Today in the MHSAA: 10/2/15
October 2, 2015
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Thursday was girls golf and boys tennis league championship day for many across the state, and also saw the second Upper Peninsula Final in two days decided by a point.
Girls Golf
Hanover-Horton claimed the Cascades Conference championship, beating East Jackson by nine strokes in the league tournament and led by freshman Kristin Thompson’s 92 – Jackson Citizen-Patriot
The Kensington Lakes Activities Association is loaded this season, with Lower Peninsula Division 1 No. 6 Plymouth winning the overall championship ahead of No. 3 Brighton and Division 2 No. 3 South Lyon – Livingston Daily
Sturgis won its first league championship in 25 years, shooting a 380 to finish first in the Wolverine Conference – Sturgis Journal
Grand Rapids West Catholic edged Coopersville by five strokes, shooting 355 to clinch the Ottawa-Kent Conference Blue championship – Grand Rapids Press
Boys Soccer
Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern, No. 3 in Division 2, edged No. 17 Grand Rapids Northview to move into first alone in the O-K Bronze – Grand Rapids Press
Muskegon Reeths-Puffer avenged an early-season loss to Grand Rapids Union to move into a first-place tie with Union in the O-K Black – Muskegon Chronicle
Marcellus Howardsville Christian scored two goals to St. Joseph Lake Michigan Catholic’s one during the second half of overtime to win their game 3-2 and claim a share of the Berrien-Cass-St. Joseph Conference championship – Kalamazoo Gazette
Boys Tennis
Midland Dow won its 10th straight Saginaw Valley League title, finishing seven points ahead rival Midland – Saginaw News
Traverse City Central won seven of eight flights at the Big North Conference Tournament to claim the league title for the ninth season in a row – Traverse City Record-Eagle
Bloomfield Hills fell to Troy in their dual but came back to win the Oakland Activities Association Red Tournament and share the overall title – Oakland Press
Girls Tennis
For the second straight day, an MHSAA Final was decided by a point; this time, Negaunee was the victor in Upper Peninsula Division 1 – Second Half
Volleyball
Class A No. 2 Lake Orion downed No. 8 Clarkston in three sets to improve to 39-2 and end Clarkston’s chances at a ninth straight league championship – Oakland Press
Good Reads
Bay City John Glenn will celebrate not only Homecoming tonight, but also the 50th anniversary of its first football team which “would supply the school with its first identity.” – Bay City Times
River Rouge senior Aaron Vinson has seen things and experienced heartache no youngster should, including the deaths of two siblings. But football has been part of what’s pulled him through – Detroit Free Press
The Capital Area Activities Conference Blue has belonged to powerhouses Okemos and East Lansing for boys tennis, but Holt is contending for its first league title since 1980 – Lansing State Journal
Linked Up: 10/28/11
October 28, 2011
Each week I'll post links to stories that interest me most during my travels in online sports land. I was going to wait for next week for this first installment, but these seemed worthy of telling you about now.
See something high school sports-related that you think others would find valuable? Send me a link.
These two teams provide multiple reasons why 8-player football has been such a strong addition -- most notably, it is providing our smallest schools with an opportunity to still play football despite fewer players, and succeed. The sport took off in this state in 2009, and this weekend mark the start of the first MHSAA 8-player Tournament. Akron-Fairgrove will play its first postseason game since 1992, while Owendale-Gagetown will play its first since 1979.
Olivet's Peters coaching his heart out (Battle Creek Enquirer)
I covered Olivet and coach Dean Peters for more than a decade, including during last season's first-ever Eagles run to the MHSAA football finals. One of the great people in high school coaching, he needed emergency double-bypass surgery earlier this month but is back in the coaching booth. Olivet faces Lansing Catholic in a Pre-District game.
Megan Hubbard a standout for Hanover-Horton cross country (Jackson Citizen-Patriot)
This is a neat story about a runner who is second-best on her team and has never won a race -- but also is likely the second-best to ever run at her school. Usually, we hear only about who finishes first.
Standley Lake football player Rhett Gutierrez overcomes eye disease (The Denver Post)
Almost always, links I post will be Michigan-related. But this story is just incredible. We've seen athletes with different degrees of vision impairment do incredible things in high school athletics. But this is the first time I've heard of someone overcoming that obstacle to play quarterback for his football team.