Today in the MHSAA: 10/10/16

October 10, 2016

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Arguably the most high-profile regular-season events in cross country and girls swimming & diving took place this weekend, with the forecasts looking good for MHSAA championship contenders who were highly ranked coming in.

Each weekday during the school year, we’ll gather and post media links covering the most significant and intriguing high school events from all over the state.

Cross Country

The Portage Invitational annually brings many of the top teams in Michigan together for something of a barometer for the MHSAA Finals; champions Saturday included the Lower Peninsula No. 4 Bear Lake/Onekama boys and the top-ranked Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart girls in Division 4, the No. 1-ranked Saugatuck boys and No. 2 Lansing Catholic girls in Division 3, No. 3 Fremont boys and No. 3 East Grand Rapids girls in Division 2 and the LaGrange Lyons, Ill. boys (runner-up and No. 1 Saline was the top in-state boys team) and No. 3 Ann Arbor Pioneer girls in Division 1 – Athletic.net

The LPD1 top-ranked Birmingham Seaholm girls won a sixth straight Oakland County championship, while the No. 2 Novi boys also repeated – Oakland Press

Girls Swimming & Diving

The annual Michigan Interscholastic Swim Coaches Association Meet also draws many of the state’s top competitors each fall. Multi-winners this weekend included Saline sophomore Maddie Luther (200 freestyle, 100 breaststroke) and Saline junior Lizzy Spears (200 individual medley, 500 freestyle) as their team also won two relays and received the top place in diving from Camryn McPherson; the Hornets are ranked No. 3 in LP Division 1 – MISCAonline.net

Volleyball

Marquette swept Ishpeming in two sets to win the Northern Michigan University High School Invitational – Marquette Mining Journal

Lake Linden-Hubbell improved to 17-6-4 with a championship at the Michigan-Wisconsin Invitational played at Ironwood and Hurley, Wis. – Houghton Daily Mining Gazette

Class A honorable mention Grand Haven downed Grand Rapids Catholic Central, Class B honorable mention Whitehall, Holland West Ottawa, Kalamazoo Central and Muskegon Mona Shores to the wins the Sailors’ invitational – Grand Haven Tribune

Adrian Madison downed Class D No. 7 Pittsford, Hopkins, Reading, White Pigeon, Camden-Frontier and Constantine to win the Homer Invitational – Adrian Daily Telegram

Today in the MHSAA: 1/14/16

January 14, 2016

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Gymnastics seasons gets rolling once the new year begins, and two teams that should be in the hunt for this season’s MHSAA championship met Wednesday with the result one of the closest finishes in recent memory.

Girls Basketball

Onsted got down 18-0 by the end of the first quarter – and somehow came back to beat Hudson 52-50 – Adrian Daily Telegram

Frankenmuth’s Kelsie Kujat sank a school-record eight 3-pointres to lead the one-loss Eagles past previously-undefeated Birch Run 69-46 – Saginaw News

Boys Basketball

Big Rapids’ Kenny Davis made 11 3-pointers on the way to 43 points in leading his team to a 71-35 win over Morley Stanwood – Big Rapids Pioneer

In a key matchup of top Upper Peninsula teams, undefeated Negaunee upended rival Ishpeming 66-44, handing the Hematites their first loss – Marqutte Mining Journal

Gymnastics

Arguably the top two teams in Michigan met for the second time in five days; after reigning MHSAA champion Rockford won its invitational Saturday with Forest Hills United second, Forest Hills came back to win a dual by the slimmest of margins, 143.05-142.9 – Grand Rapids Press

Ice Hockey

Farmington scored three unanswered second-period goals to down previously-ranked Berkley, 6-3 – Oakland Press

After trailing 1-0 early, Portage Northern came back to down rival Portage Central 4-2 – Kalamazoo Gazette

Wrestling

Midland scored a pair of memorable wins Wednesday, first over rival Dow 42-21 and then over No. 8 Bay City Western 39-27; the Chemics hadn’t beaten either in at least five seasons – Midland Daily News