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Special Year Thanks to No Specialization
August 7, 2015
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
As we embark on another sports-filled school year Monday, we can look to a recent Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central grad for the value of a school year filled with sports.
As specialization at the highs school level continues to be debated, Bryce Windham will start his college baseball career this fall at Division I Old Dominion University – after playing baseball but also football and basketball for the Falcons.
The MHSAA has long advocated athletes taking on as many sports as they have interest instead of focusing on just one in pursuit of a college scholarship – a position that’s received plenty of public backing of late, be it from stars of the U.S. women’s soccer team after their World Cup championship run or former Lansing Waverly multi-sport athlete John Smoltz during his enshrinement in the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame.
Enter Windham – who easily could’ve been excused for focusing on baseball, or even basketball as his dad is the St. Mary’s varsity boys coach. Instead, Bryce quarterbacked the football team to last season’s Division 6 championship – breaking Ithaca’s national-best 69-game winning streak in the Final – before being named Class C Player of the Year by The Associated Press in basketball and earning a Most Valuable Player honor at the baseball state coaches association all-star game at Comerica Park this spring.
All three of Windham's teams reached at least the MHSAA Quarterfinals.
“His participation in football and basketball helped land a Division 1 baseball scholarship to Old Dominion. They were able to see his athleticism in basketball and toughness in football, and ODU’s coach loved it,” dad and hoops coach Randy Windham said.
“He probably would’ve given up football, and that ended up his greatest memory by winning a state championship.”
Click to read about Windham’s multitude of accomplishments as reported last month by the Monroe Evening News.
Honors Abound
National coaching honors were bestowed on a trio of Michigan coaches over the summer:
- Retired Trenton ice hockey coach Mike Turner – the winningest hockey coach in MHSAA history with a record of 629-126-52 from 1974-81 and then 1995-2014 – was named National Coach of the Year in Special Sports by the National High School Athletic Coaches Association. His teams won 11 MHSAA titles and finished runner-up four times. “I was there when the MHSAA added hockey as one of their sanctioned sports and crowned their first MHSAA state championships in 1975. At that time there were 60-70 high school teams participating, and now there are 170,” Turner said. “It has been great to be a part of the advancements made in the sport of high school hockey, with more teams participating, more player development, and more opportunities that exist for players after high school.”
- Traverse City Central boys track and field and cross country coach John Lober won his second national coaching honor of the 2014-15 school year, named the NHSACA Coach of the Year for track and field to go with a previous honor earned in January from the National Federation of State High School Associations. He has coached the Traverse City Central boys track and field team since 1977 and also the boys cross country team since 1989. His 1992 track team won the Class A championship, and he has coached 17 individual MHSAA Finals champions. He was inducted into the Michigan Interscholastic Track Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2006.
- Ann Arbor Pioneer assistant girls swimming and diving coach Liz Hill was named the Assistant Coach of the Year for all girls sports by the NHSACA. Hill, a former All-American at the University of Michigan and standout sprinter at Pioneer, began assisting her husband Denny Hill in 1983 before becoming his fulltime assistant a few seasons later. Together they’ve led the Pioneers girls to 15 MHSAA team titles, the last two as co-head coaches.
Michigan Mourns
Fremont and the high school athletic community statewide mourned the death July 21 of longtime coach Rich Tompkins, who led Fremont’s boys cross country teams to six MHSAA cross country championships including three and a runner-up finish during his last decade of coaching before retiring in 1997.
The Muskegon Chronicle reported that his boys and girls cross country teams and boys track and field team combined for 45 league championships, with his boys cross country team winning 116 straight duals from 1977-88. Tompkins was executive director of the Michigan High School Coaches Association for more than a decade and served on its board for more than two decades.
Click to read more from the Chronicle on Tompkins’ legacy.
Officials in the News
The Monroe County Officials Association took to the county fair to encourage passers-by to “Be the Referee” – and received 47 sign-ups from people interested in the avocation. Visitors to an MCOA booth at the fair were told in some detail what is involved with being an MHSAA official, and those who then signed up to find out more about officiating football, basketball, baseball or softball (sports the MCOA trains for and schedules) will be invited to an orientation session where they will become eligible for one of 20 complimentary registration fees for this school year.
The West Michigan Officials Association marked a decade of support at the start of this summer for the Visually Impaired Sports and Activity Day, sponsored by the Helen DeVos Children’s Foundation. The WMOA has contributed nearly $18,000 to the event over the last 10 years as well as taking part in the event, which includes a number of sports and other activities.
The Saginaw Athletic Officials Association sent along this photo of five members who worked 2013-14 MHSAA Finals, from left: Mark Jarlock (baseball), Tom Behmlander (softball), Scott Helmka (football), Dale Brown (softball and football) and Mark Schoenow (football). The Baseball Final was Jarlock’s first; the other officials had worked Finals in the past.
PHOTO: (Top) Monroe St. Mary quarterback Bryce Windham unloads a pass during last season's Division 6 Final win over Ithaca at Ford Field.
![Today In The MHSAA](/sites/default/files/2021-03/Today%20In%20The%20MHSAA_8.png)
Today in the MHSAA: 5/22/24
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
May 22, 2024
1. SOFTBALL Division 1 No. 10 Brownstown Woodhaven edged No. 6 Allen Park 10-9, ending the Jaguars' 14-year reign as a Downriver League champions with its first outright league title in this sport – Southgate News-Herald
2. TRACK & FIELD Kingsley swept championships at the 62nd Northwest Conference championship meet and in the Stags’ last season in the league; the Kingsley girls are ranked No. 6 in Lower Peninsula Division 3 – Traverse City Record-Eagle
3. SOFTBALL Zeeland West clinched the Ottawa-Kent Conference Green title with a 3-2 walk-off win over Division 1 honorable mention Muskegon Reeths-Puffer – Holland Sentinel
4. TRACK & FIELD The Midland Dow girls and Midland High boys claimed Saginaw Valley League championship meet wins – Midland Daily News
5. BASEBALL Division 2 No. 6 Saginaw Swan Valley clinched a share of the Tri-Valley Conference Red title with a 10-inning win over No. 8 Frankenmuth, and will attempt to reign outright today – Saginaw News
6. BASEBALL Division 2 top-ranked Flint Powers Catholic swept Midland Dow on a record-setting day to claim its first SVL championship in this sport – WJRT
7. SOFTBALL Marysville downed Utica 8-6 to clinch the Macomb Area Conference White title – Macomb Daily
8. TRACK & FIELD Brownstown Woodhaven continued girls and boys championship streaks in the Downriver League; the Woodhaven girls are No. 6 in LPD1 – Southgate News-Herald
9. TRACK & FIELD The Saugatuck girls and LPD4 No. 2 Kalamazoo Hackett Catholic Prep boys won Southwestern Athletic Conference championship meets – Holland Sentinel
10. SOFTBALL/BASEBALL The Division 2 No. 7 Goodrich softball team and Flushing baseball team won overall Flint Metro League championships – WJRT Softball | Baseball
Also of note …
BASEBALL Muskegon Oakridge swept Montague to finish as outright champion in the West Michigan Conference – Local Sports Journal
TRACK & FIELD The Monroe Jefferson and Erie Mason girls and Ottawa Lake Whiteford and Milan boys won league meets – Monroe News
GIRLS SOCCER Saugatuck and Holland Black River played to a 1-1 draw to share the SAC Lakeshore championship – Holland Sentinel
SOFTBALL Division 3 No. 5 Evart earned a share of the Highland Conference title with a sweep of Roscommon – Cadillac News