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: 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