Today in the MHSAA: 10/11/17
October 11, 2017
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Each weekday of the school year, we break down the top headlines courtesy of Michigan’s sports media.
Today's Top 10
1. Volleyball: South Lyon won its first league title in this sport by claiming the inaugural Lakes Valley Conference championship with a sweep of Walled Lake Northern – Oakland Press
2. Boys Cross Country: LPD1 No. 6 Brighton swept Hartland and Livonia Stevenson to secure its first league title since 1995, in the Kensington Lakes Activities Association Gold – Livingston Daily Press & Argus
3. Boys Soccer: Division 2 No. 17 Gibraltar Carlson claimed its first league title in this sport since 2006 and first as a member of the Downriver League with a 5-2 win over Melvindale – Southgate News Herald
4. Cross Country: Saugatuck’s LPD3 No. 2 girls clinched their 11th consecutive title and the No. 3 boys their seventh straight Southwestern Athletic Conference championship – Holland Sentinel
5. Cross Country: The White Lake Lakeland boys (No. 5 in LPD1) and Highland-Milford girls (No. 11) clinched Lakes Valley Conference championship, Lakeland handing Milford’s No. 11 boys their first league loss and Milford’s girls edging Lakeland’s by a point – Observer & Eccentric
6. Boys Soccer: Division 1 No. 4 Portage Central finished a regular-season sweep of rival Portage Northern in the Southwestern Michigan Athletic Conference championship game – Kalamazoo Gazette
7. Volleyball: Class C honorable mention Mendon swept Marcellus to complete a perfect run on the way to the Southwestern 10 Conference title – Sturgis Journal
8. Boys Soccer: Okemos downed East Lansing to win the Capital Area Activities Conference Gold Cup, dedicating the victory to late coach Dr. John Picone – Lansing State Journal
9. Girls Cross Country: LPD1 No. 2 Northville won its sixth straight league title, finishing ahead of Novi to clinch in the KLAA Gold – Observer & Eccentric
10. Volleyball: Niles Brandywine swept Bridgman and Watervliet and split with Kalamazoo Christian to continue its hunt for a Berrien-Cass-St. Joseph Conference championship – St. Joseph Herald-Palladium
Today in the MHSAA: 8/31/15
August 31, 2015
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
The final weekend of August was a giant weekend for MHSAA volleyball contenders, with some of the top regular-season events this fall providing opportunities for the best to see how they might match up when playoffs begin in two months.
Below are headlines for some of the key high school reports from across the state; the weekend’s football round-up will publish later this afternoon.
Cross Country
Muskegon Reeths-Puffer’s Maryssa Depies set a course record of 18:11.3 to win the Big Red Invitational at McGraft Park – Muskegon Chronicle
Flint Powers Catholic’s top individual finisher came in ninth, but the Chargers girls as a team were first at the Lansing Catholic Invitational – Flint Journal
The reigning Lower Peninsula Division 2 champion Grand Rapids Christian boys repeated as winner of the prestigious Benzie Central Invitational, finishing ahead of Traverse City West and Central, while Central senior Anthony Berry won individually in 15:24 – Grand Rapids Press
Boys Soccer
Tawas, a Division 3 semifinalist last season, finished first from an Elk Rapids Invitational field that included Berkley and Saginaw Nouvel – Bay City Times
Volleyball
Lake Odessa Lakewood, last season’s Class B runner-up and the second-ranked team in that class this week, eliminated Class A No. 6 Grand Rapids Christian to win the West Michigan Volleyball Officials Association tournament for the first time in a decade – Grand Rapids Press
Class A No. 4 Grand Haven continued its perfect run at its outdoor Battle of the Boardwalk tournament, sweeping three opponents to remain undefeated through the event's third year – Grand Haven Tribune
Battle Creek Harper Creek, No. 9 in Class B, improved to 17-0 by winning the Cereal City Tournament at Pennfield with a 2-1 championship match win over Temperance Bedford, an MHSAA semifinalist last season in Class A – Battle Creek Enquirer
Good Reads
The Holland Sentinel introduced its top female athletes in that area’s history Sunday, and highlighted nationally-known softball star Kathy Arendsen and her successes during one of the MHSAA’s first Softball Finals – Holland Sentinel
Anyone who follows high school football history will enjoy going through the Muskegon Chronicle’s sampling of top-20 moments from that area’s football past – Muskegon Chronicle
More than 60 former Shepherd High School players from the last 25 seasons returned for an alumni doubleheader Sunday to honor coach Jack Nartker, who will retire after this spring – Mount Pleasant Morning Sun