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: 5/23/19
May 23, 2019
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
The longest baseball game in MHSAA history and a headline-grabbing first-round Girls Soccer District game top today’s list of achievers from across the state.
1. Baseball: Division 3 No. 15 Blissfield finally edged Division 4 No. 4 Hudson 1-0 in a game that lasted parts of two days and 21 innings, the longest game in MHSAA baseball history – Adrian Daily Telegram
2. Girls Soccer: Brighton downed undefeated and No. 10-ranked South Lyon 3-0 on the first night of the Division 1 District – Livingston Daily Press & Argus
3. Track & Field: Shepherd’s girls locked up their eighth straight Tri-Valley Conference West championship, and the boys won their first league title since 2003; the girls are ranked No. 6 and the boys No. 3 in Lower Peninsula Division 3 – Mount Pleasant Morning Sun
4. Boys Golf: LPD4 top-ranked Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart picked up its second league title in two days, claiming first in the Mid-Michigan Golf Conference – Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart
5. Boys Lacrosse: Plymouth earned a Division 1 Regional Final berth with an 11-8 win over Northville; Plymouth was unranked and Northville No. 4 at the start of the postseason – Observer & Eccentric
6. Softball: Division 2 No. 6 Spring Lake downed No. 8 Allendale 9-4 to earn the Ottawa-Kent Conference Blue championship – Local Sports Journal
7. Boys Lacrosse: Spring Lake got past Muskegon Reeths-Puffer 9-7 in a Division 2 Regional Semifinal; they were ranked Nos. 4 and 8, respectively, at the start of the playoffs – Grand Haven Tribune
8. Track & Field: The Alpena boys and Traverse City West girls won Big North Conference meet championships; Alpena is No. 5 in LPD1 – Alpena News | Traverse City Record-Eagle
9. Boys Golf: LPD2 No. 3 Gaylord shot a 315 to edge No. 10 Cadillac by five strokes and win the Big North Conference tournament – Gaylord Herald-Times
10. Track & Field: Saugatuck’s girls and boys locked up their sixth straight Southwestern Athletic Conference titles – Holland Sentinel
Also of note …
Track & Field: Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart’s girls and Breckenridge’s boys (No. 3 in LPD4) won Mid-State Activities Conference meet titles – Mount Pleasant Morning Sun Girls | Boys
Softball: Marion picked up a share of the West Michigan D League championship with a sweep of Walkerville – Cadillac News
Track & Field: Harbor Springs’ boys and Traverse City St. Francis’ girls won Lake Michigan Conference meet championships – Petoskey News-Review | Traverse City Record-Eagle
Girls Soccer: Traverse City West downed Petoskey 2-0 to clinch the Big North Conference title – Traverse City Record-Eagle
Boys Golf: Lapeer shot a 322 to outpace Grand Blanc by seven strokes at the Saginaw Valley League championship – Midland Daily News
Track & Field: Adrian Madison swept meet championships in the Tri-County Conference; the boys are ranked No. 4 in LPD3 – Adrian Daily Telegram
Baseball: Bay City Western won a share of the Saginaw Valley League North title with a shutout sweep of Division 2 No. 13 Bay City Joh Glenn – Bay City Times
Track & Field: The Grand Blanc boys and Bay City Western girls won Saginaw Valley League meet titles – Flint Journal