Michel Finishes with Story to Tell
June 11, 2013
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Andrew Michel received the heart-breaking news only moments before leaving his golf team’s Regional on Friday to get ready for that night’s Brownstown-Woodhaven prom.
But missing making the MHSAA Finals by a stroke was not the first thing he shared with those who asked about his day at West Shore Golf and Country Club in Grosse Ile.
Instead, the graduating senior told of the 132-yard shot he dropped for a hole-in-one on the par-3 12th hole, his second ace but first in competition.
Michel finished with a season-best 76, missing the cut for this weekend’s Lower Peninsula Division 1 Final by a stroke despite firing another eagle during the final holes of his round.
“At the start of the day, I told myself don’t leave anything on the table. Go for it on every hole, make every shot and just have fun at your last tournament,” Michel said Tuesday afternoon as he readied for that night’s graduation ceremony. “Being a senior, I went for everything.”
The best part might’ve been how he came back from a disappointing previous hole.
Michel had just finished off a triple bogey on No. 11, and admitted he was down on himself. He stepped to the next tee with his pitching wedge, and “I didn’t really care what happened. I chose the club I like to hit on that hole, and in the air I was thinking it was really good,” he said.
The ball touched down on the green and spun back into the hole.
Michel also played golf and soccer at Brownstown-Woodhaven. He’ll attend Grand Valley State University in the fall, study engineering, and will try to walk-on the Lakers’ golf team.
“Deep down inside,” he said he’s disappointed he won’t be playing at Michigan State’s Forest Akers West on Friday. But he’s got a quite a highlight to take with him from his final high school round.
“It was very bittersweet. I really wanted to go to state,” Michel said. “But the hole-in-one balanced it out a bit.”
Eye on the official
Hopefully you caught our MHSAA benchmarks piece (also published on Second Half) on longtime official Lamont Simpson, who has worked not only MHSAA Finals but NCAA tournaments and is one of 32 officials in the WNBA. (Here’s the link in case you missed it.)
He also became that league’s first to wear the referee cam, debuting the new gear during a recent game between the Phoenix Mercury and Indiana Fever.
The camera provides plenty of ref’s-eye views. Click the video below to check it out.
Wheels of Steele
We’ve been watching the inspiring progress of Frankenmuth runner Bobby Steele especially over the last few years as his story became known across the Lower Peninsula.
Steele, who is visually impaired, has run cross country and track for the Eagles, thanks to the help of guides who ran with him to help him stay on course.
If you haven’t heard Steele’s awesome story, check out this 8-minute video. Not only did Steele run, but he cut roughly 12 minutes off his first cross country times over the course of his career.
St. Francis Turns Slight Friday Lead Into Memorable Championship Sweep
June 8, 2024
BIG RAPIDS – Traverse City St. Francis freshman Casey Jackson assigned some of the credit for his teammates’ Lower Peninsula Division 3 championship success this weekend to their matching bucket hats, which proved a key accessory during Saturday’s drizzly second round at Katke Golf Course.
But the Gladiators’ first Finals championship since 2008 was more a product of scores falling along with the raindrops.
They improved from 14th a year ago to first this weekend by building a three-stroke lead on Jackson Lumen Christi during Friday’s first round and extending it to an 18-stroke victory by the end of Saturday, finishing with a two-day 640 as the Titans finished at 658 and Grand Rapids West Catholic and Grand Rapids Covenant Christian tied for third at 668.
St. Francis carded a 328 on Friday but cut that to 312 during the second round, in part on the surge of junior David Ansley. He shot an 80 on Friday to tie for seventh individually, but came back Saturday with a 72 to set up a tie-breaker for medalist with Elk Rapids sophomore Baron Vollmer – and clinched it by dropping what he estimated to be a 20-foot putt.
All told, four of five Gladiators cut strokes from their first to second rounds. Freshman Casey Jackson dropped a stroke to tie for ninth at 80-79-159, and junior Josh Slocum carded 85-77-162 to tie for 16th individually. Sophomore William Gibbons also cut two strokes to finish at 88-86-174, and senior Owen Jackson remained consistently solid at 83-84-167.
“I’ve grown up with these guys for years now, and it just feels so surreal because we did what we wanted to do this season,” Jackson said. “It feels like our chemistry is so good together, and we worked for this so hard.”
The Gladiators put plenty of distance between themselves and the field, with their Saturday score made more impressive by the fact only Lumen Christi (327) and Tawas (329) joined St. Francis in breaking 330 – not only for the second round, but the entire weekend.
“That was our job today, go out and try to put a little pressure,” St. Francis coach Jim Hornyak said. “We only had a two-stroke lead and wanted to put some pressure and make the other teams have to come and get us, and hopefully cause some issues.
“(My team) just played awesome today.”
That was finished off by Ansley, who thought he had a good chance to climb the individual standings after shooting 80 on Friday, but probably not enough to win it all.
At the end, Ansley sank the long putt to finish the St. Francis championship sweep.
“That last putt, I didn’t expect it to go in. I just hit it as hard as I could almost and hoped that it went in,” he said. “I was like, I already won a team championship, I have nothing to lose. So I was like whatever, let’s just hit it and hope it goes in.”
The top 11 individuals all finished within seven strokes of the lead. Millington junior Brad Coleman finished third, just two strokes back.
PHOTOS (Top) Traverse City St. Francis’ David Ansley putts during Saturday’s second round at Katke Golf Club. (Middle) Elk Rapids’ Baron Vollmer sends his ball out of the sand. (Click for more from High School Sports Scene.)