Today in the MHSAA: 10/4/19

October 4, 2019

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

As the weather dipped toward what we expect every fall, teams in a variety of sports continued locking down league titles Thursday with MHSAA Tournaments beginning in boys soccer, Lower Peninsula girls golf and boys tennis next week.  

1. Boys Tennis: Midland Dow — No. 6 in Lower Peninsula Division 2 – clinched its 14th straight Saginaw Valley League championship, emerging first from a close race at the league tournament – Midland Daily News

2. Boys Soccer: Division 1 No. 2 Okemos finished its run to a Capital Area Activities Conference Gold Cup title with a 4-0 win over Division 3 No. 6 Lansing Catholic – Lansing State Journal

3. Boys Soccer: Traverse City West downed Alpena to lock up its 10th straight Big North Conference title in this sport – Up North Live

4. Boys Soccer: Birmingham Seaholm got past Lake Orion 2-0 to clinch the Oakland Activities Association White title – Oakland Press

5. Boys Soccer: Dexter downed Chelsea 1-0 to clinch the Southeastern Conference White Tournament championship – Chelsea Sun Times News

6. Girls Golf: Plainwell shot a 381 and won a tie-breaker with Dowagiac to claim the Wolverine Conference Tournament title – Sturgis Journal

7. Boys Soccer: Fremont prevailed in a shootout to get past Newaygo 3-2 in the Central State Activities Association Gold Tournament final – Local Sports Journal

8. Boys Soccer: Division 3 No. 12 Elk Rapids downed Harbor Springs 4-1 to earn a share of the Lake Michigan Conference championship – Traverse City Record-Eagle

9. Girls Golf: The Mid-Michigan Golf Conference Tournament was canceled, and Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart was awarded the league title based on its overall scores from MMGC jamborees – Mount Pleasant Morning Sun

10. Volleyball: No. 2 Hudsonville won a matchup of ranked teams in Division 1, getting past No. 9 Grand Haven 3-1 – Grand Rapids Press

Also of note …

Boys Soccer: From Wednesday, Dearborn Heights Crestwood clinched the Western Wayne Athletic Conference title with a 5-3 victory over Melvindale – Southgate News-Herald

Today in the MHSAA: 9/17/15

September 17, 2015

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Today’s know-your-sports checklist includes catching up on impressive feats by some of the state’s top-ranked girls golf teams and enjoying a pair of inspirational stories about leading soccer scorers.

Girls Golf

Lower Peninsula Division 1 No. 4 Lake Orion won the Oakland County Division 1 Tournament for the second straight season, edging No. 6 Novi by one shot and No. 1 Rochester by two – Oakland Press

Three Spring Lake golfers carded three birdies apiece to lead the LP Division 3 No. 1 Lakers to a 53-stroke win in the Lakes 8 jamboree on their home course – Muskegon Chronicle

Boys Soccer

Freeland improved to 11-1 with its first win over Saginaw Swan Valley in three seasons, also handing the Vikings their first loss this fall – Saginaw News

Boys Tennis

Midland Dow, No. 1 in Lower Peninsula Division 2, fell to No. 3 Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central at the Midweek Classic, but still won the tournament thanks to No. 6 Detroit U-D Jesuit’s win over FHC – Midland Daily News and Saginaw News

Volleyball

Ionia swept reigning Capital Area Activities Conference White champion Williamston, beating the Hornets for the first time under sixth-year coach Jeanna Kraatz – Ionia Sentinel-Standard

Niles emerged as the biggest winner from the SMAC 6-Pack Tournament on its home floor with victories over Battle Creek Lakeview, Battle Creek Central and Richland Gull Lake, all in two games – Niles Daily Star

Bay City John Glenn improved to 9-1 with a win over Tawas, opening North East Michigan Conference play as the reigning champion and with nearly the same lineup as in 2014 – Bay City Times

Good Reads

We’re big fans of athletes who play multiple sports, and Port Huron’s Jon Miller is one of the latest – he’s the soccer team’s leading scorer and the top field goal kicker in school history, plus one of the football team’s leading receivers. A great line from the story: “But if there’s one kid that can take this on, it’s the kid that’s loading his senior year with as many memories as possible.” – Port Huron Times-Herald

Andrew Shippell is Marshall’s leading scorer this season, and after three years of fighting is preparing to celebrate a milestone – the end of his chemotherapy in February – Battle Creek Enquirer