Today in the MHSAA: 10/22/15

October 22, 2015

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Some of the state’s dominant cross country programs finished off their league seasons in sweeping fashion Wednesday, while the Lower Peninsula soccer tournament continued through half of its semifinals.

Cross Country

Sand Creek swept the Tri-County Conference championship meets, in both cases finishing ahead of runner-up Adrian Madison. Sand Creek’s boys are ranked No. 12 in Lower Peninsula Division 4 – Adrian Daily Telegram

Hanover-Horton’s ranked teams swept the Cascades Conference meets, with the No. 3 in LPD3 boys winning for the ninth time in 12 years and the No. 10-ranked girls winning for the 16th straight season – Jackson Citizen-Patriot

Clare’s No. 9-ranked girls and No. 11-ranked boys (in LPD3) swept Jack Pine Conference titles, the girls winning their sixth in a row and the boys their eighth – Mount Pleasant Morning Sun

The Northville girls, No. 1 in LPD1, won their sixth straight Kensington Lakes Activities Association Kensington title, while the No. 3 Novi boys edged No. 2 Northville by seven points to claim their crown – Oakland Press

Boys soccer

Fruitport’s Noah Hendricks set a school record for goals in a season with 38, scoring in his 15th consecutive game to lead the No. 9 Trojans to a 7-0 district win over Allendale in Division 2 – Muskegon Chronicle

Division 3 No. 9 Whitehall scored an overtime goal to get past unranked Shelby in a district semifinal – Muskegon Chronicle

Division 2 No. 2 Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern survived No. 17 Grand Rapids Northview, 2-1 in their district semifinal – Grand Rapids Press

Volleyball

Manistique remained undefeated in dual matches this season with a five-set victory over Escanaba on the Eskymos’ parents night – Escanaba Daily Press

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