Today in the MHSAA: 10/30/15
October 30, 2015
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Thursday’s Boys Soccer Regionals saw another reigning champion and one more top-ranked team fall, and two of the top small-school volleyball teams in the state matched up as that regular-season for that sport rolled toward a close.
Boys Soccer
Division 1 No. 2 Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central shut out No. 10 Portage Northern to move to 21-0-3 – Grand Rapids Press
Division 2 No. 2 Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern downed No. 5 and reigning champion East Lansing in a shootout – Grand Rapids Press
Williamston, No. 3 in Division 3, eliminated top-ranked Flint Powers Catholic from the MHSAA Tournament for the second straight season – Lansing State Journal
No. 2 Grand Rapids South Christian earned a trip to the Division 3 Semifinals with a 1-0 win over No. 7 Paw Paw – Grand Rapids Press
No. 4 Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood reached the Division 2 Semifinals with a 1-0 win over No. 18 Ortonville-Brandon – Oakland Press
Division 4 No. 7 Kalamazoo Hackett scored twice during the second half to get past No. 10 Hartford – Kalamazoo Gazette
Volleyball
Class C No. 1 Bronson closed the regular season with three-set wins over Class D No. 2 Battle Creek St. Philip and Sturgis – Sturgis Journal
Whitehall finished 3-0 at the West Michigan Conference tournament to claim its eighth straight league title, with a little help from Shelby, which eliminated Class C No. 4 Montague – Muskegon Chronicle
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