Today in the MHSAA: 10/15/15

October 15, 2015

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Championship are won on a seemingly daily basis in October, and plenty were earned and celebrated Wednesday – but please also check out some great reads at the bottom of this list, including a look at why specialization is increasing as a nationwide concern.

Cross Country

The Saugatuck girls, ranked No. 2 in Lower Peninsula Division 4, won their ninth straight Southwestern Athletic Conference title with 12 runners earning all-league honors – Grand Rapids Press

Boys Soccer

LP Division 2 No. 5 East Lansing capped an impressive run through the Capital Area Activities Conference Gold Cup by winning the final 3-1 over Grand Ledge – Lansing State Journal

LP Division 1 No. 15 East Kentwood secured its 12th Ottawa-Kent Conference Red title in 13 seasons with a 1-0 win over Grandville, helped in part by a pair of players whose ties the program go back to the early years of the run – Grand Rapids Press

LP Division 1 No. 7 Utica Ford shut out No. 14 Fraser to clinch the Macomb Area Conference Red championship – Macomb Daily

Unranked Birmingham Brother Rice stunned LP Division 1 No. 3 Detroit Catholic Central 2-1 in the championship game of the Detroit Catholic League A-B tournament – Oakland Press

LP Division 4 No. 11 Charlevoix clinched a share of the Lake Michigan Conference title with a 3-0 win over Grayling, thanks to a hat trick by Walker Drost – Charlevoix Courier

Saginaw Heritage scored the first goal Flint Powers Catholic had given up since Sept. 12, but the Chargers emerged with a 2-1 win and the overall Saginaw Valley League championship – Flint Journal

Volleyball

Lansing Catholic won the first volleyball league championship in its long history, beating Fowlerville in three sets to claim a share of the CAAC White title – Lansing State Journal

Good Reads

Single-sport specialization has become a topic of national focus and concern, and MHSAA Executive Director Jack Roberts was among association directors talked to for this report on why it’s a health-related issue and how states are working to promote multi-sport participation instead – NFHS.org

Vandercook Lake is enjoying its best football season in 45 years and plays for a league title this weekend, and is led by a three-sport athlete who has been on a long road back after Crohn’s disease led to his shedding 90 pounds only two years ago – Jackson Citizen-Patriot

The Christmas tree standing tall in front of the Capitol in Lansing this winter will come from Wakefield thanks to a donation by Florence Daniels in honor of her husband Jim, who coached Wakefield High's boys basketball team to 355 wins, 12 district the five regional titles in 28 seasons. He also was a member of Channing High’s Upper Peninsula championship team in 1944 and coached Al Inkala, who went on to become an MHSAA championship-winning girls tennis coach at Okemos – Lansing State Journal

Today in the MHSAA: 5/28/19

May 28, 2019

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

The final weekend of May saw the majority of the final regular-season events for the 2018-19 school year, plus the annual team championship meets in track & field hosted by the Michigan Interscholastic Track Coaches Association.

1. Track & Field: The Clare top-ranked girls and No. 2-ranked boys repeated in sweeping MITCA team championships in Lower Peninsula Division 3 – Mount Pleasant Morning Sun

2. Track & Field: The Pittsford No. 2-ranked girls won their third straight MITCA Division 4 team title, while top-ranked Addison won the boys title – Hillsdale Daily News

3. Track & Field: The top-ranked Zeeland East girls and top-ranked Zeeland West boys won MITCA Division 2 titles – Holland Sentinel Girls | Boys

4. Track & Field: The top-ranked Rockford girls and top-ranked East Kentwood boys won the MITCA Division 1 championships – Athletic.net

5. Baseball: Division 2 No. 3 Orchard Lake St. Mary’s won its first Detroit Catholic League A-B title with a walk-off hit in the 10th inning to get past Division 1 No. 14 Detroit Catholic Central – State Champs Sports Network

6. Baseball: Division 3 No. 4 Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett downed No. 3 Riverview Gabriel Richard to win the Catholic League C-D title – State Champs Sports Network

7. Baseball: Division 1 No. 3 White Lake Lakeland got past No. 9 South Lyon to clinch the Lakes Valley Conference title – Oakland Press

8. Softball: Colon ran its winning streak to 20 straight with a sweep of Burr Oak that clinched a Southern Central Athletic Association title – Sturgis Journal

9. Boys Golf: Austin Fauser and Clinton continued their domination of the Tri-County Conference with league titles – Adrian Daily Telegram

10. Softball: Posen celebrated a North Star League Little Dipper title with a sweep of Hale – Alpena News

Also of note …

Softball: Division 2 honorable mention Chelsea claimed a share of the Southeastern Conference White title with a win over Monroe – Chelsea Sun Times

Softball: Division 1 No. 3 Howell and honorable mention New Baltimore Anchor Bay continued their back-and-forth to finish as the new MHSAA record holder for home runs in a season – State Champs Sports Network

Softball: From Thursday, Division 4 No. 9 Unionville-Sebewaing clinched the outright Greater Thumb Conference West title with a sweep of Bad Axe – Huron Daily Tribune

Track & Field: From Thursday, Brimley claimed both the girls and boys Eastern Upper Peninsula Conference meet championships – Sault Ste. Marie Evening News

Softball: From Thursday, Division 2 top-ranked Escanaba finished a league title run in the Great Northern Conference with a shutout of Marquette – Escanaba Daily Press

Boys Golf: From Thursday, Hanover-Horton – No. 5 in Lower Peninsula Division 3 – won the Cascades Conference tournament to force a shared league title with No. 4 Napoleon – Jackson Citizen-Patriot

Track & Field: From Tuesday, Sault Ste. Marie’s girls and Newberry’s boys won Straits Area Conference meet titles – Sault Ste. Marie Evening News

Softball: From last week, Division 3 honorable mention Stanton Central Montcalm locked up its fifth straight Central State Activities Association Gold title – Greenville Daily News