Today in the MHSAA: 10/14/15

October 14, 2015

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

With Lower Peninsula golf and tennis heading into the MHSAA Finals this weekend, it’s cross country, soccer and volleyball teams’ turns to claim league championships.

Cross Country

Lower Peninsula Division 3 No. 5 Shepherd won its sixth straight Tri-Valley Conference Central girls championship with the top four finishers at the final league jamboree – Mount Pleasant Morning Sun

Boys Soccer

Hillsdale Academy won the Hillsdale Cup and clinched a league title with a shootout win over Hillsdale High – Hillsdale Daily News

Division 2 No. 6 Spring Lake and No. 9 Fruitport will split the Lakes 8 Conference title thanks to the former’s 4-1 victory over Division 3 No. 11 Ludington on Tuesday – Muskegon Chronicle

Girls Swimming and Diving

LP Division 1 No. 6 Brighton opened its new pool by handing honorable mention Grand Blanc its first loss this season – Livingston Daily

Volleyball

Lake Odessa Lakewood, No. 7 in Class B, stayed undefeated in Greater Lansing Activities Conference play with a three-set win over Class D No. 5 Lansing Christian – Ionia Sentinel-Standard

Class B No. 7 Chelsea clinched its second straight Southeastern Conference White championship with a sweep of Tecumseh – AnnArbor.com

West Bloomfield unseated two-time reigning champion Farmington Hills Harrison in the Oakland Activities Association White, coming back from a first-set loss to claim the deciding match – Oakland Press

Ortonville-Brandon continued a 13-3 run coming off a 3-7 start this fall with a 3-1 win over Flushing – Flint Journal

Good Reads

The MHSAA Finals preview of Port Huron-area boys tennis teams kicks off with a look at 50-year Armada coach Dave Fredette – Port Huron Times-Herald

The origins of the unique Ann Arbor Huron River Rat mascot are tough to lock down, but this report looks at a few theories – AnnArbor.com

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