By John Raffel
MaxPreps.com
Paul Nilsson has discovered that one of the keys to a state championship track team is a high quality cross country squad.
Nilsson coaches the defending Division 3 state champion boys track team in Williamston, located near Lansing.
"We've won the state title three times over the last six years," Nilsson said. "Balance has been the key. We've been particularly successful in the distances. Two times, we have won the state cross country title in the fall and I have some kids who are on both teams.
"To win it you try to figure out how many points you can score and if you think you can score more than 50 at the state meet you're hopeful," Nilsson said. "What was great last year is that Detroit Country Day had a good team and scored 67 points, but we beat them for the state title last year. Usually, 67 points is tough to beat in a state meet."
The 2007 Williamston track team is loaded and has the potential to make it four titles in seven years.
The Hornets feature three retuning state champions in Danny Stiffler (shot put), David Ash (800 meters), and Dan Nix (1,600 meters).
At the state meet June 2, Nilsson figures his school will battle with Country Day for the title.
"Country Day has mostly everyone back from last season," Nilsson said. "They'll give us a rough go."
Girls Track
Ubly celebrated its first title in school history when the girls track team and coach Pat Bolda won the crown last season.
"We had a little bit of depth last year," Bolda said. "We did well in the high jump and also sprints and distances. It was kind of a balanced team, I'd call it. We didn't lose any duals last year. We were undefeated in tri-meets.
"We were deep last year. We would usually score two to three places in each event."
For the 2007 season, "we're still undefeated," Bolda said. "But we'll have a test on Saturday at the Bad Axe Hatchet Invitational. We'll see a lot of bigger schools there. The competition is usually very good. We won it last year but it will be interesting this time."
Standouts on this year's team include senior sprinter Jade Kaufman, who will be running at Ferris State University next year, and senior distance runner Kylee Kubacki, who is going to Central Michigan University. Kaufman was third at the state finals last season in the 100 meter dash.
Senior high jumper and hurdler Shelby LaBuhn placed eighth in the high jump last season at the state finals.
Softball
The Division 3 state softball title went to Unionville-Sebewaing Area, located in the state's thumb area, last year for the first time in Michigan history. Coach Larry Houthoofd wouldn't mind an encore.
"Our key last year was the summer program," Houthoofd said. "The girls have played together since they were eight yeras old. We had five seniors. Everyone did a good job. They were team players. We had a couple of freshmen on the team and a few sophomores.
"It was their goal to win the state title. They expect it. In our preseason goals, everyone had put down being state champions."
USA is off to an 18-1 record so far this season.
"We're a real young team this year with only two seniors and two juniors," Houthoofd said. "The rest are sophomores and freshmen. We're a really good hitting team. We're scoring a lot of runs."
Catcher Carly Trieber is batting around .500. Merisa Lemere is taking care of the pitching duties.
"We play real good defense," Houthoofd said. "We're playing all-around good ball right now. We work on situations all the time in practice."
Girls Lacrosse
Ken Sailor is coaching an East Lansing girls team that could go far this year. But after winning four of his first six games, Sailor was lamenting the lack of game time.
"We haven't played as many games as other teams because of terrible weather early in the year," he said. "But our program is four years old and in those four seasons, we've won 75 percent of our games.
"We were recently at a Lansing Waverly tournament and won two of the three games we played. I was still a few players short so we ran out of gas. But we've been playing good lacrosse. The one game we lost was by one point to Okemos."
As the postseason approaches, Sailor is confident he has a team worth watching.
"We're a mature team and of 18 varsity players, we have 14 seniors," Sailor said. "The other four girls have been with us for three years. We have a good experienced team. They've played solid lacrosse with good fundamentals and techniques. In a win we had recently, we had nine goals in the first half and eight of those goals the scorer got an assist from someone. So for teamwork, they've done a good job."
Kristen Hinton and Hannah Groves, a pair of seniors, are leading the team in scoring. Goalie Jenna Meyer is averaging 70 percent on stops.
Boys Lacrosse
Rockford, one of the largest schools in the Grand Rapids area, is usually a state power in most boys sports. So why not lacrosse?
The Rams have won six of their first eight games this spring.
"We have a very young team with only six seniors," coach Tim Murray said. "We have a tendency to take a quarter off or a few plays off. But they've been very poised for a young team. The team has nine sophomores and two freshmen. But these guys get better every day."
Murray is excited over what his team might accomplish in upcoming days and seasons.
"We're not that far off from what we need to do to compete to be in the running for a state championship," he said. "We can reach for that although it might take five years or so.
"We just want to play good lacrosse on a consistent basis. It would certainly be nice to get to the finals. That's what we're striving for. But it will be tough when you consider teams like Troy Athens and Ann Arbor Pioneer are in our region. So it won't be easy. It's best just to be playing your best lacrosse."
Junior attacker Kenny Howard is among the team's most effective players.
