12-17-2020 Sports

Press Box Player of the Week!

By John Oliphant Tri-City Record Press Box Player of the Week for Dec. 17, 2020 is Watervliet’s Grace Chisek. This freshman started her high school sports career on the volleyball team and has been named to the SAC First Team, and earned All-Region honors as well as being named one of the MVPs on the Panther team. She led her team with 476 assists and 196 digs, was second with 40 aces, and also collected 19 kills and 12 blocks.

Those are impressive stats for any volleyball player, but Grace did all that in her first season in a high school sport. Grace says that playing against girls three years older was definitely something she had to adapt to coming off a season playing against much younger athletes. Naturally the SAC varsity teams hit a lot harder and faster requiring her to speed up her reaction time, especially on defense.

Grace is the setter on the team, and has been playing volleyball for four years. She hones her skills playing club volleyball for USA Michigan, one of the top teams in the area. Volleyball is her favorite sport and she also plays basketball and softball.

Her favorite volleyball moment, so far, is being down 8-13 in a 15-point state championship club game and coming back to win. She described the best game of the varsity season this year in the first round of the playoffs. “On Wednesdays we have a virtual day, so we came in early and played board games and decorated the gym. We had the best teamwork that night and everyone was very positive. It was just a fun game to be in.”

About her first high school team, she said there were funny, serious, and sad moments. “I am happy I was able to be on a team with every one of them this year!” She credits Coach Edie Daugherty for pushing her, saying “coach was also a setter and gave me great advice on how I could get better.”

She has a few years to decide, but at this point she plans to pursue a career in sports medicine. Congratulations Grace!

Hartford Press Box By Jerrod Birmele

The “Pause” of 2020 continues – high school sports still suspended

This year has been a very difficult time to be a sports reporter, especially for us “Press Box” writers at the high school level. To have stories to report to our loyal readers, we have to have sporting events to report on. And while we have ultimately known since the spring time that events throughout the year would be considered a last minute decision in many cases, it has taken all of our might to keep these columns going strong. And following the recent decision at the state level to expand on the current “pause” for another extended period of time means that many school campuses are closed until at-least the conclusion of Christmas break; in Hartford’s case, the middle of January. But that also means that high school athletics will not begin game action before the turning of the calendar to the year 2021. If current trends continue the break may continue into the near future at the earliest.

So, what this all means is that we will end the year 2020 just like we did for almost six months: without reporting on any high school athletic events. So, unfortunately, there are no basketball scores to report on this week. No takedowns and pins are happening on the wrestling mats. And, yes, there are no scores and loud cheers coming from the competitive cheerleading team.

As hard as it has been on us writers I can only imagine the disappointment and sadness on the minds of our great athletes, especially those seniors that may never have a chance to compete in athletics after completing high school in just five or six months. For many student-athletes, this is their great escape from the demands of everyday life and an opportunity to spend time with their friends or a chance to make a new, lifelong friendship.

But we are reminded that just because we have no high school sports to write about, does not mean that all is bad in the world. We should all be fortunate around this time of festive cheer that our families and friends are well and that we are alive and healthy this holiday season. Because, there are countless others that have suffered the ultimate heartbreak of the loss of someone they love or know, and I think of them as I finish this column today.

All this writer has to say is yes, there are better and brighter days that lie ahead. And, as a human family, we still need to work together to combat the pandemic in the days, weeks and months ahead. Maybe, just maybe, because of a small gesture of remaining six feet apart, masking up and washing our hands for a few seconds longer, we can get back to a small sense of normalcy and tell you the trials and tribulations of Indian Athletics.

Until then, stay safe everyone. And, as always, GO INDIANS!

Watervliet Press Box by John Oliphant

Dietz earns All-State recognition; all high school sports on hold

Panther Samantha Dietz was recently named to the Michigan Interscholastic Volleyball Coaches Association Division 3 all-state team as an honorable mention honoree. Samantha, an outside hitter, is one of only four sophomores recognized on a list loaded with west Michigan and SAC players. The all-state recognition adds to her all-region honors as well as being named one of the MVPs on her team and to the SAC First Team. She had a strong season, finishing with 302 kills, 58 aces and 196 digs.

Many of the players named along with Samantha are on teams awaiting the resumption of the MHSAA volleyball playoffs. Those teams, which include SAC rival and volleyball powerhouse Schoolcraft, still expect to finish the last few rounds of the tournament to crown a state champion. As the days close on 2020 that possibility seems less likely. Meanwhile winter sports coaches are hoping the state will let them start practices so they can get ready for a 2021 season. School activities are paused until December 20, and the MHSAA representative council will meet December 16 to formulate plans for when school sports are allowed to resume activity.

Meanwhile, everything in high school athletics is paused, teams are not allowed any organized practice or any individual practice at the school facilities, such as weightlifting or conditioning.

Ted Tees retires from Watervliet Public Schools Board of Education

Long-time Watervliet Board of Education trustee Ted Tees is retiring and attended his last board meeting on Monday, Dec. 14, 2020. A member of the board for 19 years, Ted supported Watervliet sports in many ways over the years.

At Monday’s board meeting he was credited with playing a key role in resurrecting a dormant Panther wrestling program many years ago, and board president Bill Spaulding reminded attendees that Ted was quite the athlete in his youth, earning all-state honors in baseball. So when Panther fans see Ted around town (once things open back up) they should be sure to thank him for his long-time support of Panther athletics and his service to the community and Watervliet Public Schools. Thanks Ted!

Coloma Press Box By Dave Vollrath

No word yet from MHSAA on resuming high school sports

There has been no word yet from the MHSAA, the governing body of Michigan high school sports, following their meeting on Wednesday, Dec. 9. The Representative Council of the Michigan High School Athletic Association was called together last Wednesday to gather information following the governor’s continuation of the high school lockdowns across the state, which included the halting of all sports until Dec. 21.

No decisions were made, as it was announced by Executive Director Mark Uhl that he was still confident that the fall season could finish the championships which are already in progress including football and volleyball and begin the winter season practices as soon as the governor loosens her grip on the schools in the state. There will be plenty of logistical challenges associated with the resumption of the fall championships, but the hope is to finish them all to a conclusion.

In the meantime, the Coloma Comet winter coaches are chomping at the bit to get the kids back in school where they should be and begin preparations for the upcoming season. The Comet fans are all hoping for some good news stuffed in their Christmas stockings which would be the winter sports getting back to business shortly after the first of the year.

Megan Koenigshof named top pitcher in state in D-3

Coloma Comet 2020 graduate Megan Koenigshof was recently named as the top pitcher in Division 3, by the Michigan High School Softball Coaches Association for the 2020 softball season. Megan was a standout player for the Comets her first three years of varsity softball, before her senior season was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Megan helped lead the Comets, as the shortstop her sophomore season, to winning their first ever state championship in softball in the spring of 2018. She also led Coloma in hitting, runs scored, stolen bases, and most every other offensive category throughout her career. Megan was moved to the mound her junior season, and was once again outstanding in her transition to the pitcher’s circle helping the Comets win their 4th consecutive district title.

The top players in the state for 2020 were named by the MHSSCA based on the totality of their careers, because the season was wiped out and canceled last spring.

The Coloma Press Box contacted Megan and asked about her feelings winning such a prestigious award. Megan responded, “I feel very honored to have won the award. I have worked very hard to be the best that I can be and that work has not gone unnoticed.”

Megan is currently continuing her education and softball career at Grand Valley State University, in Allendale, Michigan. When asked, Megan said school is going well and that they were able to practice this fall in preparation for the season next spring. Currently there will be no more softball activity until after the first of the year. We congratulate Megan on this award, and certainly agree with the decision. She was absolutely one of the top players in the state throughout her career.

Zach Goodline finding success at Huntington, following his collegiate transfer

Coloma Comet Zach Goodline is off to a much better start to this basketball season following his transfer from Oakland University, a Division 1 university, to Huntington University, which is near Fort Wayne, Indiana. Goodline graduated from Coloma as the career top scorer in school history for the Comets, and currently ranks as the 15th in the state’s all-time career list. He averaged 25.9 points per game for his 4-year Comet career. Zach began his collegiate career at Oakland University in 2019, but decided after the first year that it just wasn’t the right fit for him. He transferred to Huntington University where he was highly recruited, and initially had committed to going there before finally deciding on Oakland. This season Huntington is off to a good start with a 7-2 overall record, and 2-2 in the Crossroads League which has them in the middle of the pack.

Zach states that he is mostly playing and starting in the point guard position, which means he runs the offense and has the team averaging 83 points per game. Goodline himself is averaging 18 points a game, but started the first four games averaging around 13 points per game. The last five games his average has risen to over 20 points per contest. Zach says that he attributes this to a gain in confidence and feeling more comfortable in the offense, and also knows his coach has faith in his abilities to get the job done. Huntington’s head coach is Kory Alford, who is the son of an Indiana legend, Steve Alford, a great player and coach in college and the NBA.

Zach says that through his dad, Kory had access to some of the greatest basketball minds in the country and enjoys playing for such a knowledgeable coach. Goodline goes on to state that there is great competition in the Crossroads League and one school in particular, Indiana Wesleyan, has a deep and talented lineup that could compete with many of the D-1 schools.

The Press Box asked Zach in a recent phone conversation what he felt was the biggest change for him coming from a Division 1 school to one who competes at the NAIA level. He says that at the bigger school he felt like a basketball player going to school and now he feels that he is a student first and then a basketball player second. Although the atmosphere is extremely different on game days with no fans in the stands at all because of the virus lockdown, Zach says he’s beginning to have fun playing again in a style that is more familiar to him. He does say that he misses having fans in the stands. He has not really played in front of a crowd since his final game in high school almost two years ago, and is hoping the day will be soon when the fans are back in the stands acting crazy and being a part of the action. Congratulations and keep up the good work Zach.

Big Ten adds games to “Champions Week”

As Ohio State and Northwestern prepare to play it out for the Big Ten championship on Saturday, Dec. 19, the Big Ten brass announced on Sunday that they were also giving every other school in the conference, otherwise finished for the year, the opportunity to play one more game in an east vs. west ‘Champions Week.” Some of the long time rivalries could not take place this year because of the COVID issues, so some of these get a second chance to fight it out for their rivalry trophies.

Minnesota will face Wisconsin, in one of these added games, for the 130th time. They have played in consecutive years since 1907, which makes it the longest running, uninterrupted series in major college football history. Indiana vs. Purdue for the Old Oaken Bucket, another long running instate rivalry, Michigan will play at Iowa, Rutgers will host Nebraska, and Michigan State travels to Maryland, to round out the list of games just added this week.

Coach Harbaugh will have another opportunity to cool off that hot seat, as the Wolverines who are 2-4 on the season had their last two games canceled because of the COVID issues with both players and team personnel. It will be a tough task as they go up against the Hawkeyes, who are having a fine season and are ranked 18th in the country. They will kick off from Kinnick stadium in Iowa City, on Saturday at 7 p.m.

Greg Krell making a late charge moves up in AQB standings; Dan Jones keeping a steady course, remains on top

By Dave Vollrath

It’s no secret that 2020 has been a year where we’ve been challenged to learn to adapt frequently to changes, as the COVID pandemic has wreaked havoc on our normal way of life. For the most part, the Tri-City Record Armchair Quarterback’s weekly test of our football game picking experts’ talents has continued on with little disruption until this week.

Weekly fans of our ‘backs’ exploits know we added an extra game each week, our COVID game, in case one of the eight weekly selected games gets canceled at a late date. We’ve had to use it on a couple of occasions, but this week even as we had added two COVID games it still wasn’t enough. Three of our games, including two tiebreaking games, were canceled which left us with only seven games and the need to adjust our tiebreaking criteria to fit this week’s issues.

However our pigskin pickers roll on undeterred, and after the dust settled we really had a pretty big shake up. Our bottom two pickers got the better of those in the top spots and things are now tighter than ever. Greg Krell had an outstanding week picking six out of seven games correctly, and moves out of 5th place bumping Taylor Prestidge down.

Greg is now only four points out of first place, and only two points behind Rodney Lynch who remains in the third spot. Tim Hildebrand, who has spent most of the season in our basement, also had a fine week going 5-2. He moves into a 5th place tie with Taylor, but Taylor gets the 5th spot based on winning the tiebreaker with Tim who remains in the cellar.

Dan Jones, in spite of a pedestrian 4-3 mark, holds onto first place with a record of 74-35. RoxAnn Rodney-Isbrecht now holds second place alone, one game out of first, as Rodney drops a game behind her and clings to third place.

The TCR, AQB competition is held weekly from the beginning of the football season in late summer until it finishes with the playing of the Super Bowl in February. We have six Tri-City area football fans competing against each other to predict the winners of a group of pre-selected games from the high school, collegiate, and professional ranks. Following the conclusion of the Super Bowl, one winner is crowned champion and will have the honor of wearing the Tri-City Record Armchair Quarterback Championship hat. In the event that two or more ‘backs have the same record for the week, or the yearly total, their place in the standings will be determined by a weekly tiebreaker game. In addition to trying to correctly pick the winners of each week’s games they try and predict the score from a specially selected game. The AQB who comes the closest to the total number of points scored by both teams will get the higher spot in the standings.

The “COVID game” is an additional game selected each week, which only our panel sees and predict. But it is only used if one of our regular games is postponed too late to make changes.

With our championship still very much in doubt our ‘backs who are trailing must start thinking of upset, where they can gain some ground as the season gets shorter. There are only a few more weeks where we’ll have a full slate of games, as the collegiate season wraps up and the NFL enters into the playoffs. Our games become fewer, and if the AQBs miss on the upsets, well, they will sink faster than the Lions in the fourth quarter. Greg with his 6-1 mark wins the weekly top spot, as Tim at 5-2 gets second. Dan wins the tiebreaker with RoxAnn for 3rd place, both went 4-3. Taylor and Rodney come in 5th and 6th, when both finished below the Mendoza Line at 3-4. Our tiebreaking game was an added COVID game, which saw USC score a last second touchdown to defeat UCLA by a final score of 43-38. Taylor picked closest to that score by predicting 72 points.

Our pigskin prognosticators will have this challenging list of games to ponder over, so be sure and check back next week and try and match your picking skills with theirs.

Northwestern vs. Ohio State Oklahoma vs. Iowa State Clemson vs. Notre Dame (Tiebreaker) Alabama vs. Florida LA Chargers vs. Las Vegas Detroit vs. Tennessee Chicago vs. Minnesota Kansas City vs. New Orleans