Divine Child's Nemes Makes 'Miracle' Run
November 6, 2013
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Hundreds of runners including those on the Dearborn Divine Child’s girls cross country team competed at Saturday’s MHSAA Lower Peninsula Finals at Michigan International Speedway.
But one of the team’s most special moments this fall came a few days before during the Warren Mott “Last Chance” meet – which ended up being Laura Nemes’ first chance to run this season after summer surgery to remove a brain tumor.
Nemes, a junior who had been on the team the previous two seasons, told teammates during June conditioning sessions that her goal for the fall was to run, or at least walk, in one meet this season. She’s been referred to lately as “Miracle” Nemes and no doubt gave her teammates an inspirational boost as they chased her and cheered her Oct. 29 – four days before the team finished 16th in Division 2, a five-spot improvement from 2012.
The Detroit Free Press spoke last week with Nemes, who told of the support she received from her team in what can often be considered an individual sport. Click to check it out.
Prep Rally winners to be honored
The Fenton girls swimming and diving team – winner of this summer's inaugural “Prep Rally” contest, has chosen to be recognized during the Lower Peninsula Division 1 Final on Nov. 23 at Oakland University.
The team had the option of receiving tickets to attend an MHSAA Final in any sport, and chose Oakland so those not competing will be able to cheer on their teammates.
The contest was part of the MHSAA’s Preparation Lasts All Year campaign aimed at promoting preseason preparation so athletes are physically ready and in the fall acclimated to hot weather when practices begin. The Tigers’ swimmers and divers trained all summer for a “survival trip” at Pigeon River Country State Forest near Vanderbilt that included miles of hiking, some lake swimming and plenty of bonding during challenges set up to get the future teammates working together.
Click to read more about Fenton’s efforts.
Newly-added Finals records
We're always looking to bolster our record books, and we've finished some major construction to our Finals records for cross country.
Both cross country record books have been significantly bulked up. Find now the fastest 5K Finals times for every division and class and an all-time top 10 since that became the length of MHSAA races. Also added were records of most team championships won and longest championship winning streaks. Click to see the additions to the girls and boys records.
We'll be doing similar things with more sports soon. Stay tuned.
Lending a hand
We don’t have a specific occasion or reason to show this photo except that we like it.
The shot, taken by Lansing-area photographer Alan Holben, shows a Mason player helping up an Okemos player during one of the biggest regular-season soccer games in mid-Michigan this fall.
Mason and Okemos have a rivalry similar to the most heated from any part of the state – the communities are adjacent, the schools are similar in size and both generally are competitive in a number of sports. Their soccer teams generally are considered among the state’s elite on an annual basis, and there is plenty of history between them. Plus, the two don't really care for each other much.
We hear more frequently about cases of bad sportsmanship. So it’s always a good time to point out there’s plenty of good out there as well.
PHOTOS: (Top) Dearborn Divine Child’s Laura Nemes finishes her first race at the Waterford “Last Chance” meet last week while teammates cheer her on. (Middle) A Mason soccer player lends a hand to an Okemos player during a regular-season meeting this fall. (Photos courtesy of Divine Child cross country and Alan Holben, respectively).
Battle of the Fans X: Meet the Finalists
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
January 24, 2022
Two past champions and a first-time applicant have earned opportunities to vie for the Michigan High School Athletic Association’s “Battle of the Fans X” championship recognizing the top high school student cheering section in Michigan, as awarded by the MHSAA’s Student Advisory Council.
Buchanan, Midland Dow and Traverse City West were selected as finalists by the Advisory Council from a group of nine semifinalists that took part in a series of challenges highlighting their sections over the last two weeks.
Members of the MHSAA staff will visit all three finalists over the next three weeks, producing articles about each section and videos of those sections in action, all to be published on the MHSAA’s Second Half website.
The winner will be selected by another vote by the 16-member Advisory Council, with consideration given to a public vote on the MHSAA’s social media channels. This year’s winner will be announced Feb. 18 and recognized March 25 during the Boys Basketball Semifinals at the Breslin Center in East Lansing.
Buchanan is a three-time BOTF champ (2013, 2018 and 2020) and has reached the final round for the fourth-straight competition. Traverse City West was the winner in 2016 and has been a semifinalist seven times since 2014. Midland Dow entered the competition this school year for the first time.
The MHSAA will visit the finalists for the following home boys basketball games (unless noted):
Jan. 28: Midland Dow vs Midland (at Midland High)
Feb. 4: Buchanan vs South Haven
Feb. 8: Traverse City West vs Ludington
Howell, North Muskegon and Spring Lake filled out the next three spots, while Imlay City, Petersburg Summerfield and Yale also were semifinalists.
“After the pandemic cancelled the competition in 2021, it’s no surprise that two schools with rich student section histories made the final three this year,” said Andy Frushour, the MHSAA’s director of brand management and advisor to the Student Advisory Council.
“The Herd from Buchanan and the Bleacher Creatures at Traverse City West have to be considered the favorites going into the final round. They have been in this position many times, winning four of the nine championships. But don’t sleep on Midland Dow; we could tell right away this first-time challenger would be a contender, and this section has been strong all year long.”
Battle of the Fans is organized by MHSAA staff and the Student Advisory Council. Schools were invited throughout the fall to submit short videos, via TikTok, of their cheering sections in action. The Advisory Council then selected nine semifinalists to accomplish a list of tasks showing off their sections over a 12-day span.
Semifinalists were required to complete five mandatory challenges, and up to a total of 20, and highlight them in a three-minute TikTok. The mandatory challenges focused on contest criteria: positive sportsmanship, student body participation, school spirit, originality of cheers, organization of the group, student section leadership and overall fun. Descriptions of all 20 challenges are available on the MHSAA Website.
Let's meet the finalists:
BUCHANAN - THE HERD
Follow on TikTok and Instagram
@theherd_bhs #MHSAABOTF2022 @mhsaasports ♬ The Nights - Avicii
MIDLAND DOW
@dowstudentsection Herbs House 💛💚 semifinals #mhsaabotf2022 @mhsaasports ♬ this is what falling in love feels like - JVKE
TRAVERSE CITY WEST - BLEACHER CREATURES
Follow on TikTok and Instagram
@tcwbleachercreatures 🚨ATTENTION WEST WINNERS🚨 💯FINALS IMMINENT💯 @mhsaasports #mhsaabotf2022 ♬ original sound - Tcw BC
Battle of the Fans is organized by MHSAA staff and the Student Advisory Council. Schools were invited throughout the fall to submit short videos, via YouTube, of their cheering sections in action. The Advisory Council then selected nine semifinalists to accomplish a list of tasks showing off their sections over a 12-day span.
Semifinalists were required to complete 10 challenges via their social media channels. Five mandatory challenges focused on contest criteria: positive sportsmanship, student body participation, school spirit, originality of cheers, organization of the group, student section leadership and overall fun. Semifinalists then selected five elective challenges (taken from a list of 15 opportunities). Descriptions of all 20 challenges are available on the MHSAA Website.
The contest is sponsored in part by the United Dairy Industry of Michigan, which promotes Michigan's locally-produced dairy products and nutrition education. Rules plus links to past years’ coverage of the contest can be found on the MHSAA's BOTF web page.
The Student Advisory Council is made up of eight seniors and eight juniors who each serve two-year terms. The Council acts as the voice of Michigan's student-athletes; it serves as a student sounding board for the MHSAA's Representative Council, assists in planning Sportsmanship Summits, Captains Clinics and other student leadership events; participates in a yearly focus group about the state of high school sports for Michigan State University's Institute for the Study of Youth Sports and assists with medal ceremonies at MHSAA championship events.
A record-tying 27 schools applied for this year’s contest, including 14 schools for the first time. Three semifinalists each were selected from the Class A, Class B and Class C/D applicants. See below for a compilation of highlights from all nine semifinalists:
@mhsaasports 🚨𝙱𝙰𝚃𝚃𝙻𝙴 𝙾𝙵 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝙵𝙰𝙽𝚂 𝚇🚨Congrats to all 9 Semifinalists! #MHSAABOTF2022 #battleofthefans #letsgo #sportsmanship #MHSAA #fyp ♬ Let's go! - Official Sound Studio