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: 9/15/15

September 15, 2015

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Upsets, milestones and a marathon tennis match highlight today’s gathering of notable headlines from across the state.

Girls Golf

Jackson Lumen Christi shot a 377 to win its home invitational at the Cascades; the score was the team’s three-year low on the course – Jackson Citizen-Patriot

Traverse City West won the Lady Rayder Invitational in Charlevoix by 52 strokes, and West’s Annika Dy took the individual honor by three strokes over reigning Lower Peninsula Division 4 champion Nichole Cox of Maple City Glen Lake – Traverse City Record-Eagle

Grand Rapids Christian won a matchup of top-10 teams in Lower Peninsula Division 3, edging Lake Odessa Lakewood by 12 strokes at Centennial Acres, Lakewood’s home course – Ionia Sentinel-Standard

Boys Soccer

Clinton Township Chippewa Valley handed Division 1 No. 3 Fraser its first Macomb Area Conference loss since 2011, 1-0 – Macomb Daily

Whitehall downed undefeated Muskegon Mona Shores after scoring on a go-ahead penalty kick before halftime – Muskegon Chronicle

Girls Swimming and Diving

From Saturday, Lake Orion – an honorable mention in LP Division 1 – won the West Bloomfield Invitational for the second straight season, this time against a field that included LP Division 2 honorable mentions North Farmington and Farmington Hills Harrison – Oakland Press

Boys Tennis

LP Division 3 No. 3 East Grand Rapids claimed a 6-2 win over No. 5 Grand Rapids Christian, thanks in part to a win at No. 1 singles by Thomas Bailey that took three hours to secure – Grand Rapids Press

Volleyball

Cadillac needed four sets to outlast Traverse City Central and move to 18-2, setting up next week’s matchup of first-place Big North Conference teams against Traverse City West – Cadillac News

Good Read

Clare football coach Kelly Luplow has built his program into the dominant power in the Jack Pine Conference that has won 34 straight league games, and he needs one more win to reach 200 for his career – Bay City Times