Ann Arbor Skyline. (4) Twichell and daughter Aubrey enjoy a moment with lacrosse stick in hand. (Action photos by Chris Boot. Head shots by Pam Shebest. Twichell photo courtesy of the Twichell family.)
Preview: Finalists to Face Familiar Foes for Girls Lacrosse Championships
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
June 9, 2022
Both of Saturday’s MHSAA Girls Lacrosse Finals will be rematches of regular season games this season. Both also mix championship game regulars with teams that have earned first or first-time-in-a-long-time opportunities.
In Division 1, Brighton is that regular, making its fourth-straight championship game appearance. The Bulldogs will face Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern/Eastern, a cooperative that didn’t exist in this form until last season. FHNE defeated Brighton 15-7 and 11-7 this spring.
In Division 2, East Grand Rapids when it steps on the field will tie Rockford for the most championship game appearances in MHSAA girls lacrosse history. Country Day, meanwhile, will be returning to the Finals for the first time since 2005. EGR won the lone meeting between the teams, 15-14.
Below is a glance at all four teams playing at Rockford High School. Statistics are through Regional Finals. Rankings are based on the Michigan Power Rating formula used to seed other MHSAA sports. The Division 1 Final is set for 2 p.m., with Division 2 following at 4:30. Tickets cost $11 and are good for both games, and may be purchased online only at GoFan.
Both games will be broadcast and available with subscription from MHSAA.tv, with free audio broadcasts on the MHSAA Network.
Division 1
BRIGHTON
Record/ranking: 15-5, No. 6
League finish: Tied for first in Kensington Lakes Activities Association West
Coach: Ryan Skomial, first season (15-5)
Championship history: Division 1 champion 2011, runner-up four times.
Best wins: 14-7 over No. 4 Bloomfield Hills in Semifinal, 19-10 (Regional Semifinal) and 20-8 over No. 10 Northville, 12-11 over No. 3 Hartland, 20-5 over No. 5 Birmingham United, 19-16 over Division 2 No. 3 Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central.
Players to watch: Amanda Granader, sr. A; Gabriella Mainhardt, sr. M; Kaia Malachino, jr. M/D; Abigail Burchfield, sr. M; Ella Boose, sr. M. (Statistics not submitted.)
Outlook: Brighton will be playing in its fourth-straight Division 1 championship game with a number of experienced standouts leading the way. Granader made the all-state first team last season, Mainhardt made the second, and Boose, Burchfield and Malachino all earned honorable mentions in 2021. The Bulldogs have won seven of their last eight games with the only losses this season to Northern/Eastern twice, No. 2 Rockford by a goal, Division 2 top-ranked East Grand Rapids and Division 2 No. 2 Detroit Country Day. Brighton has given up single-digit goals in three of four postseason games.
GRAND RAPIDS FOREST HILLS NORTHERN/EASTERN
Record/ranking: 17-1, No. 1
League finish: First in Ottawa-Kent Conference Tier 1
Coach: Joe Curcuru, second season (32-7)
Championship history: Has not appeared in an MHSAA Final.
Best wins: 13-2 over No. 3 Hartland in Semifinal, 7-6 (Regional Final), 9-6 and 12-10 over No. 2 Rockford, 16-4 (Regional Semifinal) and 14-1 over No. 9 Haslett, 15-7 and 11-7 over No. 6 Brighton, 11-9 over Division 2 No. 1 East Grand Rapids, 13-6 over Division 2 No. 2 Detroit Country Day, 13-10 and 12-8 over Division 2 No. 3 Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central.
Players to watch: Alayna Davis, jr. A (89 goals, 36 assists); Tayler Sypien, sr. M (14 goals, 5 assists); Sommer Grieser, jr. G (5.33 goals-against average); Lexi Slywka, jr. A (31 goals, 26 assists); Daniella Washburn, sr. D (2 goals).
Outlook: In just its second season as a program, Northern/Eastern will play in its first championship game after formerly forming a cooperative with Forest Hills Central as well. FHNE avenged a Regional loss to Rockford last season with three wins this spring over the eight-time reigning Division 1 champion. The BirdDogs’ only loss came in their second game, to East Grand Rapids, which FHNE avenged late in the regular season. Davis, Washburn and Greiser made the all-state first team last year, and Slywka and Sypien made the second. Senior Carly Wittlinger (42 goals, 8 assists) and sophomore Mia Dye (30/14) also add significant scoring punch.
Division 2
DETROIT COUNTRY DAY
Record/ranking: 16-2, No. 2
League finish: Does not play in a conference.
Coach: Emma Kuehl, fourth season (48-5)
Championship history: Division 2 runner-up 2005.
Best wins: 18-12 over No. 5 Farmington Hills Mercy in Semifinal, 20-10 (Regional Semifinal) and 18-4 over No. 10 Bloomfield Hills Marian, 15-10 (Regional Quarterfinal) and 19-7 over No. 7 Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood, 19-16 over Division 1 No. 6 Brighton, 21-3 over Division 1 No. 9 Haslett, 24 -8 over Division 1 No. 10 Northville, 21-6 over Division 1 No. 5 Birmingham United.
Players to watch: Hadley Keating, soph. A (70 goals, 16 assists); Olivia Winowich, fr. M (48 goals, 10 assists); Emma Arico, soph. M (45 goals, 22 assists); Ainsley Shilling, sr. M (35 goals, 19 assists); Ella Thompson, sr. M (47 goals, 14 assists).
Outlook: The Yellowjackets have returned to Finals weekend for the first time since the first season of MHSAA sponsorship of girls lacrosse. And this could be just the start of a run, with eight freshmen and sophomores among the 12 starters. Their only losses were to top-ranked teams – East Grand Rapids and Division 1 Forest Hills Northern/Eastern – and they’ve given up more than 10 goals only three times this season, in those losses and the Quarterfinal win over Mercy. Thompson and Arico made the all-state second team last season, and Keating and Shilling earned honorable mentions.
EAST GRAND RAPIDS
Record/ranking: 19-2, No. 1
League finish: Tied for second in O-K Tier 1
Coach: Meggan Loyd, first season (19-2)
Championship history: Seven Division 2 championships (most recent 2021), runner-up in 2017.
Best wins: 22-8 (Semifinal) and 17-3 over No. 9 DeWitt, 12-11 (Regional Final), 24-17 and 21-17 over No. 3 Forest Hills Central, 17-7 (Regional Semifinal) and 22-8 over No. 6 Spring Lake, 23-13 (Regional Quarterfinal), 23-18 and 16-5 over No. 8 Grand Rapids Catholic Central, 15-14 over No. 2 Detroit Country Day, 15-11 over Division 1 No. 1 Forest Hills Northern/Eastern, 15-11 over Division 1 No. 6 Brighton, 22-9 over Division 1 No. 3 Hartland, 12-11 over Division 1 No. 2 Rockford, 14-4 over Division 1 No. 10 Northville.
Players to watch: Lucy Cavanaugh, sr. A (29 goals, 53 assists); Lizzie Lundeen, sr. M (58 goals, 8 assists); Caroline Potteiger, sr. G (.459 save %); Vivian LaMange, soph. A (42 goals, 38 assists); Eliana LaMange, sr. M (45 goals, 20 assists).
Outlook: The reigning Division 2 champion also won in 2019 and five straight titles from 2012-16, and lost this season only in its first meeting with Rockford (by two) and second with FHNE (also by two goals). Eight seniors fill the starting lineup. Cavanaugh, Lundeen and Potteiger are returning all-state first teamers, midfielder Eleanor Vander Molen was a second-team selection last season and Eliana LaMange and Vivian LaMange earned honorable mentions in 2021. Vander Molen (13 goals), sophomore Olivia Shaw (18), senior Mary Mehney (13) and senior Ella Gjorgjievski (12) have further bolstered the team’s total of 368 goals (17.5 per game) this spring.
PHOTO East Grand Rapids' Eliana LaMange (24) sends a shot during last season's Division 2 championship game.