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: 10/9/17

October 9, 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. Cross Country: The top-ranked Ann Arbor Pioneer boys and No. 2 Rockford girls won Division 1 championships at the Portage Invitational, which again drew many of the state’s top teams from all four Lower Peninsula divisions. Also winning boys championships were LPD2 No. 8 Lansing Catholic, LPD3 No. 2 Hanover-Horton and LPD4 No. 1 Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart, while the top-ranked Sacred Heart girls, LPD3 No. 1 Hart girls and LPD2 No. 4 Dearborn Divine Child girls won meets as well – Athletic.net

2. Volleyball: Class B No. 5 Kingsley avenged its only losses of this season, downing Class D No. 2 Leland and then Class C No. 9 Calumet to claim the championship at the Suttons Bay Invitational – Traverse City Record-Eagle

3. Cross Country: Reigning LPD1 champion and current No. 4 White Lake Lakeland won the boys race, and No. 4-ranked Troy won the girls at the Oakland County Championship – Oakland Press

4. Cross Country: Saginaw Heritage swept the races at its 30th annual Heritage Invitational, Heritage’s boys are ranked No. 7 in LPD1 and finished just ahead of LPD3 top-ranked Caro – Athletic.net

5. Girls Swimming & Diving: LPD1 honorable mention Utica Eisenhower claimed a fourth straight Macomb County championship led by standouts Abigail Desmet and Bianca Licari – Macomb Daily

6. Boys Soccer: Division 1 No. 13 Saline scored late to hold on to a 1-1 tie with No. 5 Novi – Saline Post

7. Volleyball: Cheboygan downed Class D No. 8 Rudyard and then Engadine to win the Escanaba Elks Invitational – Escanaba Daily Press

8. Cross Country: The Erie-Mason boys, No. 5 in LPD3, were the only in-state team among four champions at the Hudson Invitational, which featured a number of schools from the southeastern border and Ohio – Athletic.net

9. Volleyball: Zeeland East emerged from third place in pool play to win the Best of the West Invitational at Muskegon Mona Shores – Holland Sentinel

10. Volleyball: Onsted avenged a pool play loss to Centreville to win the Sturgis Invitational – JoeInsider.com