Did you see that?

May 21, 2012

Track and field, tennis and lacrosse teams have begun their marches toward MHSAA championships, but a number of sports are making offseason news as well.

Here's our sampling of some of the most intriguing from all over the state last week. 

Track and Field

Setting up a showdown: In perhaps the most notable race of last week’s Regionals, Birmingham Seaholm’s Aubrey Wilberding edged Southfield’s Latipha Cross in the 400-meter dash in Division 1 at Farmington. Wilberding ran the race in 56.48 seconds, 19 hundredths of a second faster than Cross, who set an all-Finals record in the race in 2011. Click the link next to each Regional site for results. (MHSAA)

Soccer

Shooting for 67: Lake Fenton sophomore Jordan Newman scored a combined eight goals in the semifinal and championship games of the Genesee Area Conference tournament to lead her team to the championship. She has 54 goals this season – only 13 shy of the MHSAA single-season record with Districts beginning next week. (Tri-County Times) (Flint Journal)

KVA belongs to Kalamazoo Christian: The Kalamazoo Valley Association soccer championship came down to two of the top teams statewide in Division 4 – and No. 2 Kalamazoo Christian edged No. 3 Kalamazoo Hackett Catholic Central 1-0 in the final. The two were flip-flopped in the rankings heading into the game. (Kalamazoo Gazette)

Athletes of the Year

Pinning down a major award: St. Johns wrestler Taylor Massa and Rochester Hills Stoney Creek's Gabby Yurik received the annual Michigan Student-Athlete of the Year Awards from the Detroit Athletic Club, from a group of nominees including Holland's Courtney Bartholomew, Birmingham Marian's Jaynie Pulte, Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett's Madison Ristovski, Plainwell's Lauren Saar and Charlotte's Raychel Wolever, and Grand Blanc's Zachary Carroll, Saginaw Heritage's Evan Chiplock, Bay City Western's Matt Costello, Lowell's Gabe Dean and Oxford's Prescott Line.

Golf

Plymouth rocks: The Wildcats topped a field that included 17 state-ranked teams in claiming the East Lansing Invitational with a two-round score of 595. The tournament was played at Michigan State University’s Forest Akers West and East. Scroll to the bottom of link for full results. (Michigan Interscholastic Golf Coaches Association)

Tennis

Match points: Five of the top seven ranked teams in Division 2 emerged from two suburban Detroit Regionals to advance to the Division 2 Finals: No. 1 Birmingham Marian, No. 2 Bloomfield Hills Andover, No. 3 Birmingham Seaholm and co-No. 7s Bloomfield Hills Lahser and Farmington Hills Marcy. Click next to each Regional site to see who qualified for their respective Finals. (MHSAA)

Softball

Perfect, again: Breckenridge’s Sam Willman threw her fifth perfect game this season, striking out 18 and 64 for the day as her team won the Montrose Snowball Tournament on Saturday. She also threw a perfect game two days before. (Midland Daily News)

Stacking numbers: Decatur senior pitcher Erika Southworth won her 100th game last week, then notched her 1,000th strikeout two days later. (Kalamazoo Gazette)

Basketball

Detroit mourns coach: Southeastern High girls coach Lisa Blackburn died Saturday at the age of 52. She was a former Detroit Pershing star who went on to play at the University of Detroit. (Detroit News)

Stolz legacy ends: Longtime Okemos boys basketball coach Dan Stolz retired with a record of 428-99 and a winning percentage of .812 in 18 seasons at Okemos and five at Williamston. Stolz took over the Chieftains program from his father Stan, who coached the varsity from 1968-93. (Lansing State Journal)

Wrestling

New coach at St. Johns: The reigning three-time Division 2 MHSAA team champion now will be coached by assistant Derek Phillips, who was promoted last week to take over for the recently-resigned Zane Ballard. (Lansing State Journal)

Media

Longtime editor announces retirement: The state’s print media will wave good-bye to another valuable member when longtime Escanaba Daily Press sports editor Denny Grall retires in two months. He’s been putting pen to paper for 42 years and is especially legendary across the Upper Peninsula. (Escanaba Daily Press)

Editor's note: Did we miss something? Comment below and tell us about it. Is there an event coming up that we should make sure to note? Comment or e-mail [email protected].

Today in the MHSAA: 10/5/22

By Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor

October 5, 2022

1. GIRLS GOLF No. 3 Kalamazoo Christian won a Lower Peninsula Division 4 Regional that saw two-time reigning Finals champion and No. 6-ranked Montague fall just short of advancing – CatchMark SportsNet

2. BOYS SOCCER Division 2 No. 8 Parma Western downed Coldwater 3-0 to secure the Interstate 8 Athletic Conference championship – Jackson Citizen Patriot

3. VOLLEYBALL Division 4 No. 5 Athens twice came back from a set down to defeat No. 7 Battle Creek St. Philip in five – WWMT

4. GIRLS GOLF No. 14 Williamston shot a 344 to clinch an LPD3 Regional championship – Flint Journal

5. BOYS SOCCER Portage Central advanced in the Southwestern Michigan Athletic Conference Gold Tournament with a 2-1 win over Division 2 No. 4 St. Joseph – St. Joseph Herald-Palladium

6. VOLLEYBALL Division 3 No. 4 McBain swept honorable mention Lake City in a matchup of Highland Conference co-leaders – Cadillac News

7. VOLLEYBALL Division 3 No. 7 Shelby defeated North Muskegon 3-1 in a matchup of co-leaders in the West Michigan Conference Rivers – MuskegonSports.com

8. BOYS SOCCER East Lansing defeated Division 2 No. 9 DeWitt 3-0 in a Capital Area Activities Conference Gold Cup rematch of two of three Blue champions – Lansing State Journal

9. BOYS SOCCER Division 1 No. 8 Rochester Adams and No. 5 Troy Athens played to a 2-2 draw – Oakland Press

10. GIRLS GOLF Lowell and No. 15 Coopersville both shot 360, with Lowell winning the LPD2 Regional on a tie-breaker, and with No. 7 Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern only a stroke back in third – MHSAA.com

Also of note ... 

OFFICIALS Former Garden City football coach Scott Murray and his son Max are among those helping to refill the officiating ranks – Social House News