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: 10/16/15
October 16, 2015
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
First-time champions are always worth noting, and we found a few in checking out today’s media reports of Thursday action statewide.
Cross Country
The Calumet girls, ranked No. 4 in Upper Peninsula Division 1, and the unranked Houghton boys won the Western Peninsula Athletic Conference finals at Chassell – Houghton Daily Mining Gazette
Boys Soccer
Grand Rapids Union clinched its first league title since moving from the Grand Rapids City League to the Ottawa-Kent Conference, downing Muskegon 3-0 – Grand Rapids Press
Manchester edged Hillsdale Academy 2-1 to claim its first Independent Soccer League championship after winning only one league game in 2014 – Jackson Citizen-Patriot
Volleyball
Class B honorable mention Buchanan downed Class C’s top-ranked team, Bronson, in five sets, and also Class D No. 6 Mendon in five – Niles Daily Star
Class B No. 6 Mount Morris avenged a five-set loss to No. 5 Goodrich in September by sweeping the Martians to improve to 55-5-1 – Flint Journal
Zeeland West claimed its first conference title in this sport, defeating Holland Christian in five sets to claim a share of the O-K Green championship – Holland Sentinel
Good Reads
Longtime Burton Atherton leader Mary Down will become the third volleyball coach inducted into the Greater Flint Area Hall of Fame, having impacted a generation of players and more as a number of former players went on to coach as well – Flint Journal