The Milan News-Leader
A Heritage Newspaper
Weekly Publication
2007's Top 5 Milan sports stories
PUBLISHED: January 3, 2008
(Editor's note: The Michigan High School Athletic Association's court-mandated season switch that shifted volleyball to fall and moved several other sports around is omitted from this list as a statewide story, rather than a local one.)
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1. Milan football runs to glory. The Milan football team had never won two playoff games in the same season. They had never won a Huron League title. They had never had a running back break the 2,500-yard mark (though no other team in the area had, either).
In 2007, Milan accomplished every one of those things. Led by senior running back Ron Spears' amazing 2,501-yard season, a Milan record, the Big Reds bounced back from a 48-21 week 2 disappointment at Airport to win six straight games, including a statement 20-0 shutout of previously undefeated St. Mary Catholic Central.
While Spears and a dangerous big-play passing game led by senior quarterback Zach McGovern and All-Huron receiver Anthony Marshall powered the Milan offense to an average of 30.6 points a game, the Milan defense emerged as a force over the course of the season. With a quick and experienced linebacking corps of senior captain Randy Butts, Demetries Love, and Kenny Barrett ranging behind a defensive line anchored by tackles David Box and Erik Gunderson, Milan held six different opponents to a touchdown or less.
After finishing the regular season at 7-2 overall and 6-1 in Huron play, winning the program's first share of the conference's crown, Milan kept rolling in the MHSAA Division 4 playoffs. The Big Reds crushed visiting Detroit Southwestern 35-0 in the opening round and then won a district championship on the road at Dearborn Heights Robichaud, 43-30.
Eventual state finalist Detroit Country Day ended Milan's dreams of a trip to Ford Field with a 24-6 win in the regional championship game, but it did nothing to erase the memories of arguably the greatest season in Milan football history.
2. Swimmers still top-10 quality. Milan's swimming and diving teams have traditionally been some of the strongest in the state, and showed in 2007 that that tradition is still alive and well.
Not many would have expected Milan's boys' swim team to post a top-10 finish entering the Division 2 state meet in March, but a state championship swim from Ryan Bordine in the 100-yard freestyle and a series of performances in which the Big Reds far outpaced their pre-meet seedings — including a capping 8th-place finish in the 400 freestyle relay from Bordine, Tim Hochradel, Jason Schroeder, and Ian Pendleton — sent Milan all the way to 10th.
The Big Reds girls celebrated the program's move to MHSAA's new Division 3 by posting yet another top-10 finish, placing sixth. Junior Maura Donahue blew away the field to win the 500 freestyle and claimed a state title in the 200 freestyle as well. The Big Reds finished the meet by grabbing the first relay title of coach Dan Heikka's tenure as Donahue, sister Meghan Donahue, Audrey Ing, and Loren Weber won the 400 freestyle relay in 3:38.61.
3. Big Reds, Tomecek run with lead pack. If any Milan program has matched the swim teams for consistency the past several years, it's been the girls' cross country team, which in 2007 posted its second consecutive sixth-place finish at the Division 2 state meet despite school record holder Emily Wilson having graduated the previous spring.
The Big Reds did so thanks in large part to new school record holder sophomore Jordan Tomecek, who surpassed Wilson's mark in mid-season and then shattered her own record at the state meet by running 18:12.5. That was good for fourth overall, with strong runs by Angela Swain, Kara Porter, Amelia Horton, and Kelly Bowman taking Milan all the way to sixth despite the Big reds having entered the state meet unranked by the state coaches.
4. Soccer continues growth.
Both Milan soccer teams have become two of the Big Reds' most successful programs and continued their upward trend in 2007 with benchmark-setting seasons.
Led by forward Jessica Young, who broke the program's career scoring record during the season, the Milan girls won a record 15 games en route to a runner-up finish in the Huron League. It would prove to be the final season for the only coach in Milan's nine-year history, Phil Zuber, who resigned after the season to take a teaching position at his alma mater.
The Milan boys entered their fall season with hopes of a Huron title, but had to battle injuries early on and fell out of contention. The season would still prove to be arguably the program's most memorable as the Big Reds earned their first-ever victory over league power Grosse Ile, 2-0 over the Red Devils in Grosse Ile on goals by Chris Billau and Brandon Duval.
5. Boys' track tightens grip on Huron League.
Many of the same athletes that played key roles in Milan's historic football run started 2007 with a similarly powerful performance for the Big Red boys' track. The Big Reds claimed their second straight Huron League title, finishing with a perfect dual meet record and cruising to a comfortable victory at the league meet. The back-to-back conference titles were the first for Milan, coach Rich Pellegrini said, in decades.
The Big Reds were paced by their sprinters, with Spears, Marshall, Brazilian exchange student Leandro Gabrielzyk, and Kyle Love setting the school record in the 800-meter relay and claiming a regional title in the event.
Honorable Mention: Big Red boys' basketball team posts 11-9 record for first winning season in years; wrestlers improve on '05-'06 record, have winning season; Milan baseball ins 20 games, comes close but falls short of Huron title; girls' golf team plays first-ever season in spring and second-ever in fall, sees Lindsey Lammers qualify for Division 3 state meet in both; softball team goes from three-win season to .500 record; girls' basketball team gets third head coach in three seasons as Scott Stark resigns and is replaced by Big Red boys' team assistant Jeff Davis; volleyball team falls short of goal of .500 record in league play but wins minimum six matches in both '06-'07 winter season and fall 2007 season.
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