Today in the MHSAA: 10/19/16
October 19, 2016
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
District soccer continued Tuesday and league champions were crowned in volleyball and cross country all over the Lower Peninsula – but the must-see stories are a pair of “good reads” coming out of the Jackson and Alpena areas.
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.
Cross Country
The Caro boys – No. 4 in Lower Peninsula Division 3 – and the No. 6 Shepherd girls won championships at the Tri-Valley Conference all-division final – Saginaw News
The Ubly girls and boys teams repeated as East champions at the Greater Thumb Conference championship race (Ubly's girls are No. 9 in LPD4), and the Reese girls and LPD4 honorable mention Cass City boys repeated as West winners – Huron Daily Tribune
Traverse City West swept the final Big North Conference jamborees, the West boys earning the league title and the Central girls finishing as overall league champion for the 14th straight season. The Central girls are No. 4 in LPD1 and the West girls are an honorable mention – Traverse City Record-Eagle
Harbor Springs’ boys (No. 2 LPD4) kept their undefeated season going with a third straight Lake Michigan Conference final championship, and Traverse City St. Francis (No. 2 LPD3) clinched the girls title – Petoskey News-Review
Boys Soccer
Division 1 No. 2 Portage Northern moved on with a 4-1 District win over Lansing Everett thanks to three goals by Ryan Melgar – Kalamazoo Gazette
Adrian Lenawee Christian freshman Zach Riordan set his school’s scoring record of 36 goals in an 8-0 Division 4 win over Clinton – Adrian Daily Telegram
Girls Swimming & Diving
LPD1 No. 2 Saline got past No. 10 Brighton 112-74 in a matchup of top Division 1 teams – Saline Post
Volleyball
Walled Lake Central repeated as Lakes champion in the Kensington Lakes Activities Association with a five-set win over Brighton – Livingston Daily Argus & Press
Class A top-ranked Novi swept Canton to win its fourth straight KLAA Kensington championship – Oakland Press
Marine City improved to 8-1 in the Macomb Area Conference Gold and clinched a share of the league title with a three-set win over Warren Mott – Port Huron Times Herald
Good Reads
The story of Brooklyn Columbia Central standout running back Micah Raby is captivating, if not from this passage alone about how his adopted parents found him: “Inside the missionary’s hut, on an ordinary table lay an ordinary bible box containing an extraordinary sight, and it caught Doug and Sandy Raby’s eyes and hearts immediately. Inside that bible box – no bigger than a size 10 shoebox – was a 1-month-old boy named Joseph, one of two surviving triplets. His brother did not survive the birth and the birth parents decided to keep the other one, believed to be a girl, because it was the biggest and had the greatest chance of surviving.” – Jackson Citizen-Patriot
Lincoln Alcona announcer Don Franklin first gave voice to the school’s athletic events in 1967, and will retire at the end of this school year with 50 years on the microphone announcing football and a number of other sports over a half century – Alpena News
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