Mason, Okemos Score for a Cure
November 11, 2014
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Three weeks remain in the MHSAA’s 2014 fall season, and we’ve collected a few notes to pass along as we wind down the final three sports before moving inside (except for skiing) for the winter.
Below are an update on a fundraising game we previewed earlier, plus recognition for perfection at our Girls Golf Finals and another high honor for one of the top players in MHSAA volleyball history.
Score for a cure
We wrote in September about an upcoming soccer game between Lansing-area powers that would raise money for pediatric cancer research. The “Compete for a Cause” game between Okemos and Mason on Sept. 13 was the third of what has become an annual event started by Mason’s team and coaching staff.
Attendance for this season’s game was nearly double the year before, and funds raised increased more than 500 percent.
The final tally: Roughly 1,400 fans attended the game, which raised $11,000 that was split between the CureSearch for Children’s Cancer national foundation and the Michigan State University Pediatric Oncology Clinic.
The first “Compete” game in 2012 raised $1,000, and the 2013 game drew 800 fans and raised about $2,000. This fall, Okemos was ranked No. 1 in Division 1 and Mason No. 7 in Division 2 when the game was played; it ended in a 1-1 tie. Both went on to postseason success – Okemos advanced to a Regional Final, and Mason fell to eventual Division 2 champion East Lansing in overtime in their Semifinal.
Only one shot needed
It’s a rarity – most of the time. But for the second straight season, a player at the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Girls Golf Finals sunk a hole-in-one.
Grosse Pointe South’s Lucy Buzolitz aced the par-3 No. 12 at Bedford Valley in Battle Creek, dropping the shot from 97 yards out during the first round of Division 1 play. Buzolitz was one of two individual qualifiers from her team and shot a 92-97-189 for the two-day tournament.
At the 2013 Division 2 Final, Fenton then-sophomore Madison Shegos aced the par-3 18th hole at Michigan State University’s Forest Akers East.
Sportswoman of the Year
Former Leland and Penn State University volleyball standout and current U.S. national team setter Alisha Glass was a finalist for 2014 Team Sportswoman of the Year at the 35th Salute to Women in Sports gala in October in New York City.
The event, put on by the Women’s Sports Foundation, annually recognizes a Sportswoman of the Year for both individual and team sports based on nominations by sport governing bodies and the public. Glass was one of 10 candidates this year for the team award after being named USA Volleyball Indoor Female Athlete of the Year in 2013. She also was named International Federation of Volleyball’s best setter at the 2014 World Championship in Italy after helping the United States to the title.
Olympic gold medal-winning ice dancer Meryl Davis received the Sportswoman of the Year team award, while the individual award when to gymnastics all-around world champion Simone Biles.
PHOTOS: (Top) Members of the Mason and Okemos boys soccer teams present a check for $5,500 to the MSU Pediatric Oncology Clinic and Dr. Renuka Gera last month. (Middle) Lucy Buzolitz receives a plaque recognizing her hole-in-one at the Division 2 Golf Final from Bedford Valley head pro Dean Kolstad.
Gaylord Record-Setter Embracing Challenges As Championship Season Approaches
By
Tom Spencer
Special for MHSAA.com
May 3, 2024
Katie Berkshire has her eyes on the prize today.
And she’ll have her eyes on another prize Saturday. After that she’ll move on to more conquests yet this track season.
That pattern will be repeated for the next two years on the track and along the cross country course.
Berkshire, a sophomore at Gaylord High School, is already a long-distance record-holder and a regular feature at the Lower Peninsula Division 2 Final. Today, she is throwing out the welcome mat to her opponents as Gaylord hosts its annual Blue Devil Classic.
She is welcoming this weekend’s competition because she knows fast races help her get better every day. Winning, although it happens often, is not her top priority. Putting in the work and getting better is what matters most, according to Gaylord girls track & field and cross country coach Lindsey Yates.
“She’s more than just a fast runner,” acknowledged Yates. “She knows she has to put the work in to get good results, and she’s always wanting more.
“The proof is in the pudding in what she does,” Yates continued. “She is a special — very special — athlete and young woman.”
Berkshire started this season by breaking the school record in the 3,200 at Gaylord’s first meet. She’s hoping to break the school’s 1,600 record yet this spring. And, she’s hoping to add to her collection of Regional and conference titles this month.
Higher finishes at the Division 2 Final on June 2 also are on the mind of the running sensation, who had a strong showing as a freshman finishing third in the 3,200 and 10th in the 1,600.
Track is known as an individual sport, but Berkshire looks at it more as a team sport with friendly competition.
Running, which started in Gaylord Elementary’s “Mileage Club” for Berkshire, wouldn’t be the same without teammates.
“Cross country and track are individual sports, but the team is a huge part – without the team it wouldn’t be the same at all,” Berkshire said. “We have all put in so much effort, and we deserve to go out and race and show what we can do.”
“She’s a gift to the team,” Yates added. “It is an individual sport, but she has the whole team with her and she rallies for the team and the team rallies for her – it’s a family.”
Gaylord has had its share of individual Finals champions in the past under boys coach Matthew Warren, who Yates notes has played an integral part in Berkshire’s training. But Berkshire is a one-of-a-kind runner for Yates, who has served as both the girls track and girls and boys cross country head coach the past two years at Gaylord.
“I have not seen anything as fine-tuned as Katie Berkshire, and it’s a breath of fresh air,” said Yates, who assisted both Blue Devils programs a few years before taking over. “The intrinsic desire for her is amazing.”
Running cross country and track brings endless challenges for Berkshire to conquer. The results, she notes, come from the training.
“Running shows me any challenge that comes my way I can just overcome,” Berkshire said. “It shows me if I have a goal in my mind, I can accomplish it if I work hard and put in the effort.”
During the fall, Berkshire won eight of her 12 cross country races including the Big North Conference meet and Regional. She’s already qualified for three Division 2 Finals across the two sports and is likely going to add a fourth Finals next month at Hamilton High School.
Before that, Berkshire is going after another Big North title and a Regional championship. Competitions, like those ahead always bring out her best; the conference includes Division 1 opponents.
“I enjoy running against even girls that are faster than me because they always push me to be better and they are there obviously to race and try their best,” Berkshire said. “They are an influence to me that I can get there one day and I can maybe even beat them the next season.”
This year she has hopes of running a sub-5-minute 1,600 to capture the school record; her best in the race is 5:11. She takes on both distance races regularly and also is a regular in relays. In Wednesday’s dual meet at Alpena, she set two personal bests running a 2:25.60 in the 800 and 1:05.71 in the 400.
Berkshire’s favorite event by far is the 3,200, as she likes finding the right pace and rhythm to handle eight laps.
“Most people would think I am crazy for that,” she said of her pick for favorite. “It’s the longest race on the track, and it feels the best for me.”
Yates says Berkshire has yet to run her best 3,200 of the season. The conference, Regional and Final should bring out the best in Berkshire, she noted.
“She’s amazing, and setting the record isn’t good enough for her. She wants to do it again,” Yates said. “She also wants the mile record, and she’s hungry for it.”
Tom Spencer is a longtime MHSAA-registered basketball and soccer official, and former softball and baseball official, and he also has coached in the northern Lower Peninsula area. He previously has written for the Saginaw News, Bay County Sports Page and Midland Daily News. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Manistee, Wexford, Missaukee, Roscommon, Ogemaw, Iosco, Alcona, Oscoda, Crawford, Kalkaska, Grand Traverse, Benzie, Leelanau, Antrim, Otsego, Montmorency, Alpena, Presque Isle, Cheboygan, Charlevoix and Emmet counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Gaylord’s Katie Berkshire readies for a relay Wednesday against Alpena. (Middle) Berkshire, seated, confers with the Blue Devils coaches. (Photos provided by the Gaylord girls track & field program.)