Did you see that?
June 4, 2012
Saturday annually is the busiest high school sports day on the MHSAA calendar.
The Spring Finals match began with Girls and Boys Track and Field and Girls Tennis Finals at sites all over both peninsulas. There were Regionals for both boys and girls lacrosse, which finish up this weekend. And, of course, there were Districts galore for softball, baseball and girls soccer.
Here's our sampling of some of the highlights:
Girls Track and Field
19 records fall: It was quite day across the seven MHSAA Girls Track and Field Finals, with 19 records broken, and two athletes – Reed City’s Sami Michell and Norway’s Dani Gagne – winning four individual events apiece. (Second Half)
Coast to coast: The Grosse Pointe South 3,200 relay was responsible for one of two all-Finals records, and ran a time of 8:48.29 that also surpassed the national record for that event (but may or may not stand as the national record, depending on what other times were run and will be submitted after this spring.) (Detroit Free Press)
Boys Track and Field
LP filled with first-time champs: Lake Orion in Division 1, Auburn Hills Avondale in Division 2 and Lansing Catholic in Division 3 won their first MHSAA team championships. Also, nine records fell across the state. (Second Half)
Quite a comeback: Marquette trailed Gladstone by 27 points at the Upper Peninsula Division 1 Final with four events to run. But the Redmen outscored Gladstone 42-0 over those events to win their third straight championship. (Marquette Mining Journal)
Girls Tennis
Southeast sweep: Detroit suburban schools claimed all four MHSAA Lower Peninsula team championships – Grosse Pointe South in Division 1, Birmingham Seaholm in Division 2, Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood in Division 3 and Bloomfield Hills Academy of the Sacred Heart in Division 4. (Second Half)
Freshman reigns: Utica freshman Davina Nguyen beat both the first and second seeds on her way to claiming the individual championship at No. 1 singles in Division 1. Nguyen was seeded fifth. (Macomb Daily)
Boys lacrosse
Cranbrook comes out on top: Cranbrook-Kingswood, ranked No. 3 in Division 2, emerged from a Regional that also included No. 4 Haslett/Williamston and No. 5 East Grand Rapids, beating the latter 8-4 in the Final. (Bloomfield Patch)
Girls lacrosse
EGR plays to top ranking, again: Rivals East Grand Rapids and Grand Rapids Catholic Central met in one of the multiple close Regional Finals, with the top-ranked Pioneers downing No. 2 GRCC one more time, 11-9. (Grand Rapids Press)
Baseball
It’s Holt, again: The Rams claimed their second championship in a week over rival Grand Ledge – both have been ranked in Division 1 this season. Two weeks ago, Holt split with the Comets to win the Capital Area Activities Conference Blue. Standout Justin Alleman gave up two hits and struck out 18 as Holt also won Saturday to claim a District title. (Lansing State Journal)
Softball
In the end, it’s Mattawan: The season-long battle for statewide Division 1 and Kalamazoo-area supremacy was decided in part at Saturday’s District at Portage Central. Reigning MHSAA champion Mattawan emerged as the winner from a field that included top-ranked Portage Central – which was upset by Kalamazoo Loy Norrix in a semifinal. (Kalamazoo Gazette)
Soccer
AAGR moves on: Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard, No. 8 in Division 3, shut out No. 7 Jackson Lumen Christi 3-0 in the Division 3 District final at Brooklyn Columbia Central (AnnArbor.com)
Today in the MHSAA: 1/22/20
January 22, 2020
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Tuesday was milestone day as four more of the state’s top girls basketball players went over 1,000 points for their careers, headlining an evening that also saw a number of upsets in multiple sports.
1. Girls Basketball: Ellie Droste joined Pewamo-Westphalia teammate Hannah Spitzley in going over 1,000 career points this season, reaching the milestone in a big win over Bath – Lansing State Journal
2. Girls Basketball: AJ Ediger went over 1,000 career points with 21 in Hamilton’s 41-29 win over Zeeland West – Holland Sentinel
3. Girls Basketball: Joanna Larsen went over 1,000 career points with 19 in Centreville’s 66-26 win over Mendon – Sturgis Journal
4. Girls Basketball: Gabi Saxman scored 29 points in Schoolcraft’s 57-30 win over Constantine to go over 1,000 for her career – JoeInsider.com
5. Boys Basketball: Thomas Kurowski tied a school record with 43 points, including four big ones over the final seconds, to lead Sturgis past Battle Creek Central 62-58 – Sturgis Journal
6. Boys Swimming & Diving: Pinckney – an honorable mention in Lower Peninsula Division 3 – got past LPD1 No. 10 Brighton for the first time in a long time, 96-90 – Livingston Daily Press & Argus
7. Girls Basketball: Kent City dealt the first loss this season to Morley Stanwood, 75-33, thanks in part to 16 3-pointers – Muskegon Chronicle
8. Boys Basketball: Gaylord St. Mary defeated previously-unbeaten Pellston 59-54 to move up in the Ski Valley Conference – Gaylord Herald Times
9. Girls Basketball: Richland Gull Lake handed Three Rivers its first loss, 73-49 – Kalamazoo Gazette
10. Girls Basketball: Ubly moved into first place alone in the Greater Thumb Conference East with a 31-17 win over Sandusky – Huron Daily Tribune
Also of note …
Football: Recently retired pro Zach Line will take over Oxford from longtime coach Bud Rowley, who retired after this past season – State Champs Sports Network