High 5s: 5/8/12
May 8, 2012
We're a week away from our first MHSAA spring postseason events, and these contenders -- all reigning MHSAA champions -- have been playing at that elite level all season.
Katie Brozovich
Clarkston senior
Tennis
Brozovich, a Division 1 all-state selection and MHSAA champion at No. 3 singles in 2011, is playing the top spot this season and continuing to shine. She downed Port Huron Northern No. 1 Taylor Sweeney 6-4, 6-1 in the championship match of Saturday's Holly Red and White Invitational, and Clarkston tied for first as a team. Brozovich has signed with Bowling Green State University and is 15-0. She comes from a tennis family -- her grandfather, father and aunt all play, and cousins Lizzie and Rae Brozovich won Nos. 3 and 4 singles for Port Huron Northern at Holly.
Secret to my success: “I condition a lot. I don’t get tired. I can run all day. I can just get to everything. I can keep pressure on opponents. What I’m working on too is every shot getting something on the ball. I try to work really hard on the court.”
I learned the most about tennis from: "My grandpa (Richard Brozovich) drilled me on the court. He knows so much about the game, and we play each other a couple times a week. He helps me condition. ... My coach Joe (Stafford, from Deer Lake Athletic Club) is really good with strokes. He knows my game inside an out."
I look up to: "My aunt Sue Kaleel (formerly Brozovich, Kaleel won four championships at Miami (Ohio) and has competed internationally). I model (my game) after her. She's extremely consistent, but also puts a lot of pressure on her opponent. That's what I want my game to be."
Dream match: "I would like to see (Pete) Sampras play (Roger) Federer right now. Just to know how the old game comes to play against the new style of play. The old strokes against the new."
Up next: Brozovich will study psychology at Bowling Green and hopes to eventually become a psychiatrist. Studies of the mind have always interested her, and like tennis run in the family -- her grandfather and uncle both work in the field.
Mike Nagy
Manistique senior
Golf
Nagy, a two-time Upper Peninsula MHSAA individual champion (2009 and 2011; he lost a two-hole tie-breaker at the 2010 Final), shot a pair of 36s to finish first at two recent home matches. He's signed with the University of Tennessee, and according to multiple reports will be only the second Manistique High grad to play any sport at the Division I college level since 1963. He owns his school's record of a 31 in a nine-hole match, shot when he was a sophomore, and he fired an 18-hole 66 at last spring's league tournament. Nagy also played basketball, and set a school record with six 3-pointers in a game this season.
Golf is my game: "I really enjoy the individual part of it. I would say ball-striking (is my strength), with my irons."
I learned the most about golf from: "Probably just on my own. I like to watch a lot of golf, lots of video. (My parents) like to watch it a lot more than they used to."
I'd like to play like: "I'm a big Adam Scott fan. He has a really nice swing."
If I could pick three more for a foursome: "Adam Scott. And then between Annika (Sorenstam), Tiger (Woods) and Jack Nicklaus. I really liked watching Annika play. She made it look so simple. Tiger, obviously because of what he's accomplished. I'd like to see how he handles it up there."
Up next: Nagy is considering a major in business. He's hoping to crack the Volunteers' lineup in his first season; there are eight players on the team, and five travel.
Grosse Pointe South girls track and field
The Blue Devils are the reigning Division 1 MHSAA champion and again are led by distance runner Hannah Meier, who set the all-Finals records in the 1,600 and 800 meters last spring. But more is ahead for Meier and especially teammates Haley Meier, Ersula Farrow and Kelsie Schwartz; they've run in the 3,200 relay in 8:59.69, which would crush the MHSAA Finals record if they can do the same next month. (Click to read more.)
This spring's previous honorees
- Sarah Appold, Saginaw Valley Lutheran softball
- Sarita Dotson, Battle Creek Lakeview track and field
- Jake McFadden, Clare track and field
- Cullen Prena, Walled Lake Central track and field
- Nick Stiles, Bath baseball
- Malloy Weber, Northville soccer
- Grand Rapids West Catholic golf
- Muskegon Mona Shores golf
- Stevensville Lakeshore softball
Marysville Thrower Hudson Dancing Into Record Books, Finals Contention
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
April 12, 2023
If you see Janae Hudson doing the “Cotton Eye Joe” dance near a shot put or discus pit this spring, don’t be surprised.
But do pay attention, because a Marysville school record may be about to fall.
“I used to get really stressed out before meets, and it would definitely impact my throws,” the Marysville junior said. “I thought that maybe I need a specific routine to not freak me out or anything, and I kind of have it with volleyball, as well. I like to just go off in my own space. When I’m in the hole, I like to kind of just dance around and get all the jitters out before I throw. It’s kind of like a line dance, something I can do in a single space and not bump into other people. I did it last year, and it started to work.”
Hudson, who placed third at the 2022 Lower Peninsula Division 2 Finals in the discus, has already danced and thrown her way into the Marysville record books. She holds the school record in the discus with a throw of 135 feet, 7 inches. Her sights are now set on the shot put record of 40-10, which is about a foot and a half better than her personal best of 39-2¼.
“She’s such a competitor,” Marysville coach Brian Gwisdala said. “She’s already set high expectations for herself. Track is one of those sports where she’s got distances she wants to hit this year. And I think it’s the sign of a mature kid, even though she wants to finish first at states, her big thing right now is she wants that shot put record at the school. She threw 29-2¼ at Saginaw this year. She’s getting there.”
While Hudson showed potential as a freshman, qualifying for the Division 2 Finals and finishing 10th in the shot put, breaking school records certainly wasn’t the expectation at that point.
In fact, when she entered high school, she figured volleyball would be her main focus. While she still plays and is a major contributor for the Vikings volleyball program, throwing has emerged as the sport she wants to pursue collegiately.
“I was really nervous and timid to actually go to my first track practice,” she said. “But that’s when I fell in love with it. I wasn’t expecting to get this serious with it at the beginning of my freshman year.”
During her freshman year, Hudson began working with throwing coach Michael Hale of Kaizen Throws, and saw immediate results.
She continued to work with Hale through the offseason, and that combined with adding some strength – and a dance routine – helped her take off as a sophomore. In her second season, she added more than two feet to her shot put personal record, and nearly 30 in the discus.
“I think a huge part of it was that she kind of grew into her body,” Gwisdala said. “She’s always been a tall kid, and that coordination and everything caught up to her. I saw it with her in volleyball, too, how much she improved athletically. She really worked hard and put in the time. She throws during the indoor season in the winter. She’s got her private throwing coach that she goes to. All of those factors, and she had the determination and drive to go and do it.”
All of that has put Hudson in a strong position heading into her junior season, not only to further one school record and chase down another, but to improve upon her places at the Division 2 Finals.
Her personal-best discus throw would have tied for first at the 2022 Finals, while her personal best in the shot put would have placed fourth.
“I would love to go to states in both events, and to place first in both would be an ideal situation,” she said. “But if I could finish top three in both, I would walk out happy.”
Helping Hudson chase that ideal situation of winning a Finals title is having watched a teammate do it just two years ago, as Reese Powers won the 400 meters as a junior at the 2021 Division 2 Finals.
“That’s huge,” Gwisdala said. “Just the fact that it was somebody from our school. And it wasn’t someone that necessarily just did one thing, either. Reese and (all-state runner Hannah Fisher) both were multi-sport athletes. The other huge part, and I would say this about Janae right now, too, with Reese was just her work ethic. You would see it every day in practice.”
All of that resonated with Hudson.
“It was a wild moment,” she said. “She’s a junior in high school and can do that; I can do that, too. It would probably mean the world to me.”
Paul Costanzo served as a sportswriter at The Port Huron Times Herald from 2006-15, including three years as lead sportswriter, and prior to that as sports editor at the Hillsdale Daily News from 2005-06. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Genesee, Lapeer, St. Clair, Sanilac, Huron, Tuscola, Saginaw, Bay, Arenac, Midland and Gladwin counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Marysville’s Janae Hudson unwinds while putting the shot during a meet. (Middle) Hudson prepares to let the discus fly. (Photos by Rodney Thomas/Thomas Sports Photography.)