Bedford's Gandee Honored for 'Spirit'

March 13, 2017

By John Gillis
Special from NFHS

Hunter Gandee, a student-athlete at Temperance Bedford High School, has been selected as the 2017 Section 4 recipient of the “National High School Spirit of Sport Award” by the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS). 

The National High School Spirit of Sport Award was created by the NFHS to recognize those individuals who exemplify the ideals of the spirit of sport that represent the core mission of education-based athletics.

The mark of a “good big brother” is often to what lengths he might go to assist his younger siblings.

That sense of familial assistance has perhaps never been taken to the extremes that Hunter Gandee has repeatedly done for his younger brother Braden.

A standout student, Hunter is a junior with a 3.92 grade-point average and a member of the National Honor Society. 

On the sports side, Hunter is in his third season on the varsity wrestling team, and participates in Greco-Roman and freestyle wrestling during the offseason. He's also a member of the MHSAA Student Advisory Council.

While those accomplishments are unquestionably outstanding, they might pale in comparison to what he has done for Braden. 

Born with cerebral palsy, Braden has limited use of his legs. Nonetheless, Hunter has taken it upon himself to help Braden know what it feels like to walk long distances – and he’s done it three times. Organized for the purpose of raising awareness of cerebral palsy, Hunter literally carries Braden on his back for long walks known as “CP Swaggers.”

In 2014, Hunter carried Braden 40 miles from the Bedford Junior High School wrestling room to the University of Michigan’s Bahna Wrestling Center. The following year, they upped the trek’s mileage to 57 miles. 

However, that couldn’t foreshadow what was to follow in April 2016 when Hunter carried Braden on his back an amazing 111 miles – some 14 miles more than the first two walks combined.

About the Award: The NFHS divides the nation into eight geographical sections. The states in Section 4 are Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa and Wisconsin. 

Nominations for this award were generated through NFHS member state associations and reviewed by the NFHS Spirit of Sport Award Selection Committee composed of state association staff members.

While the national winner will be recognized June 29 at the NFHS Summer Meeting in Providence, Rhode Island, the section winners will be recognized within their respective states and will receive awards before the end of the current school year.

PHOTO: Hunter Gandee, second from right, carries his brother Braden as part of their effort to bring awareness to cerebral palsy. (Photo courtesy of The Cerebral Palsy Swagger.)

Winter Sees Season Switch, Rules Changes

November 26, 2018

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

A switch in the starts of boys and girls basketball and a number of rules changes in various sports are notable as 2018-19 competition begins in 12 winter sports for which the MHSAA sponsors postseason tournaments.

Beginning with ice hockey’s first games Nov. 12, five sports have started play during these last two weeks, while wrestling on Dec. 5 and skiing on Dec. 8 will be the final winter sports to begin competition. This season’s first boys basketball games are scheduled to begin Nov. 26 as the boys season begins, and ends, one week before the girls basketball season this winter in a switch from years past. The change was made for this winter to accommodate availability of Michigan State University’s Breslin Student Events Center, which will host the Boys Basketball Finals. The first girls basketball games will be played Dec. 3, and the Girls Basketball Finals on March 16 at Calvin College’s Van Noord Arena will close the winter season.

The further re-definition of the competition area to reward offensive wrestling is among the most significant rules changes taking effect this winter. Following a similar rule change a year ago to create a larger scoring area coming out of the down position, wrestlers will continue to compete as long as two supporting point(s) – be it two for one wrestler or one for each – remain inbounds. This change will provide a larger scoring area for takedowns, escapes and reversals. Supporting points include the parts of the body touching, or within, the wrestling area that bear the wrestler’s weight, other than those parts with which the wrestler is holding the opponent.

Other rules changes that will be most apparent this winter include:

•  In basketball, a rule change allows any player located in the backcourt, for either team, to recover a ball deflected from the frontcourt by the defense. This exception to the backcourt violation ensures neither team is unfairly disadvantaged on a deflected pass. A player located in the frontcourt still may not be the first to touch the ball if his or her team loses control and the ball goes into the backcourt.

•  Also in basketball, the previous 14-foot coach’s box in front of a team's bench has been extended to 28 feet.

•  As with Lower Peninsula girls swimming & diving season in the fall, a pair of changes for boys and Upper Peninsula girls will provide more opportunities for divers. The diving event in dual, double-dual or other multi-team non-championship competition has been limited to six dives, but now may be expanded to an 11-dive competition – giving divers another opportunity to prepare for the 11-dive competitions at the MHSAA Qualification Meets and Finals levels. Also, while diving traditionally has been placed in the middle of the event order of a dual or other regular-season meet, it may now be conducted first, last or simultaneously with the swimming events. (Both require prior mutual consent by competing teams and officials.)

•  In boys ice hockey, a penalty shot will be awarded when a goal cage is displaced on a breakaway or during the last two minutes of regulation. This is meant to deter players and goalies from attempting to displace the net during a breakaway situation.

The 2018-19 Winter campaign culminates with postseason tournaments beginning with the Upper Peninsula Girls and Boys Swimming & Diving Finals on Feb. 16, and wraps up with the Girls Basketball Finals on March 23. A reminder: The MHSAA Individual Wrestling Finals at Ford Field again will be a two-day event this winter as opposed to a three-day event as in past seasons.

Here is a complete list of winter tournament dates:

Boys Basketball
Districts – Feb. 25, 27 & March 1
Regionals – March 5 & 7
Quarterfinals – March 12
Semifinals – March 14-15
Finals – March 16 

Girls Basketball
Districts – March 4, 6 & 8
Regionals – March 11 & 13
Quarterfinals – March 19
Semifinals – March 21-22
Finals – March 23 

Girls & Boys Bowling
Team Regionals – Feb. 22
Singles Regionals – Feb. 23
Team Finals – March 1
Singles Finals – March 2 

Girls Competitive Cheer
Districts – Feb. 15-16
Regionals – Feb. 23
Finals: March 1-2 

Girls Gymnastics
Regionals – March 2
Team Finals – March 8
Individual Finals – March 9 

Ice Hockey
Regionals – Feb. 25-March 2
Quarterfinals – March 5-6
Semifinals – March 7-8
Finals – March 9 

Girls and Boys Skiing
Regionals – Feb. 11-15
Finals – Feb. 25

Girls & Boys Swimming & Diving
U.P. Girls & Boys Finals – Feb. 16
L.P. Boys Diving Qualification Meets – Feb. 28
L.P. Boys Finals – March 8-9 

Wrestling
Team Districts – Feb. 6-7
Individual Districts – Feb. 9
Team Regionals – Feb. 13
Individual Regionals – Feb. 16
Team Quarterfinals – Feb. 22
Team Semifinals & Finals – Feb. 23
Individual Finals – March 1-2