Today in the MHSAA: 11/12/15

November 12, 2015

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

We include today a couple additional notable stories from Tuesday’s Volleyball Regional Semifinals, plus a look at one of the top coaches in that sport.

Volleyball

Class C honorable mention Calumet handed Manistique its first and only loss this season in Tuesday’s Regional Semifinal – Houghton Daily Mining Gazette

Laingsburg came back after losing the first set to Delton Kellogg on Tuesday to advance in Class C; the Wolfpack has won a school-record 42 matches and will play for its first Regional title – Lansing State Journal

Good Read

Bronson is the top-ranked team in Class C – and although she’s the first to give all of the credit to her players, it’s hard to look past the impact of longtime coach Jean LaClair, who won her 1,000th match this fall and is a past MHSAA Women in Sports Leadership Award winner – Battle Creek Enquirer

Today in the MHSAA: 8/24/15

August 24, 2015

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

All MHSAA fall sports but football kicked off competition last week, with cross country, boys soccer, girls swimming and diving and volleyball starting Saturday.

Below are some notable headlines from the first weekend of this season, plus links to coverage.

Cross Country

St. Johns hosted its second “Under the Lights” meets Friday; Ithaca’s girls and Saugatuck’s boys bested fields loaded with much larger opponents – Lansing State Journal

The St. Joseph girls and Bridgman boys won championships at the Niles Stampede – the St. Joseph girls, who finished fourth in Lower Peninsula Division 2 last season, by a large margin – St. Joseph Herald-Palladium

Girls Golf

Maple City Glen Lake’s Nichole Cox, last season’s LP Division 4 individual champion, came back to defeat Brighton freshman Annie Pietila at the two-day Lober Invitational at Grand Traverse Resort – Traverse City Record-Eagle

Boys Soccer

Two of the state’s powers met in the championship game of the Detroit Country Day Tournament on Saturday – with 2013 Division 1 runner-up Bloomfield Hills downing the host Yellowjackets 1-0 in a shootout – Oakland Press

Girls Swimming & Diving

Howell won its Kenzie Klassic, which honors swimmer Mackenize Watts, who died in 2005 at age 15. The school also raised enough money to award three scholarships and begin funding cardiac-related causes – Livingston Daily

Volleyball

Novi won the Lakeshore Classic by coming back after losing the first two games to beat Grand Haven 3-2 in a rematch of a 2014 Class A Semifinal – Muskegon Chronicle

Battle Creek Harper Creek, for the first time, won the gold championship at the long-running Carrie Adams Memorial Tournament hosted by reigning Class D champion Battle Creek St. Philip – Battle Creek Enquirer

Good Read

Mike Steele, a Midland Dow grad and now pitching coach at Long Beach State in California, argues that parents need to raise their athletes to compete instead of providing specific training in one sport – Midland Daily News