Greater Lansing's Girls Team of the Year: How Voting Works & How to Win

What is the Greater Lansing Girls Team of the Year and who runs it?

The Greater Lansing Girls Team of the Year is a public web poll published by the Lansing State Journal. It asks readers to pick the best girls high school team in the Greater Lansing area. Crowdsignal serves the ballot at poll.fm under ballot number 17114540. The market is Michigan, and the vertical is a best-of award rather than a single-game or single-athlete vote.

Most readers meet the poll through a link from the newspaper's sports coverage, then land on a ballot that lists the nominees in plain text. Each nominee is a team, not a person, which changes how a supporter reads the list. A volleyball team, a cross country squad, a track team and a cheer or basketball program can all sit side by side on the same page.

Why the nominee format matters

Because each entry is a team, a supporter is choosing a program and not an individual. That keeps the poll away from personal ranking, though the nominee names still identify student athletes by school. The closed ballot shows that the Greater Lansing field spans several sports at once, which is what separates this poll from a single-sport ballot in the same state.

When did the poll run and which editions are confirmed?

The Greater Lansing Girls Team of the Year is confirmed for two editions, 2025 and 2026. The current ballot is titled for the 2025-26 season and is marked Poll Closed on the Crowdsignal page. That title ties the poll to a school year rather than a calendar year, so readers should look at the season label first when they compare editions.

The Lansing State Journal's own article that points to a sports ballot ran in the September window, and that article is a weekly athlete poll, not the team ballot itself. For this page the team ballot is dated by its season label, and no separate opening or closing day is printed on the ballot page. The organizer does not publish a closing day for either edition.

How the editions line up

Two confirmed years make the poll annual on the evidence available here, and the 2026 ballot continues the same team format. A reader comparing the editions should expect the nominee list to change from year to year, because each season has different teams in the running.

How does a supporter vote in the poll today?

A supporter opens the Crowdsignal ballot, reads the nominee list, and selects one team. The closed 2025-26 page shows the nominee answers in a plain list that includes Fowler volleyball, Lansing Catholic cross country, Olivet track, Pewamo-Westphalia competitive cheer, Pewamo-Westphalia basketball and Portland St. Patrick basketball. The page then displays percentage shares for each answer, which is how the final standing reads.

Because this is a standard poll, the mechanic is simple: one selection per ballot visit, submitted on the page. The organizer does not publish a vote cap, a daily limit, or a device rule on the ballot page. Anyone planning to vote more than once should read the live rules first and avoid repeat submissions that the platform could treat as abuse.

Reading the closed shares

The four shares above are the only numbers the ballot page prints for the closed 2025-26 round. They show that a single team led with 45 percent, while three others held smaller shares. The page does not give a total vote count, so the shares cannot be turned into raw totals.

How does this poll sit beside its Michigan neighbours?

Several other Michigan ballots share the same best-of framework, and readers often compare them. The Best of Northern Michigan, the Detroit Community Choice Awards, the Detroit Music Awards, the Detroit News Readers' Choice, the DN Readers Choice Awards and the Grand Rapids Magazine Best of GR each run a best-of ballot for a different market. None of them asks readers to pick a girls high school team from the Greater Lansing area.

What makes this ballot different is its subject. Where the Detroit ballots reward businesses, artists and venues, this one asks supporters to pick a team in a school sport season. The Lansing State Journal is the publisher, so the ballot reads as a local sports feature rather than a city-wide readers' choice list.

For a broader look at Michigan programs, the Michigan contest hub lists the other ballots in the state. Readers who want a Detroit comparison can read the Detroit Music Awards page, which covers a different kind of vote.

How can a supporter build more votes for a team?

Strengthening support for a team on this ballot comes down to reach and timing. Coaches, parents and alumni can share the poll link through team channels, school newsletters and local sports pages. Each person should vote on their own device and follow the rules printed on the ballot, because outside help rules from the organizer do not appear on the closed page.

Supporters who want a practical checklist can use the get more votes online guide, which covers sharing and timing without any shortcuts. Anyone considering paid help should first read the legal position on buying votes, because platform rules and organizer terms can both apply to a ballot like this one.