LSJ Blogs: Get Prepped

Go Green Warriors

Longtime local sports supporter Ken Sudall has come up with another plan, this time to help the newly self-supporting sports programs at Waverly High.

Plenty on the Way

I have to apologize that "Get Prepped" has been lagging a little lately. But as we continue to push all-area Dream Team after Dream Team into the paper and our site, hopefully you'll understand why.

Plenty are on the way. Tentatively, boys track will run Sunday, followed by soccer, golf, baseball, softball, our inaugural for lacrosse, our inaugural for water polo, and then our annual overall senior boys and girls Athletes of the Year.

Stay tuned.

6/13-18: Week in Review

And what a week it was. The final week of the 2010-11 high school sports season ended with an area golf state champion (again), a first-time run to the soccer state championship games, and two nice stories coming out of the state baseball and softball quarterfinals. Here's a look at our candidates for the final Athletes of the Week for this school year. 

FOUR STARS

4. DeWitt soccer's Erica Goodenough: Scored two goals against Plainwell in Wednesday's Division 2 semifinal, but the Panthers fell in double overtime. Plainwell won the state title Saturday. 

3. DeWitt golf's Davis DeKorte: Teammate Alex Jones gets most of the hype -- and he was our Athlete of the Week at the end of April. But DeKorte helped bring the state title home again with the team's lowest score Friday and a tie for seventh overall at the Division 2 final. 

2. Lansing Christian soccer's Elizabeth Perkins: Also lost at times behind another star teammate, she shouldn't be. She had a goal and an assist in the Pilgrims' state semifinal win Wednesday over Grand Rapids NorthPointe Christian. 

1. Lansing Christian soccer's Kristy Gomez: She's a scoring machine, and as just a freshman. She scored Wednesday, and one more time in Saturday's final before the Pilgrims fell in Division 4 to Bishop Foley 2-1 after a goal in the final two minutes. 

6/13/11: Thursday-Saturday in Review

We've made it to the final week of the 2010-11 sports season. And eight mid-Michigan teams -- across four sports -- remain alive with the final state titles to be decided Saturday. Here are some of the standouts who got their teams to this point during the second half of the week:

4. Ithaca golf's Luke Rayburn: Shot a first-place 75 to lead Ithaca in finishing second to Laingsburg at Hunters Ridge as both teams advanced to the Division 3 state tournament.

3. DeWitt soccer's Erica Goodenough: Scored four goals and assisted on a fifth as DeWitt beat Spring Lake 5-1 to advance to this week's Division 2 state semifinals.

2. Lansing Christian soccer's Kristy Gomez: Scored twice as the Pilgrims upset No. 3 Kalamazoo Christian to win their first regional championship.

1. Bath softball's Taylor Toune: Threw a two-hitter and had two doubles as Bath beat Springport 5-1 to win its first regional title since 2002, and also beat Division 1 district champ St. Johns on Thursday.

SCOREBOARD
GOLF
DIVISION 4 at The Emerald at Maple Creek
Team scores–Muskegon Western Michigan Christian 320, Manistee Catholic Central 323,  Grand Rapids North Pointe Christian 328, Fowler 336, Pewamo-Westphalia 351, Lansing Christian 356, North Muskegon 361, Muskegon Catholic Central 365, Bath 365, Pentwater 365, Portland St. Patrick 377, Hesperia 379
Fowler–Keegan Bengel 79, Andy Birchmeier 83, Devon Feldpausch 85, Matt Jandernoa 89
Pewamo-Westphalia–John Lehman 83, Jacob Klein 86, Kyle Trierweiler 89, Charlie Bierstetel 93
Portland St. Patrick–Ryan Wilcox 87, Luke Schrauben 92, Joe Pung 97, Tyler Pung 101
Lansing Christian–Jay Noyola 85, Jacob Helder 87, Tucker Riffle 88, Nick Ballein 96
Bath–Dylan Parks 86, Gavin Schmidtmann 91, Alec Swenson 92, Tyler Miner 96
Medalist–Stefan Fahlen (Grand Rapids North Pointe Christian) 74

6/9/11: Monday-Wednesday in Review

We're down to only a few events during the weekdays, so I'm combining some as we get into the final days of the 2010-11 season. Here's our best from the first half of this week.

FOUR STARS

4. Okemos soccer's Ashton Miller: The Chieftains' freshman phenom gave another glimpse of what's to come with both goals as Okemos fell in double overtime to No. 6 Portage Central, 3-2, in a Division 1 regional semifinal.

3. DeWitt's soccer's Erica Goodenough: She's been great enough to join teammate Addy Schaar in helping the Panthers get to the Division 2 regional finals. Goodenough had a goal and two assists in a 3-0 semifinal win over Mount Pleasant (Schaar added a goal and an assist).

2. Grand Ledge baseball's Dalton Reust: Finished off the Diamond Classic with a pitching win and by going 2 for 2 at the plate with three runs scored in a 12-2 win over Holt in the final. He was named Classic Most Valuable Player.

1. Williamston soccer's Lisa Vogel: What a difference an all-stater makes. Armada had given up just five goals all season, but the Hornets won 5-0 in a Tuesday semifinal, with two coming from Vogel. She was injured most of the season, but is back just in time.

SCOREBOARD
SOCCER
REGIONAL SEMIFNALS
LANSING CHRISTIAN 3, WYOMING TRI-UNITY CHRISTIAN 0
Lansing Christian goals–Kristy Gomez 2, Elizabeth Perkins. Assists–Perkins, Maddie Pauley. In goal–Kayleigh Bytwerk (LC) 12 saves. Records–Lansing Chistian 17-0.

Waverly now, your school later?

No school is immune from budget difficulties these days (if one is, let us know so we can be stunned). Waverly is considering downgrading its middle school sports plus eight of its high school sports to "club" status to save money.

The argument for is it would save some cash used for coaching salaries, etc (those teams could then raise their own money to operate, I would imagine). The argument against is that those savings would be easily equaled and then surpassed by the per-pupil dollars the district will lose when prospective athletes leave for districts that still fully fund their athletics.

Here's an excerpt from the story that ran in our Delta Waverly paper May 29. Even if Waverly decides against this, could other school district be heading this way?

DELTA TWP. - The good news at Waverly's school board meeting was a projected $3.1-million deficit for next year, down from almost $3.4, thanks to the possibility of smaller state cuts.

As a result, several certified and non-certified staff positions were restored in the latest budget proposal presented by assistant superintendent Jacklin Blodgett.

One of those positions would allow the middle school time out room to continue.

Also restored was bus transportation for extracurricular activities and athletics.

In addition, Blodgett reported that the district's principals have agreed to $8,900 in concessions.

Several people expressed concern about the proposal to have all middle school sports, as well as the high school varsity swim, cross country, soccer and tennis teams become club sports.

"No other high school in this area is going to club sports from varsity," said athletic office secretary Mary Wilson, adding that perhaps the board should "start at the top" in balancing the budget by cutting the salaries of administrators who earn $100,000 a year or more.

Teacher and Waverly Education Association president Dave Pike urged the board to consider whether the money saved by large cuts might actually be counter-productive in the future.

"Are the cuts we're thinking of making going to save money?" he asked. "Or will they cost us in the long run?"

School board member Edith Suttles emphasized after the meeting that the budget is far from settled at this point.

"This is a process and we're looking at recommendations from the community and the administration," she said.. "Right now we're looking at the big picture."

A public hearing on the budget is scheduled for 7 p.m. on June 13, with the regular board meeting following at 7:30.

The district is required to have a balanced budget by June 30.

Diamond Classic Closer

If you've ever had a connection to the Dean Shippey Diamond Classic -- player, coach, fan -- Wednesday's final would be a great night to come back and check out the tournament as it finishes off its 50th year.

History is part of what makes this event unlike any other baseball tournament in the state, and before the 7 p.m. first pitch 15 coaches representing 37 of the first 49 championships will be recognized.

Coaches scheduled to appear are Norval Burgett (Howell 1964), Bill Knapp (East Lansing 1972 and 1973), Pat O’Keefe (Grand Ledge 1974 and 18 more), Len Lapka (Waverly 1975 and 1976), Jake Boss Sr. (Everett 1977, 1983 and 1988), David Leisman (Waverly 1982), Phil Odlum (Waverly 1985), Phil Booth (Lansing Catholic 1986), Bob Gast (Sexton 1991), Mark Pendred (East Lansing 1999), Mark Coscarella (Holt 2000), Bill Whitely (Charlotte 2004), Brad Phillips (Holt 2005), Phil Magsig (Okemos 2007) and Mike Brya (DeWitt 2008). Also to be honored are Shippey, longtime board member Bob Wolf and longtime tournament workers Marilyn Finney and Sharon Atanasoff.

Also, check out this link to "Stadium Journey," a site that travels the country checking out ballparks, including Cooley. The review says plenty about the local minor league park, and there's room for your commnets on it as well.

6/6/11: Weekend in Review

To wrap up the biggest weekend of the spring sports season, four stars are simply to few. So instead, check out all the reported results and our "Elite Eight" from hundreds of strong showings to finish Champions Week. (And yes, there are billions more we could mention -- feel free to tell us about who we missed below the post).

ELITE EIGHT

8. DeWitt girls track's Tori DeSira: Won the third state title of her three-year high school career, taking the Division 2 300 hurdles race championship for the second straight season.

7. Lansing Catholic baseball's Wil Lovell: Got the save in a district final win over Perry (5-2), but more significantly helped take out reigning Division 3 state semifinalist Bath in the semifinal, dominating from the mound in the 9-1 victory over the Bees.

6. Eaton Rapids girls track's Kathryn Mills: Just a freshman, cleared 5-foot-6 to win the Division 2 state high jump championship (Fowler freshman Savanah Feldpausch also won a state title, in the Division 4 300 hurdles.).

5. East Lansing boys track's Dan Tyler: Although tough to pick an MVP out of the Trojans' Division 2 title effort, it could be Tyler, who ran on the first-place 1,600 relay, the second-place 800 relay, and finished second individually in the 400.

4. Okemos water polo's Katie Dudley: The Chieftains won their second-straight state championship, and she had a combined eight goals over three games, including three in the 6-3 championship victory over Rockford.

3. Okemos boys track's Owen Hughes: Finished his high school career by tying the Division 1 state meet record with a high jump of 6-11.

2. Grand Ledge girls track's Tory Schiller: Topped off an incredible senior year with Division 1 state championships in the 300 hurdles and long jump.

1. Fowler girls track's Lindsey Hufnagel: Ended her high school career with Division 4 state titles in the 100, 200 and 400 in leading the Eagles to their first team state title since 1998.

SCOREBOARD
BASEBALL
DIVISION 1 at EVERETT
EASTERN 6, OKEMOS 5
Okemos    100    100    3-5 10 1
Eastern    500    100    x-6   9 1
WP-Mendez (8-1)     LP-George (5-3)     Highlights-Eastern: Garcia 2-3, 2B, Grand slam, 4 RBI. Okemos: Bonofiglio 3-4, 3B, 2 RBI. Record-Okemos (13-11).

6/3/11: Thursday in Review

Champions Week is half over and every spring sport but water polo has gotten in the mix. Thursday was mostly about golf and soccer districts, and those sports produced our top performances of the afternoon.

FOUR STARS

4. Lansing Christian soccer's Maddie Pauley: Scored two of her team's four goals as the Pilgrims downed rival Dansville by one to stay undefeated for the season and alive for Saturday's district final against Byron.

3. Mason soccer's Christine Harrison: Kicked in the Bulldogs' lone goal as they survived a 1-0 win over Eaton Rapids to move on to tonight's district final against East Lansing.

2. Okemos soccer's Liz Mullin: Knocked in the first goal as the Chieftains won the area's first district soccer title of 2011 by downing Hartland 3-0 in Division 1.

1. Lakewood golf's Taylor Axdorff: Won a three-hole playoff at Otsego's Prairiewood to claim the medalist honor at the Division 3 district and lead the Vikings to their first district team title ever (Special shout to our other district medalists of the day: Holt's Brian Burt, DeWitt's Alex Jones and Portland St. Patrick's Ryan Wilcox).

SCOREBOARD
GOLF districts
DIVISION 1 at Eldorado
Team scores–1. Battle Creek Lakeview 299, Grand Ledge 302 (won tie-breaker), Holt 302, Portage Central 310, Okemos 318, Kalamazoo Central 327, Portage Northern 345, Caledonia 356, Eastern 382, Jackson 386.
Grand Ledge–T-5. Cody Simons 74, 8. Tyler DeGood 75, 9. Kyle Sawyer 76, T-10. Matt Benson 77.
Holt–1. Brian Burt 71 (won playoff), T-5. Trent Tuttle 74, Tyler Mariage 78, Ryan Polin 79
Okemos–T-10. Jinho Kim 77, Jordan Kosloski 80, Jordan Freund 80, Broc Edwards 81.
Eastern–Spencer Fischer 79, Billy Hundt 92, Garrett Fuhrman 95, Derrick Shepherd 116.

6/2/11: Wednesday in Review

Another Honor Roll Track Meet is in the books, and one entry will need rewriting before next season. But that record-breaking performance was just one of many great ones as the busiest week of the school year continued to cruise along.

FOUR STARS

4. Eaton Rapids girls track: The Greyhounds have had a number of successful individuals over the years, but put everything together this spring. Coach Bob Ribby's Greyhounds finished second at the CAAC Gold track meet, securing the overall league championship -- their first league title since 1993. That came Tuesday, but we didn't get the results until Wednesday.

3. Holt boys lacrosse's Stevie McKee: The Rams junior scored three goals, including two in the second half and the game's only goal of the fourth quarter, as Holt downed Rockford 10-8 to advance to Friday's Division 1 regional final.

2. Fowler girls track's Lindsey Hufnagel: Fowler is one of the smallest schools at the Honor Roll Track Meet, but Hufnagel is one of the area's top track athletes. She proved it again by winning the 400, 100 and anchoring the winning 1,600 relay.

1. Grand Ledge girls track's Tory Schiller: The Comets' senior ran only two events, but set a meet record in the 300 hurdles and anchored the winning 400 relay.

(Honorable mention to Holt's Kyla Walworth, who won both throwing events at the Honor Roll Meet.)

SCOREBOARD
GREATER LANSING HONOR ROLL MEET
BOYS
Discus– 1. Cody Lindemulder (Lakewood) 146-10, 2. Cole Woods (Alma) 140-4, 3. Scott Ketchum (St. Johns) 137-7, 4. Corey Ware (Sexton) 136-10, 5. Wes Cramer (Lakewood) 134-3, 6. Cyril Beiri (Okemos) 130-7