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: 2/4/19
February 4, 2019
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
This weekend saw the first Michigan girls wrestling state champions awarded, a rematch of last season’s Division 2 Hockey Final and two top-ranked bowling teams face off – and that's just a sampling of the headliners.
1. Wrestling: The Michigan Wrestling Association awarded 15 championships at its first Girls Wrestling Finals – Adrian Daily Telegram | MLive
2. Gymnastics – Reigning MHSAA champion Farmington United finished more than three points ahead of the field at the Canton Invitational, generally considered the most competitive event of the regular season – Coldwater Daily Reporter
3. Hockey: No. 2-ranked Trenton downed No. 1 Hartland in a rematch of last season’s Division 2 Final, this time at the Michigan Interscholastic Hockey League Showcase – Southgate News-Herald
4. Girls Basketball: Midland Dow upset reigning Class A champion Saginaw Heritage 52-48, handing the Hawks their first defeat this winter – Midland Daily News
5. Bowling: Sturgis downed Three Rivers 29-1 in a matchup of the top-ranked boys teams in Divisions 2 and 3, respectively – Sturgis Journal
6. Wrestling: Division 1 No. 2 Brighton, No. 5 Hartland and No. 4 Westland John Glenn took the top three places, respectively, at the Kensington Lakes Activities Association tournament – Livingston Daily Press & Argus
7. Boys Basketball: Benton Harbor’s Carlos Johnson and Ypsilanti Lincoln’s Emoni Bates both scored 35 points in the Tigers’ 86-83 win at Grand Rapids Union – FOX 17
8. Wrestling: Division 4 No. 9 Bronson claimed the Big 8 Conference championship outright, its first league title in the sport – Coldwater Daily Reporter
9. Boys Swimming & Diving: LPD1 No. 4 Detroit Catholic Central repeated as Oakland County meet champion – Oakland Press
10. Wrestling: Brownstown Woodhaven clinched the outright Downriver League championship after sharing the title the last two seasons – Southgate News-Herald
Also of note …
Boys Swimming & Diving: Warren DeLaSalle, No. 8 in Lower Peninsula Division 2, edged Macomb Dakota to claim the Macomb County meet championship – Macomb Daily
Wrestling: Division 4 No. 2 New Lothrop, Division 2 No. 3 Goodrich and Holly won Flint-area league tournaments titles – Flint Journal
Wrestling: Parma Western clinched the Interstate 8 Athletic Conference championship – Coldwater Daily Reporter
Wrestling: Edwardsburg, Division 2 No. 7 Niles, White Pigeon and Schoolcraft earned league tournament titles in the southwestern Lower Peninsula – JoeInsider.com
Wrestling: Iron Mountain won the Mid-Peninsula Conference tournament title – Iron Mountain Daily News
Boys Basketball: St. Clair Shores Lake Shore downed Utica to clinch the outright Macomb Area Conference Blue title – Macomb Daily
Wrestling: Division 3 No. 4 Remus Chippewa Hills had five individual champs and Division 4 No. 8 Leroy Pine River won a team title in more league tournament action – Big Rapids News
Girls Basketball: From Thursday, Cierra Molina became the fifth player to score 1,000 career points for Rudyard, reaching the milestone against Brimley – Sault Ste. Marie Evening News