January:
‘The Brandon varsity basketball team added a big win to their resume Jan. 21, handing the host Hamady Hawks their first loss of the season. In the Blackhawks? big win, Nick Emery led the team with 20 points. Gino Torelli added 12 points and led the Blackhawks with 14 rebounds, while Tom Mahaffey tallied eight points. Brandon improved to 9-4 overall.
‘The Goodrich wrestlers added more wins to their records over the last few weeks. On Jan. 11, the team traveled to the Chesaning Tournament, where they took second place, winning four of their five matches. The Martians? only loss came from a strong Birch Run team. Goodrich defeated Chesaning, Carrollton, Pinconning and Central Montcalm. Nic Hidgon won all five of his matches, while Zach Pyles, Garrett Higdon and Jason Fischer won four of five.

February:
‘The good news is the Brandon basketball team is still hanging on to second place in the Flint Metro League. The bad news? Lapeer West dropped the Blackhawks to 1-1/2 games behind league leader Lapeer East, winning 48-45 against Brandon Feb. 18. The loss dropped the Blackhawks to 8-2 in the league, 10-7 overall.
‘After being knocked out of the team districts for the fourth straight year by Richmond, the Goodrich wrestling team went on to make a good showing in the individual districts. The Martians placed eight wrestlers in the top four to move on to regionals Saturday, Feb. 22 at Yale High School.

March:
‘The Brandon hockey team’s season ended with a 6-0 loss to Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood in the Division III state quarterfinals. Brandon finished up its season 16-10-4. The Blackhawks earned their first regional championship in only their third year of the program’s existence with a 6-3 win against Avondale March 1.
‘The Goodrich basketball team lost to Imlay City 75-56 in district final competition March 8. Charlie Goetz led the Martians with 15 points and 12 rebounds. Goodrich ended their season with a 12-11 overall record, and finished second in the Genesee Area Conference Red Division with an 8-8 record.

April:
‘Seniors Claire Cianek and Berryl Pappas helped make sure the Brandon softball team headed into spring break on a winning note. Despite the chilly and windy weather, the Blackhawks swept the visiting Oxford Wildcats in an April 16 doubleheader, winning the opener 9-2 and the nightcap 12-2. Brandon’s record heading into the break is 11-1 overall and 4-0 in Flint Metro League play.
‘Goodrich’s baseball team dominated host Hamady in an April 16 doubleheader. The Martians won the opener 16-1 in a three-inning game and the nightcap 10-1, improving their record to 6-1 overall and 6-0 in Genesee Area Conference play. Goodrich maintained their hold on first place in the league.

May:
‘The more things change, the more they stay the same. The Brandon softball team swept host Lapeer East in a doubleheader May 19, winning the opener 6-1 and the nightcap 6-3. The sweep improved Brandon’s overall record to 28-5 and 11-1 in the Flint Metro League, which tied them for the league title in their first year in the Flint Metro. The league title is the Blackhawks? fourth in a row, with the previous three coming in the Oakland Activities Association.
‘Goodrich’s softball team continues to pick up the wins ? and pitcher Emily Doerr is a big reason for that. Doerr picked up four wins in the past week, including a perfect game against Montrose. Goodrich’s most recent action came in a May 19 doubleheader against Byron. The Martians swept Byron 24-2 in three innings in the opener and 4-3 in the nightcap. The Martians improved to 19-6 overall and 16-1 in league play, one game behind Genesee Area Conference Red Division leader LakeVille.

June:
‘Senior Adam Hyde officially wrapped up the Brandon boys track season May 31. Hyde finished 10th in the 300 meter intermediate hurdles at the Division II state track meet, with a time of 40.9 seconds. The Blackhawks wrapped up their first season in the Flint Metro League in a tie for sixth place, but Coach Gary Medland is still optimistic about the team’s future.
‘The Goodrich baseball team’s dream season ended just short of their ultimate objective. Three errors cost the Martians in their Division III state semifinal game against second-ranked Morley Stanwood June 13 at Bailey Park in Battle Creek. Although they had their chances in the latter part of the game, Goodrich fell to Morley Stanwood 4-3, ending the Martians? season. Goodrich finished with the most wins in school history, earning a final record of 35-6.

July:
‘Last year, Ortonville native Matt Lentz, a 2001 graduate of Brandon High School, got a taste of the University of Michigan football tradition up close. As the 2003 season approaches, Lentz, who plays right guard for the Wolverines, hopes to earn the respect of teammates and opponents alike. Lentz, who stands 6?6? and weighs 305 lbs., will be entering his sophomore year of eligibility.
‘The Goodrich girls soccer team earned several postseason honors this season: (League) First Team ? Natalie McCormick, Amanda Bishop, Amber Beard; Second Team ? Monty Richvalsky, Amy Kovas, Meredith Mayberry; Honorable Mention ? Betsy Schumacher, Jessica Engler; (District) First Team ? McCormick, Richvalsky, Bishop, Kovas, Beard, Hayley Smith, Mayberry, Engler; (Regional) All Regional Team ? McCormick, Bishop; (All-State) Division 3, Third Team ? McCormick; Honorable Mention ? Bishop.

August:
‘New Brandon boys soccer coach Nathan Hunter hopes he has started a tradition with the program. Hunter and a group of 33 players from the varsity and junior varsity teams headed up north to Empire, near the Traverse City area, Aug. 10-14. The team worked on preseason conditioning and team-building exercises. During each of the four days they were there, the team trained from 6 a.m.-8:30 p.m. Their training included sprints and a 6-1/2 mile run through Sleeping Bear Dunes National Park.
‘David Garr received quite the birthday present Aug. 13. The Goodrich youngster celebrated his 12th birthday by learning he has been named to the United States Olympic team’s developmental program. During the winter months, Garr will team up with 24 other Michigan soccer players to train at Wiskham, a camp in Michigan, and eventually play developmental teams from other states.

September:
? For a half, it looked like Holly would spoil Brandon’s Homecoming game Sept. 26. However, Brandon senior quarterback Devin White, playing in relief of starter Andrew Burch, sparked the Blackhawks to a stirring comeback as Brandon defeated Holly 29-22 for its first win of the season. Holly led 22-7 at the half, but Brandon roared back for 22 points in the third quarter and held off the Bronchos in the fourth quarter to give first-year Brandon head coach Ron Gill his first win at the helm.
‘It didn’t take long for Goodrich freshman cross country runner Kayla O’Mara to make her mark in the school’s record books. O’Mara set a new school mark by finishing with a time of 18:21 (good for second place overall) at the Michigan State University Invitational Division III-IV meet in East Lansing Sept. 20. The Martians? girls cross country team, ranked first in the state in Division III, continued their hot streak by winning the meet with 39 points.

October:
‘Led by junior running back Derek Foyt, the Brandon varsity football squad notched its second win of the season Oct. 17. Foyt ran for 211 yards and scored three touchdowns to lead the Blackhawks to a 33-6 win against host LakeVille, improving the Blackhawks? mark to 2-6 overall. Brandon coach Ron Gill said Foyt and seniors Devin White, Justin Tripp and Matt Ruppert ‘probably had their best games of the year.?
‘One goal down, one more to go for the Goodrich varsity football team. The Martians ended a 31-year drought between league championships when they defeated host Byron 35-12 Oct. 17, clinching at least a share of the Genesee Area Conference Red Division championship. Goodrich, which is now 5-3 overall and 4-1 in league play, clinched their first league title since they shared the Suburban League title with Linden in 1972.

November:
‘It’s beginning to sink in for the Goodrich girls cross country team. The Martians clinched the school’s second state championship in any sport with a win in the state Division 3 girls cross country meet Nov. 1 at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn. Goodrich scored 62 points at the meet, easily outdistancing second-place Hillsdale (114) and third-place Jackson Lumen Christi (178). They joined the 1977 boys golf team as Goodrich’s only state champions in school history.
‘Brandon’s girls cross country team plans to use their experience at the Division 2 state cross country meet as a building block for the future. The Blackhawks, who were competing in their first-ever state meet, placed 24 out of 27 teams (finishing with 587 points) at the meet. Kayla Doan was the Blackhawks? leading runner, finishing 108th overall with a time of 20:14.7. Kelsey Carmean was next, finishing 112th (20:16.7).

December:
‘The opening night of the 2003-04 boys basketball season came with a few first-game jitters for both Brandon and Goodrich. However, when the dust settled, it was the host Blackhawks who were triumphant, defeating the Martians 69-53 in their Dec. 9 contest. Senior center Joe Turscak led the Blackhawks (1-0) with 25 points, including 9-of-11 (81.8 percent) from the free throw line, while senior guard Gjon Nicaj added 13 points, and senior forward Tom Schaefer contributed nine points and 14 rebounds. Junior Mike Skinner scored 13 points for the Martians (0-1), while junior Craig Van Wagoner added 10.
‘Powered by Michael Skinner’s long-distance shooting, the Goodrich basketball squad earned its first win of the season. Skinner connected on five three-point shots as the Martians defeated host 61-48 on Dec. 16 to improve to 1-2 on the campaign. Skinner wound up with 19 points, while Kirk Elsworth added 13 points and Brett Bowers 12. Brodie Ballard led Flushing with 13 points. The Martians converted 14-of-21 free throw attempts in the fourth quarter to seal the win.