Through the Years: Lacrosse 2005-2015
July 22, 2016
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
The MHSAA Girls and Boys Lacrosse Finals honored their 12th series of champions last month as four of the most successful programs in the sports' young histories added to their respective legacies.
Today's "Through the Years" takes a look at some of the prevailing stories that have emerged in just more than a decade of these sports having MHSAA sponsorship.
This feature is from the spring issue of benchmarks, built and written by Rob Kaminski. Scroll to the bottom of the page for a link to our previous installments. We'll look at more MHSAA postseason events every Tuesday and Friday throughout this summer and fall.
Previous installments
July 19: Boys/Girls Tennis - Read
July 15: Boys/Girls Golf - Read
July 12: Girls Soccer - Read
July 8: Boys Track & Field - Read
July 5: Girls Track & Field - Read
July 1: Baseball - Read
June 28: Softball - Read
Moment: Scoring Last, Cranes Finish 1st
May 26, 2020
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
East Grand Rapids had won five straight Division 2 girls lacrosse championships when it met Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood in the Final for the third-straight season June 10, 2017.
The victory wasn’t exactly “sudden” as the Cranes needed nearly four overtime periods to finish it. But Cranbrook did end the day as a first-time title winner – with a 17-16 sudden victory.
Angelina Wiater scored with 49 seconds to play in the second “sudden victory” portion of overtime to clinch.
The goal was Wiater’s first of the game, which with 33 combined goals tied the highest-scoring Final in MHSAA girls lacrosse history. But the final run started with a save, the 14th of the game for Cranes goalie Brigitte Ballard.
“Our goalie threw it to me and coach (Greg Courter) said if you have the legs, go,” Wiater said that day. “I went, and I was thinking of passing it. I didn’t see anybody open, and I knew we needed to get one. I didn’t want to make a pass when I didn’t see anyone open. I wrapped around the back and I crease rolled and saw an opening, and I went for it.’’
Wiater currently plays ice hockey at Amherst College in Massachusetts. The 2007 Final also featured the two highest career goal scorers in MHSAA history; Cranbrook’s Isabelle Scane finished with five goals in the game and plays at Northwestern, and EGR’s Audrey Whiteside scored twice and currently plays at Central Michigan.
Click for coverage of the 2017 championship game from Second Half and watch below for the winning goal from the NFHS Network.