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: 5/24/17
May 24, 2017
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
This list can get pretty long this time of year as we try to link up to all of the coverage of league, District and Regional championships – almost as long, relatively speaking, as the 14-year league title streaks enjoyed by the Beal City baseball, Big Rapids boys golf and Clare boys track & field teams.
Each weekday during the school year, we’ll gather and post media links covering the most significant and intriguing high school events from all over the state.
Baseball
Essexville Garber posted a pair of big wins over Bridgeport to lock up the Tri-Valley Conference East title – Bay City Times
St. Clair earned a share of the Macomb Area Conference Blue title with a six-inning win over Warren Mott – Port Huron Times Herald
Beal City swept Lake City, finishing a 14th straight Highland Conference championship run – Mount Pleasant Morning Sun
Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood dealt Division 2 No. 1 Detroit Country Day an 11-3 loss – Detroit News
Traverse City West swept Gaylord to win its second straight Big North Conference title – Traverse City Record-Eagle
Golf
Hartland’s boys won a tie-breaker to claim the Kensington Lakes Activities Association title after tying with Howell and Grand Blanc shooting 313s – Livingston Daily Press & Argus
Calumet’s boys and Houghton’s Upper Peninsula Division 1 top-ranked girls won Houghton Invitational titles, clinching West Peninsula Athletic Conference titles in the process – Houghton Daily Mining Gazette
The Big Rapids boys – ranked No. 2 in LP Division 3 – won their 14th straight Central State Activities Association championship – Big Rapids News
Gaylord’s boys, No. 3 in LP Division 2, ran their tournament winning streak to nine, this time to clinch the Big North Conference title for the first time – Gaylord Herald Times
From Monday, Munising’s girls and Carney-Nadeau’s boys won Skyline Central Conference championships, with C-N’s Hunter Eichhorn shooting a 68 to lead his team – Marquette Mining Journal
Girls Soccer
Division 3 No. 9 Birch Run clinched a share of the TVC East title with a big win over Caro – Saginaw News
Division 2 No. 8 DeWitt downed Grand Ledge 3-1 to win the Capital Area Activities Conference Gold Cup for the second straight season and fourth time over the last seven years – Lansing State Journal
Softball
Division 3 No. 3 Millington pulled away for a 6-1 win with a late rally against Frankenmuth to claim the TVC East title before dropping its only league game this season, 8-4, in the second of the night – Saginaw News
Clinton Township Chippewa Valley clinched a share of the Macomb Area Conference White title, its first league crown since 2007 – Macomb Daily
Beal City secured its fifth straight Highland Conference title, running its league winning streak to 56 games with a sweep of Lake City – Mount Pleasant Morning Sun
Division 1 honorable mention Clarkston claimed the Oakland Activities Association title outright with a pair of shutouts of North Farmington – Oakland Press
Division 2 No. 8 Spring Lake downed Comstock Park to finish a perfect run through the Ottawa-Kent Conference Blue – Grand Haven Tribune
From Monday, Hemlock swept Saginaw Valley Lutheran to claim the TVC West title – Midland Daily News
Track & Field
The Bessemer boys and Lake Linden-Hubbell girls continued dominating seasons with Copper Mountain Conference titles – Houghton Daily Mining Gazette
Clare’s boys – top-ranked in LP Division 3 – won their 14th straight Jack Pine Conference title, while the No. 5 girls won their fourth consecutive – Mount Pleasant Morning Sun
The Beal City boys, No. 9 in LP Division 4, won their first Highland Conference title; McBain’s girls also were crowned league champs – Mount Pleasant Morning Sun
Warren DeLaSalle won its first Detroit Catholic League title in 21 years, while LP Division 2 No. 8 Dearborn Divine Child dominated on the girls side – Oakland Press
LP Division 2 No. 5 Coldwater swept titles at the Interstate Eight Athletic Conference meet, the boys to clinch the league title – Coldwater Daily Reporter
The Pittsford girls and Battle Creek St. Philip boys – both ranked No. 3 in LP Division 4 – won Southern Central Athletic Association meet titles – Hillsdale Daily News
Saugatuck swept Southwestern Athletic Conference titles, doubling up or nearly doubling up the runners-up in both meets; the girls are No. 1 in LP Division 3 and the boys are No. 3 – Holland Sentinel
Wyandotte Roosevelt swept the Downriver League meet titles, the girls for the third straight season and the boys for the second time in three – Southgate News Herald