#TBT: Before They Were Olympians
August 25, 2016
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Michigan athletes enjoyed another banner showing at the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro that wrapped up Sunday. We cheered for them all – but paid special attention to a handful who previously competed in MHSAA sports before achieving more at the international level.
Much of the following was taken from a recent series of MHSAA Instagram posts that highlighted our state’s Olympians with MHSAA ties. Athletes are listed with high school and graduation year.
Men’s Basketball
Draymond Green, Saginaw, 2008 – Green got a taste for championships in leading Saginaw to back-to-back Class A titles in 2007 and 2008 before starring for Michigan State University and now for the Golden State Warriors. He averaged nearly 10 minutes per game off the bench for the U.S. team, playing in all eight games during the undefeated gold medal march.
Women’s Swimming & Diving
Allison Schmitt, Canton, 2008 – Schmitt won the 200 and 500-yard freestyle championships at the Lower Peninsula Division 1 Finals in both 2006 and 2007 and continues to hold the all-Finals records in both events; she then went on to shine at University of Georgia. She helped the U.S. 800-meter freestyle relay to gold and the 400 freestyle relay to silver, bringing her personal medal count to eight over the last three Olympics.
Women’s Crew
Grace Latz, Jackson Northwest, 2006 – Latz played volleyball during her high school career at Northwest. She took up rowing at University of Wisconsin and helped her quadruple sculls team to a fifth-place finish in Rio.
Grace Luczak, Ann Arbor Pioneer, 2007 – Luczak also was a high school volleyball player and rowed on Pioneer’s team (although crew is not an MHSAA-sponsored tournament sport, some schools have teams) before going on to University of Michigan and then Stanford University. She finished fourth in the pair at Rio.
Ellen Tomek, Flint Powers Catholic, 2002 – Tomek played basketball and softball for the Chargers and also made the Olympics in 2008 after taking up rowing at Michigan. She finished in sixth place this time in doubles sculls after finishing fifth in Beijing.
Men’s Track & Field - Discus
Andrew Evans, Portage Northern, 2009 – Evans played football, ice hockey and participated in track & field for the Huskies, winning discus at the Lower Peninsula Division 1 Finals in 2008 and 2009. He finished 16th in qualifying at Rio, just missing the top 12 who advanced to the final competition.
Women’s Volleyball
Alisha Glass, Leland, 2007 – Glass remains arguably the top player in MHSAA volleyball history with records still for career kills, single-season aces and career aces (accomplished during the rally scoring era beginning in 2004). She led Leland to the Class D title in 2006 and then played at Penn State University – and this month set the U.S. team to a bronze medal in Rio.
Lauren Paolini, Saline, 2005 – Paolini was both a volleyball and basketball standout for Saline before moving on to the University of Texas. She served as an alternate for this Olympic team.
Additional Olympians with MHSAA ties
Cindy Ofili, Ann Arbor Huron, 2012, Great Britain – Ofili won three LP Division 1 championships and was on a winning relay in 2012 before going on to run at Michigan. She took fourth in the 100 hurdles in Rio.
Tiffany (Ofili) Porter, Ypsilanti, 2005, Great Britain – Porter still owns MHSAA LP Division 2 Finals records in the 100 and 300 hurdles and shares the record in long jump after winning six individual Finals championships over her four-year varsity career. Porter finished seventh in the 100 hurdles in Rio and also ran in the 2012 Olympics. She also attended Michigan.
Alex Rose, Ogemaw Heights, 2009, Samoa – Rose was the 2009 LP Division 2 champion in shot put before also competing at Central Michigan University. Like Evans, he also threw discus in Rio but did not qualify for the final with his top throw coming in 29th.
PHOTOS: (Clockwise from left): Allison Schmitt waves to the crowd during her last MHSAA Finals; Draymond Green is introduced before a Class A Final at the Breslin Center; Alisha Glass confers with a teammate during a Class D Volleyball Final; Portage Northern grad Andrew Evans.
Sarafa Among All-Time Marian Stars, Greatest Setters in MHSAA History
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
September 29, 2022
BLOOMFIELD HILLS – Mayssa Cook said she had a suggestion for then 11-year-old Ava Sarafa upon first seeing Sarafa training on a volleyball court.
Cook knew Sarafa already had the tools to be an elite volleyball player, given her height and skills, but put a figurative bug in her ear while watching Sarafa go from doing hitting drills to setting.
“At the time she was a hitter,” Cook said. “After she set a few balls, we just kind of had a conversation that, ‘you should maybe take setting more seriously.’ Obviously from that point on, she did.”
No kidding.
Now a senior for annual state powerhouse Bloomfield Hills Marian, Sarafa is more than just the latest Miss Volleyball Award finalist and future Division I college player to come through the program.
Taking it further, even a program like Marian’s hasn’t quite seen a setter like Sarafa.
Earlier this season, Sarafa surpassed 4,000 assists for her career to become the 16th player in state history to eclipse that mark.
As of Tuesday, Sarafa had a little more than 4,300 career assists and said she has a goal of eclipsing the 5,000 mark, although the state record of 5,790 set by Novi’s Erin O’Leary might be out of reach.
Sarafa was the main distributor for Marian’s Division 1 championship-winning team last year and next month plans to officially sign to play in college for Kentucky.
Cook said Sarafa’s high school career got going right away when she pulled off the rare feat of cracking the starting lineup as a freshman.
“Very few setters really start their freshman year on varsity and play the entire time,” said Cook, who is in her fifth season as Marian’s head coach. “Ava had a composure and a maturity about her as a freshman, and with skills to back it up, that allowed her to be able to take on that role, and do it very well. Four years later, she’s been that much better every year.”
After taking to heart the suggestion to become a setter, Sarafa said it did take a few months to adjust to the nuances of the position.
However, it didn’t take her long at all to fall in love with it.
“I think the thing I really love about being a setter is being able to help benefit your teammates and put them in a really good spot to score,” Sarafa said. “Also being able to touch the ball every single play. It keeps you very involved in the momentum of the sport, and being able to run the court and know what’s going on with everyone. Being able to know your hitters personally (and) what they appreciate on the court has really touched me in a way. Having that control, pressure and insight on the game made me love it.”
Sarafa also embraces the strategic thinking and anticipation required to be a setter, which differs greatly from the demands of being a hitter or a libero.
“Setting, you need to look with peripheral vision, you need to learn where the blockers are and if they are jumping with your hitters,” Sarafa said. “I think it does (require) excess training to develop and work on.”
Marian is the two-time reigning champion in Division 1 and up to 27-0 this fall as naturally the heavy favorite to make it a three-peat come November. Sarafa actually is one of two Miss Volleyball candidates on the roster; Ella Schomer also is in the mix for the award given to the state's top senior.
Sarafa admitted it’s been a bit different going for three championships in a row with the huge target on Marian’s back, especially since the Mustangs as of Sept. 22 were ranked No. 4 nationally in the USA Today/American Volleyball Coaches Association’s Super 25.
“We need everyone to give 100-percent effort to succeed,” Sarafa said. “It’s not dependent on one person. It depends on everyone giving in to what we’re doing. When the playoffs start, we’re going to see teams that are very competitive and have a lot of great talent on their teams. Everyone just needs to realize that ‘this is it; what you’re doing right now matters.’ It’s just a big team effort, and we need to work for it.”
With one of the country’s top prep setters on Marian’s side once again, it will take one talented team to prevent a three-peat for the Mustangs.
Keith Dunlap has served in Detroit-area sports media for more than two decades, including as a sportswriter at the Oakland Press from 2001-16 primarily covering high school sports but also college and professional teams. His bylines also have appeared in USA Today, the Washington Post, the Detroit Free Press, the Houston Chronicle and the Boston Globe. He served as the administrator for the Oakland Activities Association’s website from 2017-2020. Contact him at [email protected] with story ideas for Oakland, Macomb and Wayne counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Marian’s Ava Sarafa prepares to serve during last season’s Division 1 Final against Ann Arbor Skyline. (Middle) Sarafa, far right, celebrates a point with her teammates during the championship match win.