Today in the MHSAA: 10/12/16

October 12, 2016

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Ranked teams matched up in cross country, soccer and volleyball Tuesday all over the Lower Peninsula with league trophies – with top-ranked teams in all three sports among those that won championships.

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

Pinckney’s Catherine Stone won the second race of her four-year varsity career to lead her team, ranked No. 5 in Lower Peninsula Division 1, to its first Kensington Lakes Activities Association West championship since 2010 – Livingston County Daily Argus & Press

The LPD3 No. 7 Saugatuck girls clinched their 10th straight Southwestern Athletic Conference title, while the top-ranked boys won their fifth straight championship – Holland Sentinel

Ithaca swept the Tri-Valley West Conference championships, the boys by a slim margin over St. Louis and the LPD3 No. 11 girls for the fourth straight season – Mount Pleasant Morning Sun

Boys Soccer

East Lansing, the top-ranked team in Division 2, avenged an opening-night loss to Haslett by defeating the No. 18 Vikings 2-0 in the Capital Area Activities Conference Gold Cup championship game – Lansing State Journal

Shelby clinched a share of the West Michigan Conference title, its first league championship since 2000, by avenging an earlier loss to Division 4 No. 2 North Muskegon 2-1 – Muskegon Chronicle

Division 4 No. 16 Adrian Lenawee Christian downed Manchester 4-2 to clinch the Independent Soccer League East championship and will face No. 7 Hillsdale Academy on Thursday for the overall title – Adrian Daily Telegram

Division 1 No. 5 Rochester Adams got past No. 4 Troy Athens 2-0 to guarantee an outright Oakland Activities Association Red championship – Oakland Press

Volleyball

Class A top-ranked Novi finished its third straight KLAA Central title with a sweep of No. 4 Northville – Oakland Press

Class D No. 3 Leland won a match of top-10 teams, downing No. 9 Suttons Bay in three sets – Traverse City Record-Eagle

For the second straight season, Marcellus clinched the Southwestern Athletic Conference Central title with a win over Decatur – Sturgis Journal

From Monday, St. Joseph downed Class B No. 3 Buchanan in five games in a significant upset; the Bears are 9-22 and the Bucks are 34-4 – St. Joseph Herald-Palladium

Did you see that? (June 3-9)

June 10, 2013

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

The second of three weeks of spring MHSAA Finals came to a close with four more champions from lacrosse – plus 16 teams still alive in both baseball and softball, eight in girls soccer and 60 in Lower Peninsula boys golf.

See below for some of the biggest headlines from the week that was June 3-9.

Girls lacrosse

Champions of the west: A pair of Grand Rapids-area teams claimed the girls championships Saturday. Rockford defeated Bloomfield Hills United 16-7 in Division 1, while East Grand Rapids repeated in Division 2 with a 16-6 victory over Livonia Ladywood. (Second Half D1) (Second Half D2)

Boys Lacrosse

East-side excellence: Birmingham Brother Rice came back from an early deficit in the Division 1 Final to win its ninth-straight title by beating Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern/Eastern 14-10. In Division 2, Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood scored with 20.2 seconds to play to edge reigning champion Forest Hills Central 10-9. (Second Half D1) (Second Half D2)

Girls Soccer

Defensive standoff: Top-ranked Plymouth and No. 3 Novi needed a shootout to decide Friday’s Division 1 Regional Final. But Novi won that final round 2-1 to earn a 1-0 win and hand Plymouth its first and only loss this season. (MLive Detroit)

Powers survives comeback: Up 3-0 at halftime, reigning Division 3 runner-up Flint Powers Catholic advanced to within one win of returning to the Finals with a 3-2 Regional Final win over Lake Fenton. (Flint Journal)

Baseball

Oilers upend No. 1: Mount Pleasant, ranked No. 4 in Division 2, beat top-ranked Bay City John Glenn on the way to winning their Regional on Saturday. (Mount Pleasant Morning Sun)

MCC wins big: Muskegon Catholic Central moved on in Division 4 with a 9-0 Regional win over No. 2 Gobles in another of the weekend’s biggest baseball matchups. MCC entered the postseason ranked No. 5. (Muskegon Chronicle)

Softball

Dundee gets its chance: The Vikings won their first Regional championship and defeated two-time reigning Division 3 champion Clinton in the process Saturday at Blissfield. Dundee entered the postseason ranked No. 1 in the division. (Monroe Evening News)

Romeo prevails in pair of nail-biters: The No. 10-ranked Bulldogs were down to their final out before defeating Troy in a Regional Semifinal and then beat Hartland 3-0 in the championship game. Both Troy and Hartland were honorable mentions in the final Division 1 coaches poll. (Oakland Press)

Escanaba headed downstate: The Eskymos will face reigning MHSAA Division 2 runner-up Saginaw Swan Valley in a Quarterfinal for the second straight season thanks to a walk-off home run by sophomore Michelle LaFave in a 5-4 Regional Final win over Remus Chippewa Hills. (Escanaba Daily Press)

Boys Golf

SMAC East dominates: Top-ranked Battle Creek Lakeview in Division 1 and Marshall and Battle Creek Harper Creek in Division 2 all qualified for LP Finals, giving the Southwestern Michigan Athletic Conference East three teams in this weekend’s championship tournaments. (Battle Creek Enquirer)

DeWitt outshoots No. 1: Previously unranked DeWitt shot a 313 to edge top-ranked East Lansing by a stroke at their Division 2 Regional at Gull Lake View. (Lansing State Journal)

Boys Basketball

CMU star takes over GRCC: Former Central Michigan University captain T.J. Meerman has taken over the Grand Rapids Catholic Central program after serving as an assistant coach last season at Grand Valley State University. Previously, Meerman coached the varsity at Grand Rapids Kenowa Hills. (Grand Rapids Press)