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: 9/19/17
September 19, 2017
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Each weekday of the school year, we break down the top headlines courtesy of Michigan’s sports media.
Today's Top 10
1. Safety: Hemlock girls tennis coach Dean Rusch saved a life while deejaying a wedding for his entertainment company, using an AED he keeps on hand as a coach – WNEM
2. Girls Golf: Top-ranked Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood edged No. 2 Macomb Lutheran North by a stroke in a match of Lower Peninsula Division 3 contenders – Oakland Press
3. Girls Golf: LPD1 top-ranked Traverse City West clinched its eighth straight tournament win, shooting a 341 to claim the Charlevoix Lady Rayder Classic by 12 strokes – Traverse City Record-Eagle
4. Girls Golf: LPD2 No. 3 St. Joseph posted an impressive win at the Point O’Wood Invitational, shooting a 356 to edge LPD4 No. 1 Kalamazoo Hackett by nine strokes – St. Joseph Herald-Palladium
5. Girls Golf: Coldwater won the nine-team Onsted Invitational with a 348, its season-low tournament score – Coldwater Daily Reporter
6. Cross Country: In what has to be a first, Houghton standouts Clayton Sayen and Seth Helman decided in the home stretch of the Calumet Invitational who would cross the finish first by playing rock-paper-scissors; Chassell’s Lela Rautiola won the girls race by 39 seconds – Houghton Daily Mining Gazette
7. Boys Soccer: Buckley downed Kingsley 5-1 as Ridge Beeman tallied his fifth hat trick of this fall – Cadillac News
8. Girls Golf: Pinckney improved to 10-1 in the Southeastern Conference White in its first season in the league with a 40-stroke win over Tecumseh – Livingston Daily Press & Argus
9. Fans: Redford Union has dedicated the 2017-18 school year to longtime fan and alum Jimmy Rollin, who died in July and was a supporter of the school’s teams. Union will have a moment of silence for him at the home opener for each varsity sport – Observer & Eccentric
10. Girls Swimming & Diving: Mull is a well-known last name in Lansing area swimming, and Grand Ledge sophomore Lola Mull is upholding her family’s reputation for pool excellence – Lansing State Journal