Nine Knockout High School Athletes to Watch in 2026-27

By Craig Manning | Sept. 5, 2026

A whole lot of state titles have been making their way to northern Michigan in recent years, on both individual and team levels. How many more will the 2026-27 school year bring? Here are nine outstanding local high school athletes we absolutely think have chances of bringing home some hardware in the months to come.

The Quads (Summer, Cam, Dane, and Brock Lewandowski)

School: Traverse City West Senior High
Sports: Alpine skiing, lacrosse
Graduation year: 2027

Proudest accomplishments: The Lewandowski quadruplets share more than DNA. These siblings also accumulated a bunch of similar accomplishments during TC West’s banner 2026 ski season: top 10 individual finishes at the Division 1 state finals; skiing for Team Michigan, which brings together the top 10 best female and male athletes in the state; leading their teams to stunning heights all season long. Somehow most impressive of all might be the comeback of Brock Lewandowski, who rallied from two broken legs in 2024 and a missed season in 2025 to help the Titan boys to a state title this past winter.

Goals for the year: Summer is on her own recovery journey this season, having undergone an ACL surgery in June. She’s hoping to rally in time for ski season, with eyes set on top 10 finishes at the state finals. Cam, Dane, and Brock, meanwhile, are all gunning to win an individual state title or two—something none of the Quads have achieved just yet. Which brother will get there first? Your guess is as good as ours.

Next steps: One of the reasons northern Michigan has long been a powerhouse in downhill and cross-country skiing is that most parts of the state—let alone the nation—can’t rival our area when it comes to winter snowfall and reliable skiing conditions. For that reason, all the Quads say college skiing opportunities are limited. That doesn’t mean you won’t see these four continuing to compete athletically after high school, though. All four are also varsity lacrosse players at TC West, and express interest in continuing to play at the college level.

Why we’re watching: This is a family dynasty. Brothers Aiden and Caleb Lewandowski racked up a combined total of five Division 1 state titles in alpine skiing between 2019 and 2024 and led the Titans to their first-ever state championship in 2021, then added two more team titles to the school’s trophy case in 2022 and 2023.

Now, the Lewandowski name is back in Michigan skiing headlines, thanks to Summer, Cam, Dane, and Brock—a group almost everyone refers to as “the Quads.” The four have all followed in their older brothers’ ski tracks, to increasingly impressive results. This past season, Cam, Dane, and Brock finished second, third, and fourth, respectively, in the slalom at Michigan’s Division 1 ski finals, with Dane and Cam then adding second and fourth-place finishes in the giant slalom. Those finishes drove the West boys to their first alpine skiing state title since the days of the elder Lewandowski brothers.

Summer, meanwhile, led the Titan girls to a third-place team finish at states, nabbing top-10 individual finishes in both events.

But the Quads are still chasing their brothers’ legacies in at least one important way: So far, none of the four has won an individual skiing title. We can’t wait to see if senior ski season can change that part of the narrative. The Quads can’t wait to find out, either.

“They won a lot of stuff, and they definitely like to rub it in,” Cam says of his older brothers.
We don’t know about you, but we think it’s time for the bragging rights to change hands.

Elliana McClellan

School: Traverse City St. Francis High School
Sport: Tennis
Graduation year: 2027

Proudest accomplishment: So far, McClellan is proudest of winning the No. 1 singles slot at St. Francis during her junior season. She took that top position all the way to the semifinals of the Division 4 state championships, helping the Gladiators win a regional title along the way.

Goal for the year: Perhaps predictably, McClellan’s big goal for next spring’s tennis season is nothing less than winning an individual state title, very likely in her second year at the No. 1 singles tier.

Next steps: McClellan plans on continuing to play tennis in college, though she hasn’t committed to a specific school just yet.

Why we’re watching: A state title certainly doesn’t seem out of range for McClellan, who went 23-7 in her first season at No. 1 singles, including decisive wins in the early rounds of the state finals.

If she gets there, it will be a tribute to the grind of hard work. McClellan trains year-round for tennis season, and has been traveling to Grand Rapids every weekend since the fall of 2024 to accumulate extra training hours, practice matches, and tournaments. Clayton Hodge, the tennis director at MVP Sportsplex in GR, has been coaching McClellan ever since, and says her game has advanced by leaps and bounds in the past two years.

In particular, Hodge says McClellan’s “overwhelming baseline power” and “precise serving abilities” will make her a force to be reckoned with for whoever ends up on the other side of her net this season.

Jenna Middleton

School: Kingsley High School
Sport: Volleyball
Graduation year: 2027

Proudest accomplishment: “Winning the state championship in 2025,” Middleton says. “This is something our team had been dreaming of and working toward for a while, and it was amazing to do it alongside such amazing coaches, teammates, and friends.”

Goal for the year: While defending Kingsley’s (first-ever) state title is surely on Middleton’s mind as a new volleyball season begins, her priority at the moment is a little more modest: “I want to take on a leadership for the team by being a good role model and mentor for the younger players in the program,” she says.

Next steps: Middleton has “decided not to play volleyball in college because I want to focus on my education,” but says she will “keep having fun with recreational volleyball” for as long as possible. Career-wise, Middleton has expressed an interest in becoming an author someday.

Why we’re watching: An outside hitter for the Lady Stags, Middleton earned first-team all-state honors from the Michigan Interscholastic Volleyball Coaches Association last fall, following Kingsley’s Division 3 state championship victory.

All told, Middleton tallied 749 kills last season—a one-season record for Kingsley, smashing the previous mark, set in 2012 by Katie Travis, by more than 50. The total was good enough to put Middleton in the MHSAA record books, too, given that fewer than 50 players in state history have put up that kind of single-season stat.

Kingsley wrapped last season with 57 wins and just four losses, so we’d be keeping an eye on this team and its follow-up campaign no matter what. The fact that the star player is coming back should make the 2026 season even more exciting to follow—especially since Middleton has a reputation among her coaches and teammates for working extremely hard in the offseason and always coming back even better than she was before.

Stefi Reskevics

School: Harbor Springs High School
Sports: Soccer, basketball, cross-country
Graduation year: 2027

Proudest accomplishment: “Definitely winning a state title with my team [in soccer] and earning first team all-state honors this past year,” Reskevics says.

Goal for the year: Even with conference and state titles in the trophy case from the past season, Reskevics isn’t resting on her laurels. “I am looking to go undefeated in soccer and win a state championship again,” she says.

Those goals will have to wait until the spring, though, and Reskevics has other aspirations on the brain in the meantime, including earning all-state honors in cross-country and helping propel the Harbor Springs basketball team to a deep playoff run.

Next steps: Decision time is fast approaching for Reskevics (and the rest of the class of 2027), but so far, she says she’s still mulling schools and hasn’t decided “whether I will continue to play soccer at the college level” or simply join a club team at her chosen university.

Why we’re watching: We love a superb multi-sport athlete, and Reskevics is certainly one of those. Clock her achievements in cross-country (highlight so far: an eighth-place finish in the 2024 Division 4 state finals) and in basketball (where she’s played on the consistently strong varsity squad since her freshman year).

But every multi-sport athlete has their strongest suit, and for Reskevics, that’s soccer. This past season, Reskevics racked up 27 goals and 17 assists, en route to Harbor Springs’ Division 4 state title and an incredible 20-1-2 record. The Michigan High School Soccer Coaches Association subsequently named her a first-team all-state selection.

For us, though, it was one specific goal that made the Harbor Springs star a must-feature athlete for this list. And that’s because, had Reskevics not made this particular goal, the Rams may not have even had a chance to play for a state title.

Picture this: it’s the state semifinal game, the score is deadlocked at 1-1, and overtime is looming, with just two seconds left on the clock when Reskevics takes the last-minute shot. Such were the circumstances behind the most crucial goal of the season for Harbor Springs soccer, securing a win against Kalamazoo Christian and a berth in the state championship match.

Will Richmond

School: Traverse City Central High School
Sport: Soccer
Graduation Year: 2027

Proudest accomplishment: Up until a few weeks ago, Richmond would have said his proudest moment on the field was last soccer season, when he helped put an end to the Trojans’ very lengthy Big North Conference title drought.

Then, on Aug. 16, Central soccer player Wilder Seeburger was killed in a car crash. Now, Richmond says his proudest soccer-playing moment is honoring Wilder “with a comeback victory three days after his passing, in a game full of emotion.” The Trojans will continue honoring Wilder by wearing black armbands emblazoned with his initials (WWS) all season long.

Goal for the year: After sharing the Big North Conference title with TC West last season, Richmond’s goal is “to win the conference outright and challenge for a district championship” this fall. Now team captain, he also hopes “to be a positive role model to everyone in the Central soccer program.”

Next steps: “I have the opportunity to further my soccer career at Albion College,” Richmond says—a possibility made even more enticing because his older brother, 2025 Central grad and soccer standout Georgie Richmond, plays for Albion. “It would be exciting to play alongside my brother again, I just need to make sure that my academic goals can be pursued at Albion as well,” Richmond explains.

Why we’re watching: The Trojans were rock solid last season, winning 13 of their 17 games and regularly running up the score with five or more goals. After a few stumbles early in the season, the team rallied to string together an impressive 20-game winning streak, even beating their crosstown rivals, TC West, for the first time since 2017. Central’s season ultimately came to an end in a 1-3 loss against Midland Dow in the second round of playoffs.

A standout midfielder, Richmond was one of the key cogs in last season’s roster, and early signs indicate that won’t change this fall. Case-in-point: While the Trojans lost their first home game of the season 3-4 to Oxford, it was Richmond who kept his team in the mix with a pair of goals. His skills on the field, plus his leadership, will be a driving force for Central soccer during this emotionally weighty season.

Blake Springstead

School: Elk Rapids High School
Sport: Golf and soccer
Graduation year: 2028

Proudest accomplishment: Springstead’s career highlight is a tie between winning the MHSAA Division 3 individual state golf championship title this past spring and tying for sixth place at this summer’s 105th GAM Championship at Grosse Ile Golf & Country Club. “Competing against some of the best golfers in Michigan and finishing in the top 10 was a great experience and showed me that I can compete at a high level,” he says of the latter.

Goal for the year: While he’s already looking ahead to next golf season with hopes of defending his state title, Springstead says his focus right now is on soccer. “We made it all the way to the state championship game my freshman year and lost 3-2,” he tells the Express. “One of my biggest goals this season is to help Elk Rapids soccer get back to that state final and have another opportunity to compete for a championship.”

Next steps: As the lone underclassman on this list, Springstead still has two full school years to figure out what’s next. At the moment, though, he says his plans include continuing to play golf at the college level. “I'm going to keep working on my game, playing in competitive tournaments, and improving all parts of my game so I can put myself in the best position possible to play college golf,” he says.

Why we’re watching: Springstead missed qualifying for states as a freshman by a single stroke. A year of working on the technical and mental aspects of his game made sure he didn’t miss the boat again, and resulted in a state finals debut for the books.

At states, Springstead shot two back-to-back rounds of 73 at Bedford Valley Golf Course in Battle Creek for a combined tournament score of 146. Other golfers outshot him on one day or another—the best one-round score of the competition was a 69—but Springstead’s consistency was unmatched, and ultimately gave him a one-stroke lead in the final standings.

How much better could he get, given two more years of practice, competition, and mental toughness? We’re excited to find out.