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High 5s: 10/10/12

October 10, 2012

Two of this week's honorees have combined for five MHSAA championships, and a third has a chance to be part of his first next month. 

Each week, Second Half recognizes two athletes and a team for their successes during the current season. To nominate a candidate, email editor Geoff Kimmerly at [email protected].

Below are this week's honorees.

Codi Jenshak
Escanaba senior
Tennis

Jenshak won her second-straight championship at No. 1 singles, and third MHSAA singles title overall, with a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Kingsford’s Sam Fleming after also defeating Fleming in the 2011 championship match. Jenshak also is a standout softball pitcher, and led her team to last season's Division 2 Quarterfinals.

Up next: "It's been changing quite a bit. As of now, I'm thinking about St. Norbert (College) in Green Bay or Central Michigan University; one of those two. If I went to Central, I know they have a club tennis team, and I might do that or I might try to walk on the softball team. With St. Norbert, I could play tennis and softball there."

Dr. Jenshak: "I want to be a dermatologist. I've wanted to since I was in eighth grade. Skin interests me a lot, for some reason. ... I guess it's my quirk."

Bring out the band: "I play the saxophone. It's just fun. A lot of my friends are in (band). I used to be in the marching band, but not anymore. It's pretty cool to perform in front of people. It's kind of a big deal at our school, just something fun that mixes up my day."

This is who I watch: "For tennis, I really like John Isner a lot. You know when he has a winner, he makes that little hand gesture? I tried to do that a little bit, and I think people thought it was pretty funny. In baseball, I'm a Tigers fan. I really like Curtis Granderson, although he went to the Yankees."

Click to read more.

Dewey Lewis
Rockford senior
Soccer

Lewis, a senior forward, is again pacing the No. 2-ranked team in Division 1 this fall. He's a four-year varsity player and arguably the favorite for this season's Mr. Soccer Award. Lewis has 52 goals and 46 assists over his four-year varsity career, and set Rockford's single-season record last season with 20 goals. He will follow his older brother Sean, a goalkeeper at Western Michigan University, to college soccer when he joins Michigan State's team next season.

Getting Real: "(My favorite team,) I'd have to go with Real Madrid. I like Cristiano Ronaldo. He's one of my idols. I look up to him, and he plays outside mid (which Lewis also has played a lot of this season)."

Up next: Lewis has a 3.8 grade-point average, and is considering majors in biology or business at MSU. "I'm looking to get a business degree so I can own my own business. Or I'll go into the medical field, probably be a doctor or possibly an anesthesiologist or a dentist."

Brother in net vs. brother in the field: "I think I'd made a good percentage of them; from the PK spot probably eight out of 10," Lewis said of facing his brother Sean in a shootout. "He'd probably say six out of 10, or five out of 10."

Pressure cooker: "The big thing is not to oversell yourself. Don't make big expectations you can't keep. Don't tell everyone what you can do. Just go out there and do it."

Click to read more.

Muskegon Mona Shores girls golf

Featuring four players who have been part of the varsity lineup all four seasons of high school -- seniors Morgan Smith, Hailey Hrynewich, Britni Gielow and Kelsey McKinley -- the Sailors are playing for their fourth-straight MHSAA Division 2 championship. Mona Shores won its Regional by 37 strokes Wednesday at Bowen Lake Links in Greenville to advance to next weekend's Finals at The Meadows at Grand Valley State University.

Click to read more.

Previous 2012-13 honorees:

Did you see that? (10/8-10/14)

October 16, 2012

The postseason got underway in girls golf and boys tennis, with those finishes among the non-football highlights from the week of Oct. 8-14.

Tennis

Upset special: Regionals were played all over the state in advance of this weekend’s Finals, and the blast heard loudest probably came from Portage, where Billy Heckman downed reigning MHSAA Division 2 No. 1 singles champion Davis Crocker of Kalamazoo Loy Norrix in straight sets (although the first was decided in a tie-breaker). Click the MHSAA link for Finals qualifiers from every Regional. (MHSAA) (Kalamazoo Gazette)

Golf

Bulldogs beat the elements too: Frosty weather made for tough conditions as golfers also played Regionals last week. But despite a delay to open the Division 1 tournament at Plymouth’s Fox Hills, Brighton emerged from a group that included five of the 10 state-ranked Division 1 teams to win and advance to this week’s MHSAA Final. Click the MHSAA link for Finals qualifiers. (MHSAA) (Livingston County Daily Press & Argus)

Volleyball

It’s St. Philip, again: The Battle Creek All-City Invitational pits teams from the biggest and smallest classes and all corners of Battle Creek – Central, Harper Creek, Pennfield, Lakeview and St. Philip – and has decades of history. The recent portion belongs to the Tigers, who won their fifth-straight All-City title. (Battle Creek Enquirer)

Cross country

Greatest and Best: The East Lansing girls and Mason boys won Saturday’s Greater Lansing Invitational, a meet that annually pits more than 40 schools from the Greater Lansing area. Mason’s victory was by just a point over runner-up Ionia. (Lansing State Journal)

Swimming and Diving

Tough competition at EMU: Zeeland East’s Morgan Bullock won multiple events as a number of the state’s top swimmers and divers competed at the annual MISCA Meet at Eastern Michigan University. Links to individual results can be found in the orange box located in the center area of the MISCA site. (MISCA)

Soccer

All Chieftains: Okemos, ranked No. 7 in Division 1, beat Division 2 No. 6 Mason 6-0 to claim the Capital Area Activities Conference Gold Cup championship. The tournament pits the best teams from all four CAAC divisions. (Lansing State Journal)