Today in the MHSAA: 10/3/16
October 3, 2016
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
It’s tough right now to remember a day without rain in our state, but showers couldn’t stop a number of high-profile cross country events that highlighted a busy weekend for most of our sports.
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 top-ranked Birmingham Seaholm girls won the Coaching Legends Invitational at Huron Meadows ahead of No. 2 Northville and No. 3 Ann Arbor Pioneer as the top teams in Lower Peninsula Division 1 matched up; No. 12 Macomb Dakota finished ahead of No. 15 Okemos to win the boys race – Livingston Daily Press & Argus
The St. Clair girls (tied for No. 8 in LPD2) and boys (No. 7) teams swept titles at the Wagener Park Invitational in Harbor Beach – Port Huron Times Herald
Dearborn Divine Child’s girls (tied for No. 5 in LPD2) just got past Adrian, by two points, to win the Marauder Invitational at Lake Erie Metropark – Southgate News Herald
The LPD2 No. 15 St. Joseph girls combined with the Bears’ boys to sweep titles at the Berrien County Invitational – St. Joseph Herald-Palladium
The Grand Haven boys and Rockford girls (No. 12 in LPD1) won the Allendale Invitational – Grand Haven Tribune
The Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart girls – No. 1 in LPD4 – and the LPD3 No. 5 Hanover-Horton boys won the Carson City-Crystal Invitational – Traverse City Record-Eagle
Manton’s boys and girls swept titles at the Leroy Pine River Invitational; the boys are No. 7 in LPD4 and the girls are ranked No. 8 – Cadillac News
Coldwater’s Shuaib Aljabaly set a school record of 15:34 in winning the Ostego Invitational boys race – Coldwater Daily News
Girls Swimming & Diving
Battle Creek Lakeview won its 14th straight All-City championship, but not without a challenge from Harper Creek – Battle Creek Enquirer
LPD1 top-ranked Farmington Hills Mercy won its 12th straight Oakland County championship, finishing nearly 100 points ahead of the field – Oakland Press
Utica Eisenhower added a third straight Macomb County title in closer fashion, finishing ahead of Dakota by 33 points – Macomb Daily
Boys Tennis
LPD1 No. 2 Ann Arbor Huron got past Division 2 No. 1 Midland Dow 6-2 in one of the season’s most high-profile matches to date – Midland Daily News
Volleyball
Adrian Madison improved to 25-3-2 with its first tournament championship, at Concord – Adrian Daily Telegram
Gaylord won the Kalkaska Invitational for the second straight year with a sweep of Houghton Lake in the final – Petoskey News
Edwardsburg downed Class C No. 2 Bronson in the championship match of the Polish Classic – Sturgis Journal
Class B No. 7 Battle Creek Harper Creek got past Coldwater to win its home invitational – Coldwater Daily Reporter
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