 Playoffs, winter sports practices come to a halt.
The Michigan High School Athletic Association has suspended its Fall tournaments for girls volleyball, girls swimming & diving and football, and all winter practices and competitions scheduled to begin over the next three weeks per the emergency order to pause activity announced Sunday by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) to limit the spread of COVID-19. The volleyball and swimming & diving tournaments have one week remaining, with MHSAA Finals for both previously scheduled for Nov. 21. The 11 and 8-Player Football Playoffs also are nearing their conclusions, with the 8-player postseason two games from completion and 11-player down to its final three rounds. Executive Director Mark Uyl: “We understand the need for action, and we will explore all options to complete our Fall tournaments when restrictions are lifted. We will assess everything over the next three weeks relative to Fall and Winter sports and come up with a plan that keeps us connected to our goal, for months, of having three seasons that are played to their conclusions.”
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 Photo by Alexis Mercer Lions, Packers & Hornets share title, dominate Gold team; Eagles 'Hawks do the same in Silver
Gold Standings Central Montcalm 6-1 Fremont 6-1 Newaygo 6-1 Grant 3-4 Chippewa Hills 2-5 Big Rapids 2-5 Tri-County 2-5 Reed City 1-6 Gold Volleyball -- 1st Team All-Conference Name, school, grade Kennedy Christoffersen Fremont 11 Kassie Yuncker Chippewa Hills 11 Emma Reyburn Newaygo 12 Bailey Vissman Central Montcalm 12 Megan Mackall Big Rapids 12 Katelynn Holmes Reed City 11 Sydney Maat Newaygo 12 Kayla Crater Grant 12 Ashley Bialek Tri-County 12 Morgan Train Central Montcalm 12 Kaitlynn Bennett Fremont 11 Lily Ruehmeier Newaygo 12 London Eldridge Central Montcalm 12 Carle Bruggema Fremont 10 Honorable Mention All-Conference Demi Lodholtz Reed City 11 Emily Durian Tri-County 12 Grace Hudson Fremont 12 Brooklyn Phenix Central Montcalm 12 Trinity Swanson Grant 12 Karli Hughes Big Rapids 12 Riley Maat Newaygo 12 Madison Wrisley Chippewa Hills 11 Silver Standings Kent City 9-1 Morley Stanwood 9-1 Hesperia 6-4 White Cloud 4-6 Holton 1-9 Lakeview 1-9 Silver Volleyball -- 1st Team All-Conference Name, School, Grade Jasmine Weeks Kent City 12 Emily Bayle Hesperia 12 Rachel Romero Hesperia 12 Alexis Strait White Cloud 12 Jenna Harrison Kent City 12 Landrie LaPreze Morley Stanwood 12 Kennedy Greene Holton 12 Braelyn Berry Morley Stanwood 11 Brooke Brauher Morley Stanwood 12 Avery Johnson Lakeview 12 Erica Bull Kent City 12 Honorable Mention All-Conference Kyra Sayer Hesperia 12 Emilee Cornell Morley Stanwood 11 Carson Scarlavai White Cloud 11 Hannah VanderLugt Kent City 12 Natalie Parsons Lakeview 10 Gianna Reed Holton 11  WC team after taking District Crown. Photo by Bailie Ruether From Coach Strait: Tuesday night, the Lady Indians ended their season with a loss to Morley Stanwood Mohawks in the first game of Regionals. As a team, we were faced with so much adversity from the start. In addition to COVID, we lost a huge member of our coaching staff, Miranda Vincent. Through the ups and downs of the season, we were reminded that we were just grateful to be playing the sport that we all loved. At the end of the regular season, we sat in 4th place. This is not where we wanted to be and we set our goals on winning districts. With some determination and a new mindset, we were able to accomplish that goal. This year we will be graduating five seniors. Alexis Strait is a four year starting setter. In her career, Alexis has racked up 311 aces (good enough for Michigan record book), 1,401 digs, 2,001 assists, and 758 kills. Career awards - - 4 time All-Conference - 3 time All-Region - 2 time All-State (waiting on senior year) - 3 time Muskegon Area Dream Team (waiting on senior year) Cassie Watson is a three year varsity starter. Cassie started as a front row player and graduated to a six rotation player. Cassie played a huge role for us in districts and came alive the last three weeks of the season. Cassie's career stats include 389 kills and 459 digs. Naomi Thompson also started her role as a three rotation player and graduated to a six rotation player. Naomi had the top serving percentage on the team. She became an integral role in our District win. Emily Hodges has been a consistent middle for us the past two years. Emily was always a positive force on the court and was able to get us some touches during the big games. Kara Davis is a four year player. Kara is one of the best teammates I have coached. Her encouragement to her teammates was unlike any other. Kara was able to get onto the court in the final game of Districts. Kara was able to come in during an intense game and provided some crucial plays that we needed to win districts. I am so proud of these five seniors and the rest of the White Cloud Lady Indians on their amazing finish to the season.  Packers place 7 boys, 3 girls
Gold Girls 2020 Standings 1. Fremont Coach Cliff Somers 2. Reed City 3. Chippewa Hills 4. Central Montcalm 5. Big Rapids 6. Newaygo 7. Grant 8. Tri-County 1st Team All Conference 1. Abbigail Kiaunis (12) Reed City (All-State -- 12th -- D3) 2. Taylor Mater-Gerth (11) Fremont (All-State -- 19th -- D2) 3. Sarah Storey (11) Chippewa Hills 4. Ava Hollandsworth (9) Chippewa Hills 5. Claire Akin (12) Central Montcalm 6. Taava Johnson (11) Fremont 7. Remington Arney (9) Newaygo Honorable Mention 8. Kate Langworthy (11) Big Rapids 9. Claudia Francke (12) Reed City 10. Gwendalynn Rickard (9) Big Rapids 11. Tea Hoffman (11) Central Montcalm 12. Nora Smoes (10) Reed City 13. Leah Converse (12) Fremont 14. Oliviah Malloy (9) Big Rapids Gold Boys 2020 Standings 1. Fremont Coach Cliff Somers 2. Reed City 3. Chippewa Hills 4. Central Montcalm 5. Big Rapids 6. Newaygo 7. Grant 8. Tri-County 1st Team All Conference 1. Nathan Walker (12) Fremont (State Champion -- D2) 2. Conor Somers (11) Fremont (All-State -- 5th Place -D2) 3. Joshua Zerfas (12) Fremont (All-State -- 26th Place -- D2) 4. Ben Paige (12) Fremont (All-State -- 18th Place -- D2) 5. Adam Ward (12) Fremont (All-State -- 27th Place -- D2) 6. Ryan Ososki (11) Big Rapids 7. Ben Knuth (10) Big Rapids Honorable Mention 8. Brennan Schuler (11) Fremont 9. Jake O’Neil (10) Chippewa Hills 10. Ryan Allen (9) Reed City 11. Gavin Schuler (11) Fremont 12. Andrew Hardy (10) Central Montcalm 13. Matthew Hardesty (12) Big Rapids 14. Anthony Kiaunis (9) Reed City Silver Girls 2020 Standings 1. Kent City- Coach Jill Evers 2. Morley Stanwood 3. Holton 4. White Cloud 5. Hesperia 6. Lakeview 1st Team All Conference 1. Layla Martini (12) Kent City (All State -- 11th -- D3) 2. Alyeska Linsley (11) Kent City (All-State -- 28th -- D3) 3. Miranda McNeil (9) Morley Stanwood (All-State -- 26th -- D3) 4. Becci Castillo (12) Hesperia 5. Emily Lantzer (11) Kent City 6. Isabella Max (9) Kent City 7. Vanessa Peltoniemi (10) Holton Honorable Mention 8. Kierra Flegel (11) Kent City 9. Naomi Thompson (12) White Cloud 10. Gracie Houtman (9) Kent City 11. Abigail Gilliam (12) Morley Stanwood 12. Lily Crowell (12) Holton 13. Stine Kristensen (11) White Cloud 14. Lily Peterson (9) Kent City Silver Boys 2020 Standings 1. Kent City- Coach Jill Evers 2. White Cloud 3. Morley Stanwood 4. Holton 5. Hesperia 6. Lakeview 1st Team All Conference 1. Tristan McHaney (10) White Cloud 2. Nathan Ciolk (10) White Cloud 3. Jaren Vogel (9) Kent City 4. Samuel Martini (9) Kent City 5. Graham Resterhouse (12) Holton 6. Casen Armstrong (12) Kent City 7. Kobe Canning (11) White Cloud Honorable Mention 8. Thomas Swanson (11) Kent City 9. Ryan Wheeler (12) Kent City 10. Daniel Loew (10) Kent City 11. Tyler Vining (9) Morley Stanwood 12. Brock Hearth (11) Kent City 13. Terry Trendel (12) White Cloud 14. Nikolas Parks-Josephson (11) White Cloud  Photos by Joan Ludtke The cross country team competed at the MHSAA State finals in Brooklyn on Saturday. The boys placed 12th of all qualifying D4 teams and the girls placed 20th. Tristan McHaney (17:51.20) was 31st, Nathan Ciolk (17:59.93) 38th, Kobe Canning (18:57.55) 111st, Terry Trendel (19:15.78) 135th, Nik Parks (19:37.69) 159th, Christian Ringler n(20:07.47 187, and Carson Foondle (20:29.34) 198th. Naomi Thompson (22:29.88) led the girls in 100th place, Stine Kristensen (22:31.30) 102, Annie Feldpausch (23:58.48) 157th, Jolena Deaton 223, Alexus Richmond (28:32.11) 228, Cecelia Rodriguez (32:54.96) 231, and Chloe Higgs (32: 19.16) 232. Coach Atwood: “Our runners work as hard in the classroom as they do in practice and both teams have earned Academic All-State honors. Additionally, Kobe Canning and Christian Ringler have earned individual Academic All-State. Congratulations to all the runners. White Cloud Pride!”   Cloud Takes District Crown Photos by Bailie Ruether The White Cloud volleyballers faced Hesperia for the third time this season after dropping both regular season matchups with the Panthers but this time it was for the district crown and a chance to move onto the Regionals. Wednesday’s 3-1 win over Mason County Central forced the matchup with their conference rivals who had dispatched the Pirates of Hart in 3 games Coach Strait: "Coming into the district finals, we knew that we were going to have to play some good volleyball in order to get the win. The first two times playing Hesperia, we weren't successful and we knew we had to change our mindset and focus on the game at hand. "After a long season of ups and downs, we were able to play some consistent volleyball and come away with the trophy. After being down 14-20 in the first set and then again 20-24, we were able to rally back and take the first set 26-24. After a rough second set, we were able to get the job done and get the victory by scores of 26-24, 14-25, 25-22, 27-25. "The seniors had great leadership the entire night. I was very impressed with the way they stepped up. We had so much energy from the bench and they played a huge role in keeping up the energy on the court. " Leaders for the game were Alexis Strait with 10 kills, 13 assists and 17 digs. Cassie Watson also had 10 kills and 10 points. Carsyn Scarlavai led with 18 digs and Naomi Thompson served up 10 points. White Cloud now preps to face Morley Stanwood in Regional play. The ‘Hawks delivered a pair of regular season losses to the Cloud just as Hesperia had. Coach Strait’s team is hoping, just like Hesperia, the third time’s the charm. The match is scheduled to begin at 5pm in the Shelby High School gym.   Local gridders receive all conference honors CSAA Gold Football -- 1st Team All-Conference Trey Chapin Central Montcalm WR/LB 12 Sam Alley Big Rapids ATH 12 Brett Long Grant WR/LB 12 Jarrod Wismar Newaygo RB/DB 12 John Nelson Tri-County WR/DB 12 Alex Wirgau Reed City LB 12 Fisher Hill Central Montcalm WR/DB 11 Noah Jones Reed City RB 12 Seth Jackson Reed City DB 10 Austin Vennix Big Rapids LB 12 Payton Hansen Reed City RB 12 Jamal Strickland Big Rapids WR 11 Adam Halasinski Fremont WR/DB 12 Cam Friend Tri-County WR/DB 12 Preston Scott Central Montcalm RB/DB 11 Orion Evans Grant RB/DB 12 Tristan Marfia Fremont RB/DB 12 Payton Mansfield Fremont QB/LB 12 Mitchell Herald Central Montcalm RB/TE/LB 11 Glen Tobias Tri-County DL 12 Joe Shewan Reed City OL 12 Brock Ryan Central Montcalm RB/LB 12 Colby Roosa Chippewa Hills OL/DL 12 Micah Johnson Central Montcalm OL/DL 12 Jonathan Calabrese Chippewa Hills OL/DL 12 Caleb Thompson Grant OL/DL 12 Gavin Fish Central Montcalm OL/DL 12 Hudson Harkness Newaygo OL 12 Teddy Cross Reed City DL 12 Sawyer Meeuwes Big Rapids DL 12 Dylan Schebil Reed City OL 11 Aiden Culver Newaygo OL 12 Chaz Davis Reed City LB 12 D.J. Greenbay Big Rapids OL 12 Austin Maneke Big Rapids OL 12 Carl Whipple Chippewa Hills OL/DL 12 Honorable Mention All Conference 2020 Isaac Williams Reed City DB 11 Brendan Keelean Grant QB/DB 12 Isaac Johnson Central Montcalm RB/DB 10 Grant Kidder Big Rapids DB 11 Brenden Brechting Newaygo QB 10 Carson Wagner Tri-County DB 12 Gabe Miller Chippewa Hills RB/DB 12 Cody Visscher Fremont OL/DL 12 CSAA Silver Football -- 1st Team All-Conference Brandon Quinn Hesperia RB/LB 11 Lane Dailey Kent City LB 12 Gabe Prado Hesperia DT 12 Austin Fowler Holton QB 11 Carter Veldkamp Morley Stanwood RB/DB 12 Mason Ruether White Cloud QB/DB 10 Rylan Nelson Morley Stanwood QB/LB 12 Johnny Majersky Hesperia QB/DB 12 Austin Hawkins Holton WR/DB 12 Mackenzie Baird Hesperia RB/DB 12 Mason Westbrook Kent City RB/LB 10 Kodee Engstrom Morley Stanwood TE/LB 11 James Farrington Kent City TE/LB 11 Brandon Lintemuth Morley Stanwood OL/DL 11 Wesely Penland White Cloud OL/DL 11 Logan McVicker Kent City OL/DL 11 Dylan Cartwright Holton OL/DL 11 Isaiah Duran Morley Stanwood OL/DL 12 Nathan Baker Kent City OL/DL 12 Noah Johnson Lakeview OL/DL 11 Joe Anderson Kent City OL/DL 11 Honorable Mention All Conference 2020 Kyler Larson Kent City QB/DB 10 Ashton VanLangen Morley Stanwood RB/DB 11 Evan Vining Lakeview RB/LB 11 Cameron Edgerton Holton FB/LB 11 Hunter Ciolk White Cloud RB/DL 12 Logan Hernandez Hesperia OL/DL 12  Packers run to second straight title, Mater returns to all state team By Mike Paige The Fremont boys Cross Country team finished their season by winning their second consecutive state title at Michigan International Speedway. Nathan Walker was the Division 2 boys champion with a time of 15:19.4. Connor Somers finished 5th, Ben Paige 18th, Joshua Zerfas 26th and Adam Ward 27th. Fremont’s top five runners all received All-State honors (top 30 overall). Brennan Shuler finished 81st and Gavin Shuler 89th rounded out Fremont’s runners in the field of 250. The team finished runner up in 2018 for an impressive three year run. This was the final high school race for seniors Walker, Paige, Zerfas and Ward. The four have put together quite a resume of success. Walker is a four-time All-Stater, Paige earned three, Ward two and Zerfas one. Connor Somers, a junior, has now won his second and along with the Shuler brothers and some young talent on the Fremont team, hopes to continue the tradition of excellence next year. Walker, Somers and Paige will run at postseason meets next week. Junior Taylor Mater came in at 19:16.44 to finish 19th in the girls race to win her second straight All-State honor. Taava Johnson, also a Junior, passed a dozen other runners over the final mile and finished 135th. There were 250 runners counted in the girls results.  Fremont boys state qualifying team L-R: Adam Ward, Conor Somers, Nathan Walker, Benjamin Paige, Gavin Shuler, Brennan Shuler, Joshua Zerfas and Nathan Johnson. They are bookended by Taylor Mater on the left and Taava Johnson on the right who both ran impressive times at the Regional meet and qualified for the individual Girls State Championship race.- Photo by Emily Paige By Mike Paige The Fremont boys cross country team has seen plenty of success over the years. Today they head to the Division 2 State Finals as a team for the 7th straight year. With 9 state titles Fremont is tied with Concord and Napoleon and trails only Kalamazoo Central (11) for the most in the Lower Peninsula. The UP runs their own race each year and Marquette has won 23 titles. Fremont’s first six titles were won under legendary coach, Rich Tompkins. Tompkins coached Fremont for years and instituted many of the traditions and training rituals employed today. Fremont’s current coach, Cliff Somers, ran for Tompkins and was a part of the state title team in 1989. Somers has coached the Packers to three state titles, 2007, 2015 and 2019. Two traditions of many that Somers employs from his mentor are the 500 mile club and team camp. The 500 mile club is the tradition to award runners that run a set number of miles in the summer. Somers preaches that championships are won and lost through dedication to training and summer miles are a huge part of that. It is easy to pick out runners early in the season that do not dedicate themselves to training in the summer and those miles cannot be made up during the season. The reward for Fremont runners who make that commitment is a trip to East Lansing for the annual MSU Invitational. As it is a reward for summer miles, Fremont does not send the whole team to the meet. While placing well individually among the 300 or so runners in the Elite Division race each year, the team score is not necessarily reflective of the Fremont boys’ talent. Team camp is a week-long journey to a spot on the Pine River for running, canoeing and team bonding. There is a mileage requirement for camp as well, but the majority of the team attends each year, running 70 miles +/- over the six days. The sprint run into camp, the 14 mile run to Caberfae and running “dunies” are Fremont traditions at camp. The core of the boys current team has been dominating races since the 6th grade. Nathan Walker, Benjamin Paige and Joshua Zerfas, all seniors, have regularly been at the top of the leaderboard. For most of those years senior Colton Best was part of the mix, often claiming the #2 spot on the team’s top five. Senior Adam Ward joined the group sophomore year and has fit in well, often competing directly with Paige and Zerfas for the 3, 4 and 5 spots on the talent laden team. The top spot among this group has belonged to Nathan Walker. Walker recently committed to attend and run cross country at Purdue University. He has set the bar high, setting the course record at many of the area courses, including an incredible 16:11 this year at Fremont’s hilly home course at Branstrom Park. Only four boys have finished with a time of 17:00 or better at Branstrom Park: Walker, Matthew Zerfas, Riley Klingel and James Lanciaux. The 6th grade race at the Portage mega-meet in 2014 was when it first became apparent that the boys possessed special talent. In a field of 252 runners the boys took four of the top 19 spots en route to a first place tie with Portage North. They won the Portage meet outright in the 8th grade placing five runners in the top 54 places of the field of 727 runners. That 5th place was occupied by 7th grader Conor Somers, son of Cliff Somers. The team finished first in every meet that 8th grade year, except one that Paige was forced to miss due to injury. When in 9th grade the boys had great senior leadership in Ben Schmidt, Ben DeVries and James Pekel, all holdovers from the previous 3 years of excellence turned in by 2017 grads Sam Kaastra, Matthew Zerfas, Sam Stitt and Cole Hamilton, state champions in 2015 and two-time runners up. Schmidt and DeVries provided great mentorship to the younger boys and DeVries has continued to be a big part of the program, often attending meets, running cool-downs and providing valuable insight into races and opposing runners. The 2017 season saw Ben Schmidt dominate most races with Walker and the other boys close behind. Regional runner-up and 6th place at the State Finals that year may not have been the exciting finish the freshman boys had hoped for, but it provided a base of humility and an appreciation for the work required to get to the top that they would employ in future years. In their sophomore season, Nathan Walker won all but the biggest races the team ran that year. Now joined again by Conor Somers, the team dominated races from start to finish, often having many runners, even beyond the top seven varsity runners, finish with excellent times. Again, outstanding senior leadership played a role in helping form this team into the juggernaut they were to become. Captain Cy Frankhouser and Colton Christoffersen were outstanding runners and role models for the young team. The only team better that year in Division 2 was Chelsea, behind whom Fremont finished at both the Portage and State meets, the only two meets of the year that the full complement of Fremont boys did not win. Junior year saw the boys win every team competition in dominant fashion. They won the Portage meet by 67 points and the State Finals by 108 both over runner-up Otsego. Usually led by Walker and Somers and then some combination of Ward, Zerfas and Paige, the solid top five were strongly complemented by Gavin and Brennan Shuler, Nathan Johnson, Jackson Fair, Gavin Orcutt, Seven Laroue, Colton Best, Colton Isenhart and Bryce Cosens, many of whom would have been the top varsity runners on virtually any other team in the state. Exchange student Mikko Vesma also contributed heavily to the success of the team and their state championship. As they ready themselves today for the 3 hour journey to Brooklyn, MI and the 2020 State Finals, the boys are likely reflecting on a bit different kind of season than they expected for their senior year. Many of the bigger meets, MSU and Portage notably, were cancelled due to concerns about COVID-19 and the ability to socially distance at such large events. The boys were however able to run at invite only meets at Otsego and Grand Rapids and test their mettle against some of the top teams in the state. They won both meets in convincing fashion, scoring 51 points at Otsego and 33 at Grand Rapids. The boys placed first in each conference meet and the pre-regional and regional meets never scoring higher than 18 points. And, they are now the mentors for freshman and sophomore runners, John Christensen, Sean Pettis, Gary Springstead and Henrick Quist as they look to join the Shuler brothers and Somers in continuing the excellence of the program over the next few years. They go into the state meet as heavy favorites to win the Division 2 state championship, but even though they are a close-knit group and have fun together, they are not cocky and take nothing for granted. They know they have worked hard and have earned the right to compete, but they also know that this is the state finals, there are no weak teams here and nothing will be handed to them at this race. As they say, “that is why they play the game” or in this case, run the race. The boys run Friday November 6 at 2:00 p.m. and the girls on the same day at 3:00 p.m. |
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