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New Member to Join Representative Council
October 23, 2015
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Elections were completed recently to fill positions on the Michigan High School Athletic Association’s legislative body, its Representative Council, and one new member was among those selected.
St. Ignace superintendent Donald Gustafson will join the Council to represent Junior High/Middle Schools. He was elected to a two-year team, as were five others who were re-elected and will begin terms during the Council’s fall meeting.
Kingsford athletic director Al Unger will continue to represent Class A and B schools in the Upper Peninsula, and Detroit Public School League administrator for athletics Alvin Ward will continue to represent the Detroit Public Schools. Gobles athletic director Chris Miller will continue to represent Class C and D schools from the southwestern section of the Lower Peninsula, and Adrian Madison athletic director Kristen M. Isom was re-elected to represent the Class C and D schools from the southeastern section. Karen Leinaar, athletic director at Bear Lake, will continue as one of two at-large statewide representatives.
The Representative Council is the 19-member legislative body of the MHSAA. All but five members are elected by member schools. Four members are appointed by the Council to facilitate representation of females and minorities, and the 19th position is occupied by the Superintendent of Public Instruction or designee. The Council meets three times annually, and five members of the Council convene monthly during the school year to form the MHSAA’s Executive Committee, which reviews appeals of Handbook regulations by member schools.
Additional elections took place to select representatives to the Upper Peninsula Athletic Committee. Gladstone athletic director Matthew Houle was re-elected to represent Class A and B schools, Iron Mountain athletic director Chris Hartman was re-elected to represent Class C schools and Rock Mid-Peninsula athletic director Gary Brayak was re-elected to represent Class D schools.
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.
![Parade of Champions](/sites/default/files/2021-06/210624_Parade_2H.jpg)
89 Schools Fill 2020-21 Parade of Champions
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
June 24, 2021
A total of 89 schools won one or more of the 132 Michigan High School Athletic Association team championships awarded during 2020-21, with two teams earning the first Finals championship in any sport in their schools’ histories.
Detroit Douglass celebrated its first MHSAA Finals championship by winning the Division 4 boys basketball title to conclude the winter, and Owosso claimed its first by earning the Division 2 softball championship this spring.
A total of 27 schools won two or more championships this school year, paced by Marquette’s five won in boys cross country, boys golf, boys swimming & diving, and both girls and boys track & field. Ann Arbor Pioneer and Grass Lake were next both with four Finals championships. Pioneer won in girls cross country, girls and boys swimming & diving and girls tennis, and Grass Lake was a champion in girls basketball, boys bowling and girls and boys track & field. Grass Lake also had participants on the Jackson Area girls gymnastics team that won its first Finals title.
Nine schools won three MHSAA Finals championships: Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice, Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood, Bloomfield Hills Marian, Detroit Country Day, East Grand Rapids, Grand Rapids Catholic Central, Hudsonville, Petoskey and West Iron County. Winning two titles in 2020-21 were Adrian Lenawee Christian, Birmingham Seaholm, Carson City-Crystal, Detroit Catholic Central, Dollar Bay, Grand Blanc, Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern, Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett, Ishpeming, Kalamazoo Hackett Catholic Prep, Montague, Norway, Richmond, Rockford and South Lyon.
A total of 39 teams won first MHSAA titles in their respective sports. A total of 42 champions were repeat winners from either 2019-20 or 2018-19 for sports that did not award championships in Winter or Spring 2020 because of cancelations due to COVID-19. A total of 15 teams won championships for at least the third-straight season, while six teams extended title streaks to at least four consecutive seasons. The Rockford girls lacrosse and Lowell wrestling programs own the longest title streaks at eight seasons.
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.
Click for a sport-by-sport listing of MHSAA champions for 2020-21.