Today in the MHSAA: 10/19/17
October 19, 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. Boys Soccer: Unranked Brighton eliminated top-ranked Ann Arbor Skyline in a Division 1 District Semifinal, 2-1 – Livingston Daily Press & Argus
2. Cross Country: Clare’s girls claimed their eighth straight Jack Pine Conference championship and the boys won their 10th consecutive; the girls are ranked No. 7 in Lower Peninsula Division 3, and the boys are No. 10 – Mount Pleasant Morning Sun
3. Boys Soccer: No. 2 Leland advanced to a Division 4 District Final with a 3-0 win over No. 15 Harbor Springs – Traverse City Record-Eagle
4. Cross Country: Zeeland West, Zeeland East (honorable mention in LPD2) and Holland’s boys all finished as co-champions in the Ottawa-Kent Conference Green, while the LPD2 No. 7 Holland Christian girls won outright after sharing the title in 2016 – Holland Sentinel
5. Boys Soccer: Division 1 No. 10 Rochester downed No. 16 Rochester Hills Stoney Creek 3-0 for the second straight time this season – Oakland Press
6. Boys Soccer: Roscommon edged Division 4 No. 19 Lincoln Alcona 4-3 in a District Semifinal – Alpena News
7. Volleyball: St. Joseph Michigan Lutheran earned its fourth straight league title in the Berrien-Cass-St. Joseph White with a four-set win over Three Oaks River Valley – St. Joseph Herald Palladium
8. Cross Country: The Bangor boys and Bloomingdale girls clinched the inaugural Southwest 10 Conference championships – Sturgis Journal
Boys Soccer: Division 4 No. 6 Hillsdale Academy needed a shootout but got past Jackson Christian in a District Semifinal – Hillsdale Daily News
10. Boys Soccer: Troy scored with fewer than three minutes to play to get past Birmingham Brother Rice 2-1 in Division 1 – Oakland Press
Also of note:
Girls Cross Country: From Tuesday, Quincy won its third straight Big 8 Conference championship – Coldwater Daily Reporter
Volleyball: From Tuesday, Class C No. 6 Adrian Madison claimed a share of the Tri-County Conference championship by going 1-1 in a doubleheader against Whitmore Lake – Adrian Daily Telegram
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