Today in the MHSAA: 10/16/15

October 16, 2015

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

First-time champions are always worth noting, and we found a few in checking out today’s media reports of Thursday action statewide.

Cross Country

The Calumet girls, ranked No. 4 in Upper Peninsula Division 1, and the unranked Houghton boys won the Western Peninsula Athletic Conference finals at Chassell – Houghton Daily Mining Gazette

Boys Soccer

Grand Rapids Union clinched its first league title since moving from the Grand Rapids City League to the Ottawa-Kent Conference, downing Muskegon 3-0 – Grand Rapids Press

Manchester edged Hillsdale Academy 2-1 to claim its first Independent Soccer League championship after winning only one league game in 2014 – Jackson Citizen-Patriot

Volleyball

Class B honorable mention Buchanan downed Class C’s top-ranked team, Bronson, in five sets, and also Class D No. 6 Mendon in five – Niles Daily Star

Class B No. 6 Mount Morris avenged a five-set loss to No. 5 Goodrich in September by sweeping the Martians to improve to 55-5-1 – Flint Journal

Zeeland West claimed its first conference title in this sport, defeating Holland Christian in five sets to claim a share of the O-K Green championship – Holland Sentinel

Good Reads

Longtime Burton Atherton leader Mary Down will become the third volleyball coach inducted into the Greater Flint Area Hall of Fame, having impacted a generation of players and more as a number of former players went on to coach as well – Flint Journal

Today in the MHSAA: 4/9/19

April 9, 2019

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Many in Michigan returned from Spring Break on Monday, and teams jumped straight into competition with five sports making our first daily achievers list of this season.

1. Girls Tennis: Petoskey won five flight championships en route to earning the Up North Invite team title – Petoskey News-Review

2. Softball: Kalkaska coach Rik Ponstein earned his 700th career win during his team’s sweep of Roscommon – Traverse City Record-Eagle

3. Boys Lacrosse: Ann Arbor Father Gabriel Richard edged rival Greenhills 7-6 in overtime – We Love Ann Arbor

4. Baseball: Division 1 No. 6 Lake Orion downed Division 3 No. 16 Madison Heights Bishop Foley for its first win – Oakland Press

5. Baseball: Division 3 No. 12 Michigan Center swept Jonesville in a rematch of last season’s Regional Final – Jackson Citizen-Patriot

6. Baseball: Division 2 No. 6 Saginaw Swan Valley took a pair of impressive wins over Mount Pleasant – Saginaw News

7. Softball: Gladwin earned a pair of one-run wins over Midland Dow – Midland Daily News

8. Baseball: Division 1 No. 16 Plymouth won big over Northville in a matchup of Kensington Lakes Activities Association contenders – Observer & Eccentric

9. Softball: Division 1 No. 8 Canton improved to 2-0 with a 6-1 win over Novi – State Champs Sports Network

10. Girls Soccer: Taylor Noble had a first-half hat trick as Boyne City downed Kalkaska – MI Sports Now

Also of note …

Baseball: From Friday, Fowlerville downed Division 2 top-ranked Detroit Country Day 2-1 – Livingston Daily Press & Argus

Softball: From Friday, No. 4 Howell avenged a Wednesday loss with a big win over No. 2 Hartland to finish their first rematch from last season’s Division 1 Semifinal – Livingston Daily Press & Argus

Baseball: From Friday, Division 1 No. 3 Grandville made a trip east and left with a 13-6 win over Division 2 No. 2 Orchard Lake St. Mary’s – State Champs Sports Network

Baseball: From April 3, Division 1 No. 8 Detroit Catholic Central swept top-ranked Birmingham Brother Rice – Observer & Eccentric