2017-18 Parade of Champions
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
June 21, 2018
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
A total of 98 schools won one or more of the 129 Michigan High School Athletic Association team championships awarded during 2017-18, including one school that won both its first and then second Finals titles of all time.
Hart’s girls cross country team celebrated its first MHSAA Finals championship by winning the Lower Peninsula Division 3 meet in the fall, and then doubled up its number of titles both this school year and in school history with a first place at the Lower Peninsula Division 3 Track & Field Finals this spring.
A total of 22 schools won two or more championships this school year. Marquette claimed the most, four, winning in Division 1 girls and boys skiing, Upper Peninsula Division 1 girls cross country and Upper Peninsula Division 1 boys track & field.
Seven schools won three MHSAA Finals championships: Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood, Detroit Catholic Central, Detroit Country Day, Escanaba, Flint Powers Catholic, Houghton and Negaunee. Joining Hart with two titles during 2017-18 were Bronson, Clarkston, Detroit Edison Public School Academy, East Grand Rapids, Grosse Pointe South, Hanover-Horton, Hudson, Iron River West Iron County, Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart, Novi, Ontonagon, Pontiac Notre Dame Prep and St. Ignace.
Bessemer also was part of two championships, winning the Upper Peninsula Division 3 boys track & field title and then as the secondary school in a cooperative program with Wakefield-Marenisco that finished first in Upper Peninsula Division 2 boys cross country.
A total of 33 teams won first MHSAA titles in their respective sports. A total of 45 champions were repeat winners from 2016-17 – and 18 of those won for at least the third straight season, while nine extended title streaks to at least four consecutive years.
The Petoskey boys skiing team took over the longest title streak at eight seasons, while the Marquette boys skiing and Rockford girls lacrosse teams share the second-longest streak at six straight championships.
Sixteen of the MHSAA's 28 championship tournaments are unified, involving teams from the Upper and Lower Peninsulas, while separate competition to determine titlists in both Peninsulas is conducted in remaining sports.
For a sport-by-sport listing of MHSAA champions for 2017-18 - Click Here (PDF)
PHOTO: Grosse Pointe South's baseball team rushes the field after clinching the Division 1 baseball championship Saturday at McLane Stadium.
Retired AD Smith to Receive NFHS Honor
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
November 26, 2019
Retired longtime athletic director Fred Smith has been selected to receive a Citation from the National Federation of State High School Associations during the 50th National Athletic Directors Conference sponsored by the NFHS and National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association (NIAAA) on Dec. 16 in National Harbor, Md.
NFHS Citations are presented annually to outstanding athletic directors in recognition of contributions to interscholastic athletics at the local, state and national levels. State associations nominate athletic directors for NFHS Citations, and the NFHS Board of Directors approves recipients.
A 1979 graduate of Western Michigan University, Smith began his career at St. Joseph Lake Michigan Catholic Schools, serving for 11 years. In 1991, he joined Comstock Public Schools, where he served for 16 years. Smith move to Buchanan Community Schools in 2007, where he remained until 2015 before departing for his final stop as athletic director at Benton Harbor for two years. He retired in 2017, serving 38 years total as a teacher, coach and administrator, and resides in Stevensville.
Among his accomplishments, Smith instituted awards programs to recognize three-sport (or more) student-athletes who participated for their full, four-year high school career. Additionally, he assisted with the development of an evaluation tool for coaches and helped provide funding for coaches to attend the MHSAA's Coaches Advancement Program.
Smith was a member of the MHSAA Representative Council from 2005 to 2017, including the final four years as vice president. He also served on several MHSAA committees, and he hosted countless MHSAA District and Regional tournaments. With the Michigan Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association (MIAAA), he has served as chair of its Professional Development Committee as well as a member of its executive board from 1993 to 1998.
Smith was a member of the NIAAA Board of Directors (1996-98), Credentials Committee (1989-96) and Hall of Fame Screening Committee (2010-18). He has been heavily involved in the NIAAA’s Leadership Training Institute. He is national course chair for LTC 501, and he has presented Leadership Training Courses in 14 states. Smith also served on the NIAAA Executive Director Search Committee, and he has attended 34 National Athletic Directors Conferences.
Smith has been honored with numerous awards. He has previously received the NIAAA Distinguished Service Award, the NIAAA Thomas E. Frederick Award of Excellence, the NIAAA Frank Kovaleski Professional Development Award, and the MHSAA Charles E. Forsythe Award.