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High 5s: 11/7/12

November 7, 2012

This past Saturday saw eight teams and eight individuals crowned MHSAA champions, and this week we feature a few who will be listed among the best for all time. 

Erin Finn
West Bloomfield senior
Cross country

Finn won her second straight MHSAA individual Lower Peninsula Division 1 championship, this time in 17:07.9. Her finish was the fastest from any of the four divisions that raced Saturday at Michigan International Speedway, and gave her the victory in hers by 27 seconds. Finn’s time was the fourth-best ever at an MHSAA Final. She has three of the top 15 times ever run at MIS, more than any other runner.

On track for more: Finn also won an MHSAA Track and Field championship last season, setting an all-division/class record in the 1,600 with a time of 10:17.86. That time was nearly five seconds better than the previous best.

Maize and Blue: Finn will run next season at the University of Michigan. The Wolverines cross country team is ranked No. 7 nationally heading into Friday's NCAA Great Lakes Regional. 

Scientifically speaking: Finn intends to study biomechanical engineering at U-M. "My junior year, I found out I love physics, and I already knew I loved bio and chemistry. So, what's better than to combine those?"

Runners to chase: “I looked up to Megan Goethals (of Rochester), number one, and Shannon Osika (of Waterford Mott). They’re people I competed with. I know that one day I can be like that. It’s more real to me.”

Click to read more.

Nick Raymond
Erie Mason senior
Cross country

After dashing to the lead last season and finishing fourth, Nick Raymond dominated the Lower Peninsula Division 3 Final at MIS with a time of 15:05.1 – the second-fastest time for a Division 3/Class C MHSAA Final to only Maverick Darling's 14:52.8 for Ovid-Elsie in 2007. Raymond is the first individual cross country champion from Erie Mason (not counting another who finished first among individuals before team and individual placers were combined for one race beginning in 1997) and also placed in both the 1,600 and 3,200 at the spring's Lower Peninsula Division 3 Track and Field Final. 

A long drive: "I've been working hard, since the first time (I ran) in sixth grade. Working hard and training hard over the summer and during mandatory practices too." 

Brotherly influence: Raymond began running cross country in the footsteps of his older brother Andrew Raymond, a 2010 graduate. "He told me, 'If you just keep working hard, just look forward at your dream, your goal, you will achieve it.'"

Now the pool, then the track: Raymond swims during the winter, specializing in butterfly and breaststroke. Then it's on to track. Raymond finished fourth in the 1,600 (4:21.84) and seventh in the 3,200 (9:44.91) at last season's Lower Peninsula Division 3 Final. 

Looking up to Pre: Like many in the running community, Raymond considers former Oregon and international star Steve Prefontaine a major influence. "I liked how he had a lot of faith in himself."

Click to read more. 

East Kentwood soccer

The top-ranked Falcons edged Grand Blanc 1-0 at Troy Athens to claim their fourth Division 1 championship in six seasons. They finished 22-1-4, their seventh with at least 20 wins in the last eight years. 

Click to read more. 

Previous 2012-13 honorees:

Detroit Edison’s Devin Hagemann (1) launches a 3-point shot Friday with Negaunee’s Aubrey Johnson defending.

Happy Birthday & Happy to be Back: Hagemann, Edison Celebrate at Breslin

By Dean Holzwarth
Special for MHSAA.com

March 22, 2024

EAST LANSING – Detroit Edison senior guard Devin Hagemann couldn’t have found a better way to celebrate her 18th birthday.

A victory, and another chance to win a championship.

The Pioneers used a balanced attack, coupled with their size and athleticism, to overpower Negaunee 63-46 in Friday’s Division 2 Semifinal at Michigan State University’s Breslin Center.

“It’s my birthday, but we’re still trying to win a championship so I can celebrate after that,” said Hagemann, who was one of three Edison players in double figures scoring with 11 points. “We still have to get the job done.”

Isis Johnson-Musah paced Edison with 16 points, seven assists and five rebounds, while Myana Cooksey recorded 13 points, three assists and three steals.

The Pioneers will seek their second Finals win in the three years Saturday. They won Division 2 in 2022 before losing during Regionals a year ago.

The Pioneers’ Nabrea Lane (11) gets to the basket.“We are just really glad to be back here,” Edison coach Monique Brown said. “Our seniors were here as sophomores, and we had a chance to finish that out with a victory.

“Last year we got stung, and we had that on our mind the whole year. The whole summer they worked hard, and to be able to get back here and get a chance to win again is an awesome feeling right now.”

The Pioneers broke up a close game at the end of the opening quarter with a scoring barrage during the second and third. Edison went on a 13-1 run in the second quarter to snap a 16-16 tie and never looked back.

Their lead ballooned to 48-28 in the third quarter as Hagemann knocked down a 3-pointer from the top of the key.

“I told her to shoot it, and I wished her Happy Birthday in the middle of the game,” Brown said. “I think that kind of got her going.”

The balanced scoring, along with pressure defense, have become major factors in this postseason run.

“That is who we have been,” Brown said. “Just really trusting and sharing the basketball and playing good defense. We had to do it by committee this year as far as scoring, and that's why we are here right now.”

Negaunee, playing in its first Semifinal, finished the season 26-2.

“They are very good, and we respect their program,” Miners coach Mike O’Donnell said. “They showed why (they are) one of the top teams in the state, and their size bothered us. We haven’t seen that size this year, the closest was Ishpeming, and their quickness and athleticism in transition.”

Senior Ella Mason, the Western Peninsula Athletic Conference Player of the Year and the school’s all-time scoring leader, tried to keep Negaunee in the game.

She finished with a game-high 25 points, shooting 9 of 18 from the field and 5 of 10 from beyond the 3-point arc.

Click for the full box score.

PHOTOS (Top) Detroit Edison’s Devin Hagemann (1) launches a 3-point shot Friday with Negaunee’s Aubrey Johnson defending. (Middle) The Pioneers’ Nabrea Lane (11) gets to the basket. (Photos by Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)