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)

Linked Up: 12/19/11

December 19, 2011

We've hit a bit of a slow spot with schools out for break and most contests reserved for holiday showcases and the like.

Here are some suggestions if you have some time for some reading between now and the start of 2012.

High school coaches try to bring basketball back to basics (Detroit News)

For most of the last decade, we've heard about the recessing of basketball fundamentals even among elite high school players. Enter Ben Kelso, Marshall Thomas and a number of other Michigan coaches who have pledged to end that trend. Tom Markowski tells us how the Metro Detroit Basketball Coaches Association aims to do so.

Lantzy retires after more than 4 decades as Ike grid coach (Macomb County Advisor & Source)

Utica-Eisenhower coach Bob Lantzy has been his school's only varsity football coach. He took four teams to MHSAA Finals and this fall became one of only nine state football coaches to win more than 900 games. He has retired after 41 seasons, and Kevin Lozon fills us in on the legacy.

Tabahn Afrik poised for greatness in pool for West Ottawa (Holland Sentinel)

The Holland area has its next big swimming star. Dan D'Addona introduces us to Tabahn Afrik, a freshman at Holland West Ottawa who qualified for the MHSAA Division 1 Finals in two events in his first meet this season.

High school basketball: History of class hoops is just that (South Bend Tribune)

"Hoosiers" made Indiana's former one-class basketball tournament known on a grander scale. But Indiana went to classes (similar to Michigan's) beginning in 1997-98. Al Lesar tells us how some in the state are attempting to revert to one class.