Some of the larger Michigan high school sports markets garner more statewide attention than the Blue Water Area. No nationally recognized program attracts scouts every weekend, nor is there a single school that dominates all conversations. Instead, the area surrounding Port Huron typically produces the more subdued kind of excellence: athletes who set records game by game, week by week, in gyms, and on fields that are primarily featured in local box scores. Even outside of the county boundaries, a few of those athletes did noteworthy things this week.
This week, Adeline Jones of Port Huron Northern has the stat line that will stop a reader cold. The Northern softball player collected 15 hits, 11 RBIs, and four home runs while batting.600 over the course of seven games—not.400, not.500, but.600. She also made two double plays on defense. When a high school softball team hits four home runs in a single week, someone in the stands typically starts doing math on their phone to make sure. This wasn’t a hot day against one weak opponent because the seven-game stretch provides a sufficient sample. It was consistent, long-lasting, and, by most accounts, the most offensive week of the spring for anyone in the Blue Water Area. Although it remains to be seen what Jones does with the remainder of the season and whether this results in Northern’s postseason success, the raw numbers from this specific stretch are already making anyone who follows Michigan softball take another look at her.
Blue Water Area Athlete of the Week — May 4–9, 2026 — Key Performers
| Region | Blue Water Area, Michigan (Port Huron, Marine City, Cardinal Mooney, Imlay City, Algonac, and surrounding communities) |
| Weekly Poll Source | Port Huron Times Herald — reporter Brenden Welper |
| Poll Voting Period | Ends noon Friday, May 15, 2026 |
| Previous Week Winner | Caprii Fillar, Marine City girls soccer — 5 goals, 3 assists in 3 games (April 27–May 2) |
| Stella Behnan | Cardinal Mooney girls track & field — set program record in 1,600m (5:39.76, breaking a record from 2010); also won the 3,200m (12:51.90) at CHSL Ste. Anne Championship, May 6 |
| Harmony Burke | Port Huron girls soccer — first-year player; scored all 3 of Port Huron’s goals in a 5-3 loss to Clawson on May 6 |
| Lukus Desmyther | Marine City baseball — 3-for-4, 5 RBIs, 1 run scored in an 18-0 win over Warren Woods-Tower on May 4 |
| Adeline Jones | Port Huron Northern softball — batted .600 (15 hits) with 11 RBIs, 4 home runs across 7 games last week; also turned 2 double plays defensively |
| Macie Stine | Imlay City softball — went 3-for-3 with 2 HRs, 1 double, 5 RBIs in an 8-3 win over Croswell-Lexington on May 5; also pitched a complete game with 3 strikeouts |
In an 8-3 victory over Croswell-Lexington on May 5, Macie Stine of Imlay City had her own noteworthy day, going 3-for-3 with two home runs, a double, and five RBIs. In the same match, she pitched a full game as well. Small programs depend on the two-way performance—hitting for power while pitching—which is underappreciated because it occurs so casually. Stine finished the game without assistance after throwing three strikeouts. Because the Jones stat line is so hard to compete with for column space, she might be the least talked-about dominant player in the area this week.
On May 6, Stella Behnan made history at Cardinal Mooney. Her 1,600-meter time at the CHSL Ste was 5:39.76. After breaking a program record that had been in place since 2010 (sixteen years is a long time for a mark to hold at any school), Anne Championship won the 3,200 meters in 12:51.90. In high school athletics, breaking a long-standing record carries special significance because those numbers can sometimes outlive the careers of several coaches. On the same afternoon that she decisively won a second event, Behnan broke one of them.
In a 5-3 loss to Clawson on May 6, Port Huron girls soccer’s first-year player Harmony Burke scored all three of the Red Hawks’ goals. The team lost, which is important, but it’s the kind of performance that makes coaches from other programs call when they see a rookie account for every goal her team scored in a game against a formidable opponent. The confidence needed to score three goals in a single game—in a losing effort, with everyone pressing—indicates that there may be a lot more of this to come. However, it’s too early to tell exactly what Burke’s arc looks like from here.
In Marine City’s 18-0 victory over Warren Woods-Tower, Lukus Desmyther went 3-for-4 with five RBIs. This lopsided game is easy to write off as low competition, but it’s more difficult to write off when you consider that five RBIs in four at-bats suggests Desmyther was repeatedly inflicting damage with runners on base in a way that called for actual execution. Individual performance is not diminished by the margin of victory. When taken as a whole, the nominees for this week present a convincing argument that the Blue Water Area is experiencing a spring worth keeping an eye on.
