Today in the MHSAA: 10/19/15

October 19, 2015

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

The first MHSAA Lower Peninsula championships of 2015-16 were awarded in girls golf and boys tennis this weekend. Find links to Second Half coverage of those, plus reports from a handful of other significant events that took place around the state.

Cross Country

The Hudson boys, ranked No. 9 in Lower Peninsula Division 4, won the Lenawee County championship Saturday as its combined finishes were one hundredth of a second faster than runner-up Adrian’s – Adrian Daily Telegram

The Utica Eisenhower girls improved from second last season to first in winning the Macomb County Invitational – Macomb Daily

Girls Golf 

Traverse City West won its first MHSAA title, Birmingham Seaholm won its third straight and Spring Lake and Kalamazoo Hackett were repeat champions at the Lower Peninsula Finals – Second Half

Boys Tennis

Novi and Bloomfield Hills shared the LP Division 1 title, Portage Central and Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central shared in Division 2, and powers Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood and Ann Arbor Greenhills also claimed championships – Second Half 

Volleyball

Class B No. 4 Battle Creek Harper Creek downed Class D No. 1 Battle Creek St. Philip in two sets to repeat as Battle Creek All-City champion – Battle Creek Enquirer

Crystal Falls Forest Park, an honorable mention in Class D, won the first Skyline Central Conference tournament in two sets over Munising – Iron Mountain Daily News

Adrian defeated Tecumseh in the final of the 35th Lenawee County Tournament after entering bracket play as the second seed – Adrian Daily Telegram

Today in the MHSAA: 8/31/15

August 31, 2015

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

The final weekend of August was a giant weekend for MHSAA volleyball contenders, with some of the top regular-season events this fall providing opportunities for the best to see how they might match up when playoffs begin in two months.

Below are headlines for some of the key high school reports from across the state; the weekend’s football round-up will publish later this afternoon.  

Cross Country

Muskegon Reeths-Puffer’s Maryssa Depies set a course record of 18:11.3 to win the Big Red Invitational at McGraft Park – Muskegon Chronicle

Flint Powers Catholic’s top individual finisher came in ninth, but the Chargers girls as a team were first at the Lansing Catholic Invitational – Flint Journal

The reigning Lower Peninsula Division 2 champion Grand Rapids Christian boys repeated as winner of the prestigious Benzie Central Invitational, finishing ahead of Traverse City West and Central, while Central senior Anthony Berry won individually in 15:24 – Grand Rapids Press

Boys Soccer

Tawas, a Division 3 semifinalist last season, finished first from an Elk Rapids Invitational field that included Berkley and Saginaw Nouvel – Bay City Times

Volleyball

Lake Odessa Lakewood, last season’s Class B runner-up and the second-ranked team in that class this week, eliminated Class A No. 6 Grand Rapids Christian to win the West Michigan Volleyball Officials Association tournament for the first time in a decade – Grand Rapids Press

Class A No. 4 Grand Haven continued its perfect run at its outdoor Battle of the Boardwalk tournament, sweeping three opponents to remain undefeated through the event's third year – Grand Haven Tribune

Battle Creek Harper Creek, No. 9 in Class B, improved to 17-0 by winning the Cereal City Tournament at Pennfield with a 2-1 championship match win over Temperance Bedford, an MHSAA semifinalist last season in Class A – Battle Creek Enquirer

Good Reads

The Holland Sentinel introduced its top female athletes in that area’s history Sunday, and highlighted nationally-known softball star Kathy Arendsen and her successes during one of the MHSAA’s first Softball Finals – Holland Sentinel

Anyone who follows high school football history will enjoy going through the Muskegon Chronicle’s sampling of top-20 moments from that area’s football past – Muskegon Chronicle

More than 60 former Shepherd High School players from the last 25 seasons returned for an alumni doubleheader Sunday to honor coach Jack Nartker, who will retire after this spring – Mount Pleasant Morning Sun