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.
Advisory Council Names Class Of 2019
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
May 1, 2017
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Eight student-athletes who will be juniors at their schools during the 2017-18 academic year have been selected to serve two-year terms on the Michigan High School Athletic Association’s Student Advisory Council.
The Student Advisory Council is a 16-member group which provides feedback on issues impacting educational athletics from a student’s perspective, and also is involved in the operation of Association championship events and other programming. Members of the Student Advisory Council serve for two years, beginning as juniors. Eight new members are selected annually to serve on the SAC, with nominations made by MHSAA member schools. The incoming juniors will join the group of eight seniors-to-be appointed a year ago.
Selected to begin serving on the Student Advisory Council in 2017-18 are: Taylor Adams, Allendale; Neil Bazaj, Ann Arbor Greenhills; Megan Corbe, St. Joseph; Shane Dolan, Clarkston Everest Collegiate; Chloe Idoni, Fenton; William Jontz, Brighton; Pierce Morrissey, Big Rapids; and Abigail Nelson, Negaunee.
The first Student Advisory Council was formed for the 2006-07 school year. With the addition of this class beginning this summer, members will have represented 95 schools from 44 leagues plus independent schools that do not play in a league. Combined, the new appointees have participated in 13 MHSAA sports, and seven of the eight will be the first SAC members from their respective schools.
The Student Advisory Council meets seven times each school year, and once more for a 24-hour leadership camp. In addition to assisting in the promotion of the educational value of interscholastic athletics, the council discusses issues dealing with the 4 S’s of educational athletics: scholarship, sportsmanship, safety (including health and nutrition) and the sensible scope of athletic programs. There also is a fifth S discussed by the group – student leadership.
This school year, the Council judged the sixth “Battle of the Fans” after creating the contest during 2011-12 as a way to promote positive sportsmanship. The Council also completed updates to the “Captains 101” leadership guide first published in 2009, and in fall 2017 will be distributing a follow-up book titled “The Captains Playbook.” The 24-page book will be sent to schools throughout Michigan and also, by request, to other states and internationally.
The new additions to the SAC will join the Class of 2018 members who were selected a year ago: Sydney Hanson, Alma; Jordan Tirico, Ann Arbor Skyline; Danny deForest, Holland West Ottawa; Darby Dean, Lowell; Rachel Cummings, Mayville; Grace Reetz, Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart; Aaron Fahmer, Owendale-Gagetown; and Hunter Gandee, Temperance Bedford.
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.