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: 11/3/20
November 3, 2020
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
The MHSAA Volleyball Tournament began at the District level Monday, and not without a full slate of nail-biters as teams across the state started their marches toward Kellogg Arena.
1. Volleyball: In a match with three sets determined by two points, No. 5 Utica Eisenhower defeated honorable mention Rochester Hills Stoney Creek in five in Division 1 – Macomb Daily
2. Volleyball: No. 10 Beal City won the first set, but No. 8 Morley Stanwood won the next three in a Division 3 opener – Big Rapids News
3. Volleyball: After losing the second set, No. 3 Saginaw Valley Lutheran came back to finish a four-set win over Reese in Division 3 – WJRT
4. Volleyball: Grand Haven began a march toward a hoped-for 14th-straight District title with a sweep of Muskegon Mona Shores in Division 1 – Local Sports Journal
5. Volleyball: Brethren came back from a two-set deficit to defeat Mason County Eastern in five in Division 4 – Manistee News Advocate
6. Volleyball: L’Anse won the final two sets to take a five-set Division 3 win over West Iron County – Houghton Daily Mining Gazette
7. Volleyball: Mount Pleasant also came back to win the last two sets to get past Midland Dow in five in Division 1 – Mount Pleasant Morning Sun
8. Volleyball: Coldwater and Holt traded sets before the Cardinals won the fifth 15-13 in Division 1 – Coldwater Daily Reporter
9. Volleyball: Bellaire and Gaylord St. Mary also played to five sets in Division 4, with the Snowbirds emerging as winners – Up North Live
10. Volleyball: Brimley and Engadine also traded sets in Division 4 before the Bays emerged in five – MI Sports Now
Also of note …
Girls Swimming & Diving: From Saturday, top-ranked Ann Arbor Pioneer was first and No. 2 Saline second as Lower Peninsula Division 1 powers dominated the Southeastern Conference Red finale – We Love Ann Arbor