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: 11/10/15

November 10, 2015

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

This is a transition week for many schools in Michigan, as some winter sports either started practice or started their second week, while volleyball teams and divers are prepping for MHSAA Regionals. Check out some of the headlines we uncovered during our daily drive around statewide media sites.

Cross Country

Farmington’s Maddy Trevisan and Rockford’s Isaac Harding were named Miss Cross Country and Mr. Cross Country, respectively, by the Michigan Interscholastic Track Coaches Association – MITCA.org

Girls Swimming and Diving

Bay City John Glenn continued its reign in the Independent Swim Conference over the weekend as four seniors finished their league careers with four championships – Bay City Times

Volleyball

The last two seasons, Holland Christian has won District titles after beating teams that had beaten them twice earlier those seasons – and will follow setter Kenedy Schoonveld into its Regional Semifinal against another team it lost to earlier this fall – Holland Sentinel

The coaches at Utica and Utica Eisenhower high schools are rivals by virtue of the programs they lead. They’re also married to each other, which obviously makes the fall interesting at the LaPratt home – Macomb Daily

Girls Basketball

Practice started Monday – and here’s the first story we’ve run across. Port Huron Northern is starting out with a little less experience after graduating three key seniors from a year ago – Port Huron Times-Herald