High 5s: 11/14/12

November 19, 2012

All three of this week's honorees have achieved some sort of first-time stardom this fall, either individually or as a team. And both Carli Snyder and Alex Grace will be back next fall to continue building on these accomplishments. 

Carli Snyder
Macomb Dakota junior
Volleyball

(UPDATED 11/19) Snyder, a 6-foot-1 outside hitter, was an all-stater her first two seasons of high school. But she will be remembered even more for leading Macomb Dakota this fall to its first MHSAA championship in any girls sport. The Cougars defeated Temperance Bedford in three games in Saturday's Class A Final at Kellogg Arena. Snyder unofficially finished this season with 913 kills, good for seventh in the MHSAA record book since the beginning of the rally scoring era in 2004-05. Her 31 kills against Bedford were third-most for a Final during that time. Snyder already has committed to sign with the University of Florida next year. She likely will be among frontrunners for next fall's Miss Volleyball award. 

Title talk: "We wanted this thing so bad. Every girl on this team wanted it so badly. Megan (Manierski) was setting the ball perfectly. She made it very easy to get kills. ... Just talking about this moment, this gym, it makes you just want to play harder than you ever have."

Winning recipe: "We've been a competitive team in practice and in games all year, so I think that helped us at that moment (in three close Finals games) when we just didn't want to lose. We refused to lose. ... We support each other no matter what. And we hustled so hard."

Shake it up: "We have some secret handshakes with other people, but mine are very complex. I don't know how we went about that. Megan and mine is from "Parent Trap," and then Megan Downey and mine, we just made it up at team dinner. We make it a bit more complex than it needs to be, but it's fun. And it's a great thing to calm us down for a game when we've played a bad one before."

Had to be a Gator: "I like warm weather. I love the coaches. I actually called Florida for my recruiting phone call because I was kinda bored one day at home and I was like, 'I got a letter from them.' I fell in love with the coaching staff, and I told my mom that I needed to go on a visit down there. It's incredible, and when I went down there I was even more in love. Even on the phone, I knew this is where I would end up. It's just that feeling. You know when you get that feeling, and it's incredible."

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Alex Grace
Saginaw Swan Valley sophomore
Football

The Vikings' leading rusher is also one of the leading rushers in the state this season heading into Saturday's Division 4 Semifinal against Detroit Country Day. Grace has gained 2,091 yards plus run for 27 touchdowns, and needs only 109 yards and three more scores to make the MHSAA record book in both categories. He ran for 182 yards and three scores in the Vikings' Regional Final win over Croswell-Lexington. Grace took over as Swan Valley's running back this season after the graduation of his brother Johnathan, who rushed for 1,790 yards last season and now plays at Michigan Tech. Both brothers ran on Swan Valley's 400-meter relay that finished runner-up at the Lower Peninsula Division 2 Track and Field Final in the spring. Alex is 6-0 and 185 pounds and runs the 40-yard dash in 4.5 seconds.

I'd like to run like: "Even my brother. I like to look at myself as close to him. Professionally, (Minnesota Vikings back) Adrian Peterson. He's a tough runner, fast. He's strong."

Underdogs again: "The last game against Croswell, they were the No. 2 team and we were predicted to lose. But we came back and beat them. I use that underdog feeling to work harder each day."

Best brotherly advice: "Work hard, and if there are doubters, don't let them get you down."

Science and math: (My favorite classes are) biology and economics. They just come easy to me. I enjoy it."

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Flint Beecher football

The Buccaneers, coached by former Michigan State and NFL standout Courtney Hawkins, were one of the final teams selected for the playoffs, at 5-4 after a 3-4 start. But Beecher advanced to this week's Division 7 Semifinal against Detroit Loyola by eliminating reigning champion Saginaw Nouvel, 19-15, in last week's Regional championship game. Beecher, now 8-4, has made the playoffs six straight years. The first of that run came in Hawkins' second as coach and after 12 straight losing seasons. 

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Previous 2012-13 honorees:

Iron Mountain's Pigeon Holds On to Finish 1st, Hancock Claims Team Title

By Jason Juno
Special for MHSAA.com

May 29, 2024

CRYSTAL FALLS – Iron Mountain junior Cooper Pigeon started Wednesday’s Upper Peninsula Division 2 Final with a birdie.

He made sure the rough patch that followed was short lived – and it’s a good thing he did, because Hancock’s Jackson Sintkowski made sure there wasn’t much margin for error.

Pigeon carded a 76, a single stroke ahead of Sintkowski, to win the medalist honor at Young’s Golf Course.

“He has the mindset that he doesn’t let that bother him,” Iron Mountain coach Steve Flaminio said. “He turned it around and got a couple birdies and righted the ship. He figured it out like he always does and started playing pretty strong.”

It wasn’t an easy course, nor was it a perfect day to golf. The sun was out, but it was windy, which could exaggerate any minor errors, Pigeon said.

Some of the pin placements were tough, Flaminio said, and the greens were super fast – Flaminio watched kids three and four putt many times throughout the day. 

“There were some young guys out there struggling. Cooper figured it out, and that was key,” he said.

The Finals title was Pigeon’s first. He knew he had a chance to win after shooting a 73 in his last round at this course.

Hancock’s Jackson Sintkowski follows his drive on the same hole.“But you have to play well, and you can’t get ahead of yourself,” he said. 

The bulk of the U.P. summer awaits him and he plays golf almost daily, so he could certainly be a force to be reckoned with next season as well.

“It’s sweet; hopefully we can get another one next year,” Pigeon said.

Flaminio said the rest of the team was excited for their individual champ because they can see how hard he works at his craft.

“So to see him come home as medalist in the U.P. is pretty awesome,” he said.

Sintkowski, the runner-up from Hancock, did leave with some hardware himself as he led the Bulldogs to their first U.P. Finals team title since they won Division 2 back-to-back in 2013 and 2014.

He was one of four Bulldogs to finish among the top 10 individuals – Bryce Hanner placed fifth with an 83, Kirby Storm was sixth with an 86 and Drew Sturos tied for 10th with an 88.

Hancock competes in the Western Peninsula Athletic Conference, where it finished runner-up to Division I Houghton throughout much of the season. That doesn’t mean the Bulldogs have been golfing poorly.

“The kids have been playing well all year,” Hancock coach Paul Sintkowski said. 

The Bulldogs came into this tournament with the lowest team average, so they considered themselves the favorites and lived up to that high expectation.

“We had the guys to get it done today, but you still got to get it done,” said Sintkowski, who earned his first U.P. team title in nine years of coaching. “They got it done today. I’m real proud of these guys.”

Hancock was led by the West-PAC Player of the Year, Jackson Sintkowski, a junior. And their team got a big boost this season when Hanner decided to join the golf team.

“Bryce Hanner was a nice addition to our team this year,” Coach Sintkowski said of the senior. “He decided to play golf this year, and that really bolstered our lineup down the stretch. It gave an extra solid player where we could always count on a good score for him.”

Painesdale Jeffers finished as the team runner-up, 15 strokes behind Hancock, 333-348. St. Ignace was third, Iron Mountain fourth and Munising fifth.

Owen Kuehnau of Stephenson carded an 81 to take third place individually, and St. Ignace’s Sawyer Graham was fourth with an 82.

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PHOTOS (Top) Iron Mountain's Cooper Pigeon drives on No. 14 at Young’s Golf Course on Wednesday. (Middle) Hancock’s Jackson Sintkowski follows his drive on the same hole. (Photos by Jason Juno.)