Did You See That? (April 15-21)
April 30, 2013
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
A rough survey of Michigan newspapers over the last week found at least 13 reported on how this spring's rainy (snowy?) weather has affected spring high school sports.
But a few more teams finally made it outside – although all-weather sports like soccer again dominated play during the middle week of April.
Here's a look at some of the highlights, with links to local coverage:
Girls Soccer
Fraser rolls to Ladywood title: After upsetting Division 2 No. 2 and tournament host Livonia Ladywood in a semifinal Saturday, unranked Fraser won the Ladywood Invitational by defeating Division 2 honorable mention Haslett 3-2 in the championship game at Madonna University. (Mlive.com)
Rockford shuts down, shuts out: The Rams shut out all three of its opponents to win Saturday’s Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern Invitational, capping the day with a win over Division 2 No. 3 Forest Hills Northern. Rockford is No. 7 in Division 1. (Grand Rapids Press)
Hawks soar: Unranked Saginaw Heritage, a Division 1 team, edged Division 3 No. 3 Flint Powers Catholic 2-1 on Saturday. (Saginaw News)
Softball
Lakeshore beats Indiana No. 1: Stevensville-Lakeshore, ranked No. 1 in Division 2, beat Indiana Class 3A top-ranked Mishawaka 11-4 on Friday. (St. Joseph Herald-Palladium)
Girls Tennis
FHN takes First: Forest Hills Northern – ranked No. 2 in Division 2 – welcomed co-No. 10s Petoskey and Bloomfield Hills Lahser, plus Mason, on Saturday, and won all four doubles flights to earn the quad championship. (Grand Rapids Press)
Girls Track and Field
Marquette girls Superior: There still was snow in the Upper Peninsula last week, but not inside the Superior Dome as Marquette’s girls won the top division of Tuesday’s Superior Dome Invitational by finishing first in six races at Northern Michigan University. (Marquette Mining Journal)
Boys Track and Field
Raymond keeps running: MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 3 cross country champion Nick Raymond of Erie Mason won the 800, 1,600 and 3,200 to earn Athlete of the Meet honors at Saturday’s Monroe Jefferson Invitational. (Monroe Evening News)
Baseball
Eskymos open with title: Escanaba traveled south and won the Remus Chippewa Hills Invitational, a run that included beating this week's Division 2 No. 10 Chippewa Hills, 12-3, in the championship game. (Escanaba Daily Press)
Football
Waterford Our Lady waves bye to Boyd: Mike Boyd won more than 1,000 varsity games over three sports, and his 361 football wins are third-most for a coach in MHSAA history. He announced his retirement earlier this month. (Oakland Press)
Wrestling
Bronson’s Sosinski retires: Longtime Bronson wrestling coach Al Sosinski has retired after 30 seasons. He coached five MHSAA individual champions and two teams that finished runner-up in MHSAA Team Finals. (Sturgis Journal)
Today in the MHSAA: 12/10/15
December 10, 2015
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Wednesday was the first day of winter in full swing with significant matchups coming in six sports as four got into the heart of their first week of the season. Be sure to check out as well a story on MHSAA officials recruiting efforts.
Girls Basketball
Traverse City St. Francis won an early battle between two of the north’s top small-school teams, downing Frankfort (featured today on Second Half) 76-72 – Traverse City Record-Eagle
A pair of Concord players filled the stat sheet in a 62-56 win over Michigan Center; senior Lindsey Lehmen led with 24 points, five assists, four rebounds and four steals, and sophomore Camryn Ward grabbed 19 rebounds – Jackson Citizen-Patriot
Boys Basketball
From Tuesday, Sanford Meridian freshman Lucas Lueder will be among first-year players to watch, if his 18 points in a 65-61 win over Saginaw Nouvel are an indication – Midland Daily News
Boys Bowling
Vandercook Lake could be in line for an exciting season or four after watching freshmen Korey Reichard (278) and Conner Lackey (267) lead the way in a 29-1 win over Grass Lake – Jackson Citizen-Patriot
Ice Hockey
Division 3 No. 10 Farmington’s two first-period goals were enough as the Falcons scored a key early-season win over Division 2 No. 4 Berkley – Oakland Press
After finishing regulation tied, Division 2 No. 9 Traverse City Central needed only 14 seconds of overtime to get past Cadillac 4-3 – Traverse City Record-Eagle
Boys Swimming & Diving
Chelsea coach Dave Jolly was the mid-Michigan link to Wednesday’s Waverly Relays, the annual event for Lansing-area teams to kick off the season; his Lower Peninsula Division 3 No. 3-ranked team broke Okemos’ five-year hold on the meet championship – Lansing State Journal
Wrestling
No. 3 Davison earned one of the most significant early wins so far this season, 45-27 over No. 4 Brighton, which beat Davison in the Division 1 Semifinals last season – Livingston Daily
Saginaw Swan Valley, No. 8 in Division 3, just escaped Essexville Garber for a 32-30 win – Saginaw News
Good Read
After more than five decades as an official, Dick Kalahar is watching from the stands this season. He is among a growing number of retiring officials the MHSAA is charged with replacing over the next few years, and this piece looks at some of the challenges and opportunities, in part through Kalahar’s eyes – Jackson Citizen-Patriot