2017-18 Classifications Announced
March 27, 2017
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Classifications for Michigan High School Athletic Association elections and postseason tournaments in traditionally classified sports (A, B, C, D) for the 2017-18 school year have been announced, with enrollment breaks for postseason tournaments set up by divisions posted to each sport’s page on the MHSAA Website.
Classifications for the upcoming school year are based on a second semester count date, which for MHSAA purposes was Feb. 8. The enrollment figure submitted for athletic classification purposes may be different from the count submitted for school aid purposes, as it does not include students ineligible for athletic competition because they reached their 19th birthday prior to September 1 of the current school year and will not include alternative education students if none are allowed athletic eligibility by the local school district.
After all counts are submitted, tournament-qualified member schools are ranked according to enrollment, and then split as closely into quarters as possible. For 2017-18, there are 750 tournament-qualified member schools with 186 schools in Class A, 187 schools in Class B, 188 schools in Class C and 189 schools in Class D.
Effective with the 2017-18 school year, schools with 881 or more students are in Class A in MHSAA postseason tournament competition. The enrollment limits for Class B are 406-880; Class C is 204-405; and schools with enrollments of 203 and fewer are Class D. The break between Classes A and B is the same as for 2016-17, the break between Classes B and C decreased six students, and the break between Classes C and D is three students fewer than the current school year.
The new classification breaks will see 21 schools move up in class for 2017-18, while 24 schools will move down.
Schools recently were notified of their classification. MHSAA Executive Director John E. "Jack" Roberts said schools may not subsequently lower their enrollment figure. However, if revised enrollment figures should be higher and indicate that a school should be playing in a higher class, that school would be moved up.
Schools have the option to play at any higher classification for a minimum of two years, but must exercise the option by April 15 for fall sports, August 15 for winter sports and October 15 for spring sports.
MHSAA tournament sports that will be conducted in traditional classifications for 2017-18 are Basketball and Girls Volleyball. Football will use traditional classifications to determine playoff points.
Sports which will compete in nearly equal divisions are: Baseball, Bowling, Girls Competitive Cheer, Lower Peninsula Cross Country, Lower Peninsula Golf, Ice Hockey, Lacrosse, Lower Peninsula Soccer, Skiing, Softball, Lower Peninsula Swimming & Diving, Lower Peninsula Tennis, Lower Peninsula Track & Field and Wrestling.
Visit the respective sport pages on the MHSAA Website to review the divisional alignments.
The divisions and qualifiers for the MHSAA Football Playoffs will be announced on Selection Sunday, Oct. 22, 2017.
Click for a complete list of school enrollments used to determine classifications for the 2017-18 school year.
Here is a complete list of schools changing classification for 2017-18. (Note: This list does not include schools opting up in class/division for tournaments, which can be found on the Administrators page of the MHSAA Website, under Enrollment and Classification):
Moving Up From Class B to Class A
Battle Creek Harper Creek
Hazel Park
Redford Union
Stevensville Lakeshore
Zeeland West
Moving Down From Class A to Class B
New Boston Huron
Niles
Parma Western
Pontiac
Romulus
Moving Down from Class A to Class C
Detroit International Academy
Moving Up From Class C to Class B
Boyne City
Detroit Cornerstone Health & Technology
Detroit West Side Academy
Ecorse
Harrison
Jonesville
Michigan Center
Millington
Moving Down From Class B to Class C
Canton Preparatory
Clinton Township Clintondale
Detroit Henry Ford
Detroit School of Arts
Flint Academy West
Houghton
Ithaca
Pinconning
Sanford Meridian Early College
Ypsilanti Arbor Prep
Moving Up From Class D to Class C
Brighton Charyl Stockwell Prep Academy
Detroit Leadership Academy
Detroit Public Safety Academy
Jackson Preparatory & Early College
Marcellus
Mendon
Pittsford
Saginaw Michigan Lutheran Seminary
Moving Down From Class C to Class D
Detroit Randolph Technical
Genesee
Kingston
Melvindale Academy for Business & Technology
Munising
Muskegon Heights Academy
Rudyard
West Bloomfield Frankel Jewish Academy
New Postseason Eligible Tournament Schools in 2017-18
Ann Arbor Washtenaw Tech Middle College
Detroit Leadership Academy
Detroit Hope of Detroit
Hudsonville Libertas Christian
Mancelona North Central Academy
Westland American International Academy
Enrollment Breaks by Classes – 2017-18
(Number of schools in parentheses)
Class A: 881 and above (186 schools)
Class B: 406 – 880 (187)
Class C: 204 – 405 (188)
Class D: 203 and below (189)
The MHSAA is a private, not-for-profit corporation of voluntary membership by more than 1,400 public and private senior high schools and junior high/middle schools which exists to develop common rules for athletic eligibility and competition. No government funds or tax dollars support the MHSAA, which was the first such association nationally to not accept membership dues or tournament entry fees from schools. Member schools which enforce these rules are permitted to participate in MHSAA tournaments, which attract more than 1.4 million spectators each year.
Stoney Creek Leaders Speak Up to Save Lives
May 26, 2017
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
The crowd for Rochester Hills Stoney Creek’s boys basketball game against rival Rochester was as rowdy as could be hoped for most of the evening Feb. 28.
But it fell silent during halftime as Stoney Creek juniors Nate Davis, Kevin Price and Isabella Ubaydi spoke of how suicide had affected them and their community.
A student had committed suicide every year during their high school careers – including Price’s brother just six months before.
All three are members of the school’s Cougar Athletic Leadership Council, which put on the Suicide Prevention Awareness basketball game not only to raise money for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, but also to start the conversation on a sensitive topic that has hit home.
“We wanted to get the word out that it’s OK to talk about these issues – help the topic get out of the dark,” Ubaydi said.
“It was insane. It was awesome. There were so many people. Our student section area where we all sit was filled up to the top row. There were a lot of people from the community who didn’t go to Stoney Creek, or have alumni (associated with the school) or anything like that. But they were at Stoney Creek, and it was great to show people actually care in our community.”
The leadership council is a club made up of Stoney Creek athletes who coordinate special events, including for athletics, with an eye especially on helping the community’s youth, elderly and those with disabilities. Ubaydi, Price and Davis are co-chairs of the CALC’s special events committee.
The tragic circumstances of the last three years led the group to bring suicide prevention to the forefront. While Ubaydi spoke mostly about why the event was held and how donations would be spent, Price and Davis (Price’s best friend) talked about how suicide had affected them personally. “You could hear a pin drop,” Ubaydi said. “After we were done, (the crowd) gave a standing ovation.”
CALC raised nearly $3,500 selling T-shirts that also included free student admission to the game. After Ubaydi, Price and Davis spoke, buckets were passed through the crowd during a “miracle minute” and filled with another $1,200.
All profits from the night, including $500 from concessions, were donated to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, and Ubaydi said the $1,000 from the Community Service Award also will be sent to AFSP.
She’s since heard stories from teachers of classmates coming forward to express worries about people in their lives, a sign awareness is paying off. At the same time, Ubaydi and her co-chairs are just as concerned about people who didn’t attend the Suicide Prevention Awareness game and might be experiencing troubles in their lives – but the hope is the event spoke loudly enough to be heard by anyone who needs help.
All three leaders are juniors beginning to contemplate their futures after high school; Ubaydi is leaning toward Roanoke College in Virginia to study political science and minor in theology, while Price is considering Michigan State to study environmental science and Davis is looking at options for pre-law or political science. They hope to host the suicide prevention event again as seniors before they graduate, with future CALC students then carrying on the mission.
“Suicide is an uncomfortable topic to talk about. Since people saw us relating to how it has affected us personally, the community will become comfortable discussing mental illnesses together,” Ubaydi wrote in CALC’s award application.
“I wanted to have this event so people understand that the influence that one person can make may be life-changing. This then causes them to be there for others, see the signs quicker, and save more lives.”
PHOTO: (Top) Cougar Athletic Leadership Council leaders Kevin Price, Isabella Ubaydi and Nate Davis show their shirts from the school’s Suicide Prevention Awareness night. VIDEOS: (Top) State Champs! Network covered the event and interviewed its organizers. (Below) Davis, Ubaydi and Price speak during halftime, also filmed by State Champs! Network.
2017 Community Service Awards
Sunday: Colon "Yard Squad" - Read
Monday: Bailey Brown, Brighton - Read
Tuesday: Justice Ottinger, Newaygo - Read
Thursday: Katie Sesi, Ann Arbor Huron - Read
Friday: Nikki Sorgi, Utica Ford - Read
Friday: Cougar Athletic Leadership Council, Rochester Hills Stoney Creek - Read