Today in the MHSAA: 11/5/15
November 5, 2015
Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Finalists for this season’s four MHSAA boys soccer championships were determined Wednesday, while a number of intriguing Volleyball District Finals were set up as well.
Boys Soccer
In a rematch of last season’s Division 1 Final, Canton won again over Rochester Adams, this time in an overtime shootout – Oakland Press
No. 2 Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central held off No. 5 Detroit Catholic Central 3-1 in their Division 1 Semifinal – Grand Rapids Press
Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern earned its first trip to the MHSAA Finals with a 4-2 win over Mattawan in Division 2 – Grand Rapids Press
Mason’s penalty kick score with two minutes to play gave the No. 8 Bulldogs a 1-0 win over No. 4 Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood in Division 2 – Lansing State Journal
No. 3 Williamston eliminated another top-five team, this time No. 5 Grosse Ile, to advance in Division 3 – Lansing State Journal
No. 2 Grand Rapids South Christian earned its fourth trip to the MHSAA Finals in six seasons with a 4-1 win over No. 10 Gladwin in Division 3 – Grand Rapids Press
Undefeated Burton Genesee Christian eliminated top-ranked Lansing Christian in a shootout in their Division 4 Semifinal – Lansing State Journal
Kalamazoo Hackett advanced to the Division 4 Final also by shootout, over Muskegon Western Michigan Christian – Kalamazoo Gazette
Volleyball
Flushing will play in its 11th straight District Final after downing St. Johns in Class A – Flint Journal
Class A No. 3 Grand Rapids Christian earned a rematch with East Grand Rapids by sweeping honorable mention East Kentwood – Grand Rapids Press
Temperance Bedford edged Saline 3-2 in a matchup of two more Class A honorable mentions – AnnArbor.com
Class B No. 7 North Branch faced league rival Frankenmuth one more time, sweeping the Eagles to earn a District Final match against No. 2 Mount Morris – Flint Journal
Class B honorable mention Buchanan set a school record with 46 wins in downing Dowagiac – Niles Daily Star
Class B honorable mention Marysville advanced by sweeping Marine City, a league champion this fall – Port Huron Times-Herald
Ithaca rightly made headlines early this fall by ending a 52-match losing streak to St. Louis, but the Sharks, an honorable mention in Class C, came away with the victory Wednesday – Mount Pleasant Morning Sun
Montague, No. 3 in Class C, kept building on its strong season by earning its first District Final berth since 2011 with a sweep of Hesperia – Muskegon Chronicle
From Tuesday, Manistique remained undefeated with a Class C victory over Ishpeming – Escanaba Daily Press
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