No team summary for this season.
Alex Tanner named a finalist for the 2022 MHSAA Scholar-Athlete Award
Updated on 06/10/2022
2022 Scholar-Athlete Finalists Announced
The 120 finalists for the Michigan High School Athletic Association's Scholar-Athlete Awards for the 2021-22 school year, presented by Farm Bureau Insurance, have been announced.
The program, in its 33rd year, has recognized student-athletes since the 1989-90 school year and again this winter will honor 32 individuals from MHSAA member schools who participate in at least one sport in which the Association sponsors a postseason tournament.
Farm Bureau Insurance underwrites the Scholar-Athlete Awards and will present a $2,000 scholarship to each recipient. Since the beginning of the program, 864 scholarships have been awarded.
Scholarships will be presented proportionately by school classification, with 12 scholarships to be awarded to Class A student-athletes, six female and six male; eight scholarships awarded to Class B student-athletes, four female and four male; six scholarships awarded to Class C student-athletes, three female and three male; and four scholarships awarded to Class D student-athletes, two female and two male. In addition, two scholarships will be awarded at-large to minority recipients, regardless of school size.
Every MHSAA member high school could submit as many applications as there are scholarships available in its classification, and could have more than one finalist. Brownstown Woodhaven, Freeland and St. Johns have three finalists this year. Nineteen schools have two finalists: Ann Arbor Pioneer, Detroit Catholic Central, Fenton, Fowler, Frankenmuth, Hillsdale Academy, Holland, Holland West Ottawa, Kingsford, Livonia Churchill, Livonia Franklin, McBain Northern Michigan Christian, Montague, Orchard Lake St. Mary’s, Ortonville Brandon, Rochester Hills Stoney Creek, Saline, Traverse City West and White Lake Lakeland.
Multiple-sport participation remains the norm among applicants. The average sport participation rate of the finalists is 2.91. There are 81 three-plus sport participants in the finalists field, and all but two of the 28 sports in which the MHSAA sponsors postseason tournaments are represented.
Of 407 schools which submitted applicants, 26 submitted the maximum allowed. This year, 1,434 applications were received. All applicants will be presented with certificates commemorating their achievement. Additional Scholar-Athlete information, including a complete list of scholarship nominees, can be found on the MHSAA Website.
The applications were judged by a 58-member committee of school coaches, counselors, faculty members, administrators and board members from MHSAA member schools. Selection of the 32 scholarship recipients will take place in early February. Class C and D scholarship recipients will be announced Feb. 8, Class B scholarship recipients will be announced Feb. 15 and Class A scholarship recipients will be announced Feb. 22. All announcements will be made on the MHSAA Website.
To be eligible for the award, students must have a cumulative grade-point average of 3.50 (on a 4.0 scale) and previously have won a varsity letter in at least one sport in which the MHSAA sponsors a postseason tournament. Students also were asked to respond to a series of short essay questions, submit two letters of recommendation and a 500-word essay on the importance of sportsmanship in educational athletics.
Farm Bureau Insurance of Michigan was founded in 1949 by Michigan farmers who wanted an insurance company that worked as hard as they did. Those values still guide the company today and are a big reason why it is known as Michigan’s Insurance Company, dedicated to protecting the farms, families, and businesses of this great state. Farm Bureau Insurance agents across Michigan provide a full range of insurance services – life, home, auto, farm, business, retirement, Lake Estate®, and more – protecting nearly 500,000 Michigan policyholders.
The MHSAA is a private, not-for-profit corporation of voluntary membership by more than 1,500 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.
2021-22 Scholar-Athlete Award Finalists
GIRLS CLASS A
Cookie Estelleh Baugh, Ann Arbor Pioneer
Amelia Weyhing, Ann Arbor Pioneer
Piper Barnhart, Brownstown Woodhaven
Sophia Lustig, Brownstown Woodhaven
Madison Hissong, Fraser
Brooke Myers, Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern
Ana Todesco, Grosse Pointe North
Sonya Konon, Harrison Township L'Anse Creuse
Greta VanZetten, Holland
Elzien Zomer, Holland
Natalie Blake, Holland West Ottawa
Ella Spooner, Holland West Ottawa
Abigail Lueck, Livonia Churchill
Samantha Provenzano, Livonia Franklin
Erica Molnar, Livonia Stevenson
Laura Leiti, Midland Dow
Alexandria Stacy French, Richland Gull Lake
Ella DeGraw, Rochester Hills Stoney Creek
Kiera Hall, Rochester Hills Stoney Creek
Kate Meinecke, Royal Oak
Alexis Maloney, St. Johns
Sara Schermerhorn, Traverse City West
Hannah DiGiovanni, Troy Athens
Maeve Spicer, White Lake Lakeland
BOYS CLASS A
Brady Wright, Birmingham Seaholm
Nathan Jerore, Brownstown Woodhaven
Colin Pearson, Caledonia
Joseph Marano, Dearborn Edsel Ford
Conner Bell, Detroit Catholic Central
Neil Zhu, Detroit Catholic Central
Chase Gibson, Fenton
Nick Temple, Fenton
Ben Taylor, Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central
Ross VanBlois, Grandville
Owen Swisher, Livonia Churchill
James Oberman, Livonia Franklin
Colin Koot, Mason
Klay Grant, Muskegon Reeths-Puffer
John Bungart, Orchard Lake St Mary's
Thomas Randall, Orchard Lake St Mary's
William Goelz, Petoskey
Blake Coy, Saline
Amod Talekar, Saline
Kaden Keller, St. Johns
Jake Lasceski, St. Johns
Ethan Tennant, Temperance Bedford
Michael T. Schermerhorn, Traverse City West
Caiden Carlson, White Lake Lakeland
GIRLS CLASS B
Elise Rose Johnson, Benzie Central
Sydni Mudge, Birch Run
Claire Thomson, Clawson
Faith Breinager, Frankenmuth
Emma Kerkau, Frankenmuth
Sophia Argyle, Freeland
Whitney Farrell, Freeland
Haley Zerlaut, Fremont
Maggie Duba, Grand Rapids West Catholic
Magdalaina Menghini, Kingsford
Claire Meacham, Montague
Mallory Moore, Ortonville Brandon
Paige Thwing, Ortonville Brandon
Alina Stanczak, Pontiac Notre Dame Prep
Ashley Bower, Portland
Rylee Tolson, Stockbridge
BOYS CLASS B
Zachary Elmouchi, Ada Forest Hills Eastern
Thomas Hamann, Ann Arbor Father Gabriel Richard
Jeff Ren, Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood
Jace DeRosia, Chelsea
Jared Hanson, Escanaba
Liam Anderson, Essexville Garber
Alex Duley, Freeland
Jack Rellinger, Grand Rapids Catholic Central
Curtis Knapp, Jonesville
Michael A. Meneguzzo, Kingsford
Seth Thompson, Manistee
Jerome Korten, Marshall
Cale Coppess, Montague
Bennett Blase Hitzelberger, Richmond
Joseph Hayes, Shelby
Derek Distelrath, St. Clair
GIRLS CLASS C
Haley Anne Newland, Bad Axe
Karly Smith, Beal City
Isabel Contreras-Spencer, Grass Lake
Gillian Kuehnle, Hartford
Gabrielle Carey, Iron Mountain
Jillian Koski, Ishpeming Westwood
Jordan Fox, Lake City
Isabel Henige, New Lothrop
Trinity Kolka, Sanford Meridian
Anna McPherson, Saranac
Ryann Locke, Springport
Korah Honig, St. Louis
BOYS CLASS C
Mert Oral, Ann Arbor Greenhills
Dylan David Reisig, Bridgman
Cole Garrison Stone, Carson City-Crystal
Samuel Peterson, Charlevoix
Ryan Doty, Clinton
Jack Davis, Holland Black River
Isaac Backman, Kalamazoo Hackett Catholic Prep
Nathan Pawlowicz, Lakeview
Ty Ruddy, Ottawa Lake Whiteford
Joshua M. Fairbanks, Roscommon
Jonah Cerone, Royal Oak Shrine Catholic
Alex Tanner, Whitmore Lake
GIRLS CLASS D
Ashton Hord, Felch North Dickinson
Mia Riley, Fowler
Tara Townsend, Frankfort
Alaina Roush, Harbor Springs Harbor Light Christian
Anna Roberts, Hillsdale Academy
Meredith VanDerWeide, Hillsdale Academy
Skylar Wiesen, Leland
Megan Bennett, McBain Northern Michigan Christian
BOYS CLASS D
Cole Robinson, Bellaire
Jack Matrella, Bessemer
Brayden M. Steenwyk, Ellsworth
Jacob Rademacher, Fowler
Eli Shoup, Mason County Eastern
Jonas P. Lanser, McBain Northern Michigan Christian
Samuel Paga, Petoskey St. Michael Academy
Ashton McNabb, Three Oaks River Valley
Fall recap
Updated on 06/10/2022
The fall season certainly provided its set of challenges (thanks, Covid). Regardless of the obstacles, our student-athletes and coaches forged on.
Cross Country
Our middle school teams brought home hardware from multiple events, and the girls capped off the season with a runner-up finish at the inaugural Regional Championship. Kaylie Livingston was the overall champion in the final event, and Carina Burchi and Elodie Weaver placed in the top 10. For the boys, Landen Livingston placed 6th overall.
The high school teams had one of the best seasons in recent memory. The boys won the conference championship, finished runner-up at Regionals, and finished 8th overall at the State Championships. Clay Rinna and Braylan Majesky were 1st team all-conference runners, and Jacob Goodrich and Reily Henderson made 2nd team. The girls finished second in the conference, won the Regional Championship (Natalie Meadows placed 1st overall), and placed 9th at the State Championships. Natalie Meadows was a 1st team all-conference runner with Lauren Price and Brook Craven making 2nd team. Coach Casey Livingston was named MIAC Conference coach of the year, and 13 members of the cross country teams were recognized with academic all-conference honors.
Football
After an 0-4 campaign during the COVID-shortened season, our middle school team rebounded with a 4-2 record this fall. With transitioning our middle school program to 8-player football, our athletes and coaches worked hard to learn the 8-player format and did a great job installing the system. The team had some offensive firepower including a season high 50 points at home vs. Parkway Christian. We look forward to the continued growth and success of our young program.
The high school team finished the 2021 season with a 6-4 record and placed second in the league. They also qualified for the playoffs for the third consecutive season. Unfortunately, they drew a tough Sand Creek team and lost in the opening round. Notable individual accomplishments include Nathan Francis running for over 1,200 yards and accumulating 100 tackles on the year. Francis, Isaac Brady, and Josh Fraga were recognized with 1st team all-conference honors, while Alex Tanner, Aiden Konwinski, and Justin Hollister made 2nd team all-conference. Seven players were also named to the academic all-conference team.
Sideline Cheer
The 2021 sideline cheer team had a great season. Coach Komor commented on the team’s “increased tumbling and stunting skills while improving their overall skill level.” The team enjoyed the fall sideline season but looks forward to what we hope will be a very successful and exciting competitive season. A special thank you goes to seniors Alexandra Smith and Jamie Meadows.
Volleyball
The high school and middle volleyball teams had a terrific fall season. The 7th-grade team only won 2 games on the season but showed much improvement throughout. The 8th-grade team went 6-4 on the season (4-3 in MIAC play). Both Coach Mike LaNew and Coach Megan Omerod did an excellent job preparing them to play.
The JV had a good season under new coach Carrie Starman. The team finished with a record of 5-11. A couple of season highlights include rallying from down 0-2 vs. Roeper to win during homecoming week and taking advantage of a lineup change to beat Greenhills 2-0 on October 21st.
Our varsity program had one of the better seasons in recent memory. Following a 22-10-1 record (12-0 in conference play), they were crowned MIAC red division champions for the second time in 3 seasons). The team advanced to the District finals of the state tournament but lost in 4 sets to Ann Arbor Greenhills. Abbey Tracey, Kate Sechrist, and Anna Richards were named 1st team all-conference with Adriana Canter and Kali Roth taking 2nd team honors. Coach Alex Storey was named MIAC coach of the year. Anna Richards was also named the league MVP and selected to the all-region team. Additionally, we had 8 players named academic all-conference.
Congratulations, again, to all of our fall student-athletes and coaches. Let’s hope for continued success this winter. Go Trojans!
MS volleyball defeats Southfield Christian
Updated on 06/10/2022
8th Grade
25 – 23, 25 – 16, 3 – 15
Last night, Whitmore Lake avenged an earlier loss this season to Southfield Christian. In the first set, Whitmore Lake took an early 5 – 2 lead, then after Piper Hunt finished serving, the Trojans had a comfortable 11 – 3 advantage. From there, Whitmore Lake started playing the net ball game, which didn’t bode well for the shorter Trojan team, and Southfield Christian hopped on the comeback train. Whitmore Lake gave up nine points in a row to an underhand server while also losing the lead at 11 – 12 before they were able to derail the Eagles. Aliyah Baker’s serve put the Trojans back on top at 15 – 12 and a couple of serves later Whitmore Lake was still on top at 18 – 14. Southfield Christian wasn’t going to go down easily and got their comeback train back on track and served up four in a row to reclaim the lead at 19 – 18. Another Trojan side out tied the set at 19, and Olivia Kurtz rallied Whitmore Lake to 23 before Southfield Christian made a stop. The Eagles served up four more to tie it back up at 23, but then Whitmore Lake pulled the emergency brake on the Eagle’s train bringing them to a halt and Isabel Lewis finished them off with an ace to win the first set at 25 – 23. Whitmore Lake has struggled playing two good sets in a row, but it was time to change that. In the second set, each team would score a few, then give up the ball, and after one full rotation, Southfield Christian again held a 12 – 11 lead. Whitmore Lake was done messing around and off the Kylie Sechrist serve, the Trojans rolled out five points in a row to open up a small lead at 17 – 14. The Eagles came within one at 16 – 17, but then Kurtz said “ENOUGH!” and served the final seven points for a 25 – 16 second set and match win. With winning two in a row, the Trojans wanted to show they could win three, but it wasn’t to be. Whitmore Lake got to serve the ball just three times before Southfield Christian closed out the third set at 15 – 3. The girls continue to improve moving around better on the court and playing good defense. They are also playing more consistent team ball on offense with three hit attacks and when they do, they are unstoppable which has led to some big set wins over good teams. Lewis had a great night at the net with several hits, tips and blocks, while the setters of Hunt and Sechrist continue to improve running the offense. Baker debuted her back row hitting with an awesome attack during a critical time in the second set. The victory moves the Trojan back to a winning record at 5 – 4 (3 – 3 MIAC) and guarantees Whitmore Lake will not end their season with a losing record. The Trojans will be back in action tomorrow, when they play their final match of the season at Roeper.
MS volleyball wins @ Greenhills
Updated on 06/10/2022
10/6/21 Whitmore Lake at Greenhills
8th Grade
25 – 11, 17 – 25, 15 – 8
Last night Whitmore Lake traveled to Greenhills for a rematch against Greenhills trying to win two in a row against the Gryphons. In the first set, Whitmore Lake was on fire. Behind the serving of Olivia Kurtz and an awesome offensive barrage of three hit attacks, the Trojans were quickly up 6 – 1. Another four points off the Isabel Lewis serve and five more from Piper Hunt put the Trojans in command, up 15 – 4 after just four rotations. On nearly every Trojan possession, Whitmore Lake would use all three of their hits, making good passes to the setter and finishing with a spike including several powerful hits from Hunt and Aliyah Baker. After allowing Greenhills to earn two points of their own serve, Hunt took the Trojans home for a dominating 25 – 11 first set win. The second set was a slightly different story. Whitmore Lake decided it was time to try to prove their coach wrong, who always says, “You can’t win, if you can’t get your serve in.” Unfortunately for the Trojans, they had to find out the hard way that their coach is always right. With the girls missing more than 50 percent of their serves and some defensive breakdowns Greenhills took advantage of the Trojan miscues, and stole the set 25 – 17. Now with the Gryphons on a roll and feeling extremely confident, could Whitmore pull it together in the third set to win the match? Whitmore Lake won the coin toss to get the first serve in the third set but squandered the opportunity, giving up the first point. Greenhills scored the next two for a 3 – 0 lead and things were looking shaky for the Trojans. After a side out, the Kurtz serve tied the set up, but Greenhills wasn’t ready to throw in the towel yet and took the ball back with a side out. Panic started to set in for Whitmore Lake, and the girls started to fall back into old habits of not trusting their teammates and trying to win the set on their own, just sending the ball over the net with free ball on one or two hits instead of relying on their team to get the job done with three hit attacks. With Whitmore Lake in panic mode, Greenhills scored the next two to stay on top 5 – 3. Finally on the third rotation, Whitmore Lake calmed down, and Lewis put together a string of serves to put the Trojans on top 9 – 5. The Gryphons still had fight left in them, but Whitmore Lake had more and the Trojans didn’t allow Greenhills to score more than one point at a time, winning the set and match 15 – 8. Hunt played her best match of the season with exceptional serving and power hitting. Kylie Sechrist had her best night of setting, controlling the offense and assisting on numerous attacks, while Kurtz continues to show massive improvements from match to match. In the first set, the girls looked outstanding, in an almost flawless performance with their communication and teamwork, and even though they came undone in the second set, it was great to see them come back together and take care of business when it counted most showing they are continuing to develop that attitude to win in rough situations when things aren’t going the best instead of crumbling and giving up. The win moves the Trojans to a winning record for the first time this season at 4 – 3 (2 – 2 MIAC). The girls are right back in action tonight with a rematch against Plymouth Christian in the high school gym.
8th grade MS volleyball wins in a thriller
Updated on 06/10/2022
9/21/21 Whitmore Lake vs. Inter-city Baptist
8th Grade
21 – 25, 25 – 20, 18 – 16
Last night Whitmore Lake put another notch in the win column, defeating Inter-city Baptist in a three-set thriller. In the first set, Inter-city Baptist scored the first three points and Whitmore Lake the next three. The visitors scored a couple more, then off the Aliyah Baker serve, the Trojans put together a five point run to jump out in front 8 – 5. After giving up one more point, Isabel Lewis’ turn at the serving line gave Whitmore Lake another six to go up nine at 15 – 6 seemingly cruising to an easy first set win. The problem was that the girls must have thought the first set was only to 15 as they stopped playing the game and started watching it from the court. The Chargers put together strings of four, five and four points to steal the lead from Whitmore Lake 19 – 18. Another string of six by Inter- city Baptist carried them to the finish line, outscoring Whitmore Lake 19 – 6 over the last four rotations to win the first set 25 – 21. The second set seemed like déjà vu from a match ago with Whitmore Lake giving up the first seven points to the Chargers, before tying it at seven with Baker at the serving line. From there the teams were pretty evenly matched with each team scoring a few points on their serve and the lead going back and forth. After one complete rotation, the score was tied at 16. That is when Whitmore Lake started to take control scoring five points off the Kylie Sechrist serve, four points away from the win. Baker’s serve added a couple more and the Trojans were at game point. Inter-city Baptist tried to make it interesting, but Whitmore Lake was able to get the side out after a couple of serves to even the match at one apiece with a 25 – 20 second set win. As usual for Whitmore Lake, the match would come down to the final 15 point third set. Whitmore Lake lost the coin toss and gave up the first three points, but Sechrist served up five points for the Trojans on the first rotation. The Chargers tied the set up, then Whitmore Lake went up by one again. Another tie on the next serve and finally the Trojans were ready to put some distance between themselves and Inter-city Baptist. Lewis served four points putting Whitmore Lake on top 11 – 6. After Piper Hunt served, Whitmore Lake had a 13 – 8 lead, oh so close to winning the match, but that is when the wheels started to fall off. A missed serve, a lack of communication on the court, watching the ball drop, all led to the Trojan meltdown. Whitmore Lake still held a 14 – 12 lead and just needed a side out for the win. Whitmore Lake had a nice pass and a good set that should have led to a crushing hit to possibly end the match, but instead the Trojans watched the ball drop to the ground. Two serves later, Inter-city Baptist was serving for the match at 15 – 14, but the Trojan’s defense stood tall and took the ball back, tying the set at 15. A Bailey Bare serve put the Trojans back on top 16 – 15. An untimely missed serve gave the ball back to the Chargers tying the set back up at 16. Whitmore Lake took the ball right back after just one serve and this time as Sechrist stepped to the serving line, she showed why she is becoming known as the Trojan’s pressure server as she dished up an ace to win the set and the match at 18 – 16. The Trojans really showed poise and grit throughout the match. They could have easily folded after dropping the first set or after losing their big lead in the third set, but they dug down and pulled through when it mattered most. A great example of the Trojan’s resolve was during the third set when Baker was running so fast, she ran right out of her shoe, tripped and fell, but the Trojans still won the point. In that third set, Baker also had a great back row hit, along with Lewis and Hunt aggressively attacking from the front row for some kills. The girls continue to progress and it will be exciting to see what they can do next Wednesday when Greenhills comes to visit. The win improves the Trojan’s record to 2 – 2 (2 – 2 MIAC).
2021 Fall Sports Information
Updated on 06/10/2022
We are looking forward to a fantastic fall and I wanted to make you aware of some important registration information and start dates so you are aware of them. If you have any questions please email me at Brad.McCormack@wlps.net or visit the athletic website at www.whitmorelakeathletics.com.
2021 FALL SPORTS INFORMATION, DEADLINES & REGISTRATION
High School Fall Sports Registration/Physical/Athletic Fee Deadline – Monday, August 9, 2021
- HS Athletic Participation Fee Link
Middle School Fall Sports Registration/Physical/Athletic Fee Deadline – Monday, August 23, 2021
- MS Athletic Participation Fee Link
New and Fully Completed MHSAA Physical Form. Must be dated after April 15, 2021 and turned into the athletic office or emailed to Brad.McCormack@wlps.net or Lisa.Ely@wlps.net.
ALL HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS START MONDAY, AUGUST 9, 2021
High School Football
5:00 PM - 8:00 PM at the High School practice field
Contact Coach Boron for more information (bboron@ameritech.net)
Register HERE
High School Volleyball
4:30 PM - 7:30 PM in the high school gym.
Contact Coach Storey for more information (alexandra.storey12@gmail.com)
Register HERE
High School Cross Country
Practices will start at the high school - time is TBD
Contact Coach Livingston for more information (Casey.Livingston@wlps.net)
Register HERE
Sideline Cheer (High school and middle school)
Practices will be at the HS - time is TBD
Contact Coach Komor for more information (macayla.komor@gmail.com)
Register HERE
ALL MIDDLE SCHOOL SPORTS START TUESDAY, AUGUST 24, 2021
Fall middle school sports:
Cross Country (Coach Casey Livingston - Casey.Livingston@wlps.net)
Football (Head Coach is TBD, Assistant Coach - Blake Vershum)
Volleyball (Coach Mike LaNew (Mike.LaNew@wlps.net) and Megan Ormerod (megan.ormerod@wlps.net
Sideline Cheer (Coach Madeleine Kopko - mkopko@emich.edu)
Register HERE
SCHEDULES - The most up-to-date schedules are posted on the website.