What were the top stories in Livingston County high school sports in 2023-24?
The Livingston County high school sports scene was dominated in the past year by Brighton and Hartland, which is hardly nothing new.
The Bulldogs and Eagles have been making an impact on the state level for years in multiple sports, so why would 2023-24 be any different?
Brighton won one state championship, was state runner-up in four sports and reached at least the state quarterfinals in five sports.
Hartland was the state runner-up in three sports and reached at least the quarterfinals in four.
No other Livingston County school made the quarterfinals in a bracketed sport, with Pinckney’s Division 2 runner-up performance in boys cross country the only other finish worthy of a wooden mitten at the state finals.
So, if this list of the top moments in Livingston County sports in 2023-24 seems to tilt heavily toward two schools, there’s your reason.
The list is presented chronologically, beginning and ending on the grounds of Michigan State University.
Brighton girls golf settles for second on last putt
Finishing second in the state girls golf tournament was a wonderful accomplishment for Brighton, but not what the Bulldogs were looking for Oct. 20 and 21 at MSU’s Forest Akers West course.
Brighton had never been in a better position to win the county’s first girls golf state championship, smashing records throughout the fall behind three amazing seniors who would have played as the No. 1 golfer for nearly any team in Michigan.
When Rochester Adams sophomore Hannah Wang made a par putt on the final hole, Brighton had to settle for its second straight runner-up trophy by one shot, 669-670.
“This was the year we could make it happen,” Brighton coach Paul Parsell said. “To lose by a stroke on the last putt is hard to swallow.”
Cross country neighbors state runners-up
Cross country season began with a low-key dual meet between the neighboring Brighton and Pinckney boys on Aug. 18 at Manley Bennett Park.
It ended Nov. 4 at Michigan International Speedway with each team earning a state runner-up trophy in its division, Brighton in Division 1 and Pinckney in Division 2.
Brighton finished 13 points behind KLAA rival Northville after the teams split four regular-season meetings.
“Our fifth guy was just over 16 minutes,” Brighton coach Chris Elsey said. “Any time you can do that, there’s nothing to hang your head about. It’s a great day; it’s just that Northville had a little bit better of a day.
Pinckney was coming off a 24-point performance at regionals, its lowest since the dynasty years of three straight Division 1 championships from 2005-07. The Pirates finished 22 points behind Forest Hills Eastern for their best state finish since that run of titles.
“We haven’t had a second-place finish in quite a few years,” Pinckney coach Jim Wicker said. “We’re taking home a trophy, but it’s a little bittersweet.”
Brighton 2 minutes from boys soccer state title
A few hours after Brighton took second in boys cross country, the Bulldogs were two minutes away from becoming the county’s first boys soccer state champion.
But Troy Athens scored with 1:56 left in regulation time and 2:59 into overtime to beat Brighton, 2-1, in the Division 1 championship game.
Along the way, Brighton rode the magic of junior Devlin McGinnis to its first state final since 1998. McGinnis scored in the second overtime to beat Detroit Catholic Central in the regional final before scoring the tying and go-ahead goals 13 minutes apart during the second half of a 3-1 victory over Rockford in the state semifinals.
“(This run was) just an inspiration to the community and to the team,” McGinnis said. “I hope that it lights a spark for more to come.”
Hartland wrestling takes second again
Hartland’s wrestlers hoped the experience of reaching the state Division 1 championship match a year ago would be a benefit when they returned Feb. 24 at Wings Event Center in Kalamazoo.
But the Eagles lost to Detroit Catholic Central in the title match for the second year in a row, 41-12.
The teams split the first eight matches, with the Shamrocks leading 14-12, before Hartland lost the final six matches.
“A lot of teams want to be here, but we don’t want to just be here,” Hartland senior Vinnie Abbey said. “We want a title. We didn’t come out with that today, but everybody here, all the underclassmen, I know they’re working towards that. That’s the standard here now. We want titles. We don’t want to just be here.”
Four-peat and four wrestling champs
Brighton senior Sabrina Nauss became the third four-time state champion in girls wrestling in the six years a state tournament has been held March 2 at Ford Field.
Fowlerville junior Maggie Buurma is one championship away from joining Nauss after winning her third.
On the boys side, Brighton senior Zak Knapp and Hartland sophomore Dallas Korponic won state championships.
“It’s crazy,” Nauss said. “It hasn’t fully hit me yet. I know there haven’t been that many girls to do it. I’m just so glad I can do something now for little girls to look u to and want to do that and be like, ‘Oh, I want to wrestle because she wrestled.’”
Brighton hockey runner-up for third year in a row
Brighton has a strong case for being the top public school hockey program in Michigan, but the Bulldogs had to settle for runner-up again after a third straight loss in the Division 1 final to Detroit Catholic Central March
The Bulldogs had their strongest effort in the three meetings, only to lose 2-0 March 9 at USA Hockey Arena.
“We were confident going in,” Brighton coach Kurt Kivisto said. “We felt we had a really good shot. We put up 25 shots. We didn’t put one in the back of the net.”
They reached the championship game in dramatic fashion one night earlier when Zack Helminen’s overtime goal beat Clarkston in the state semifinals.
Hartland slays Goliath in boys lacrosse
Any time a boys lacrosse team beats Birmingham Brother Rice, it’s a huge deal.
It’s even bigger when it happens before the state championship game. The Warriors reached all 18 Division 1 finals since the MHSAA began sponsoring a tournament in 2005 until losing 11-10 to Hartland in a state semifinal on June 6 at Troy High School.
The Eagles never trailed in the game, but had to battle until the final second to hold off a team that was 18-0 in state semifinals and 95-2 in postseason games.
Playing in its third state final in four years two days later, Hartland lost 14-8 to Detroit Catholic Central after leading by three goals at halftime.
“Going into the season everyone doubted us,” said senior Jacob Ross, a holdover from Hartland’s 2022 state championship team. “Everyone said, ‘Oh, Bo Lockwood was the only reason we won.’ To kind of prove that wasn’t true and Hartland is a lacrosse school and we have a lot of lacrosse athletes, it felt really good to get back here. It’s just sad we couldn’t come out on top.”
Brighton 3-peats in girls lacrosse
With eight Livingston County teams bringing home state runner-up trophies, the only one to capture a state championship was Brighton girls lacrosse.
It was the third straight state title for the Bulldogs, tying Pinckney’s 2005-07 boys cross country teams for the longest streak by a county team.
Brighton did it June 7 at the University of Michigan with a 7-4 victory over Rockford, which had an eight-year run of championships before the Bulldogs’ current streak.
“We come in to every year with a target on our back, so we go into a season knowing we’re going to be a big threat,” said senior Cece Mainhardt, who scored three goals and one assist against Rockford. “We just work from day one knowing we’re going to make it to the state championship.”
Hartland returns to girls soccer final
For the second time in four years, Hartland girls soccer was the last team standing in Livingston County.
This time, however, it didn’t end with a state championship celebration as the Eagles lost 2-0 to Rochester Adams in the state Division 1 final June 14 at MSU.
Hartland had never advanced beyond regionals until winning the state title three years ago. The Eagles won two two-goal games in districts and three one-goal decisions after that to return to MSU.
Freshman Claire L’Esperance sent Hartland to the final by scoring with 9:13 left in a 2-1 semifinal victory over Grand Haven.
“There’s an expectation now with these players that we can do things and we can win things and that we should be competing game in and game out,” Hartland coach Andrew Kartsounes said. “I think it takes a while to set that up, but now that we’ve been here, they want to get back.”
Contact Bill Khan at wkhan@gannett.com. Follow him on X @BillKhan
This article originally appeared on Livingston Daily: Top stories in Livingston County high school sports in 2023-24
