Today in the MHSAA: 11/6/15
November 6, 2015
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Volleyball teams hoisted MHSAA District title trophies all over Michigan on Thursday. Here are 10 championship stories that stuck out a little from the rest we came across.
Volleyball
Class A top-ranked Novi swept honorable mention Northville to move on to next week’s Regional – Oakland Press
Honorable mention Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central won its Class A District in four sets over Grand Rapids Northview, the Ottawa-Kent Conference Bronze champion – Grand Rapids Press
No. 8 North Branch swept No. 2 Mount Morris to claim an 11th straight Class B District championship – Flint Journal
Class B honorable mention Saginaw Swan Valley pushed its school-record win total to 57 with a District Final sweep of Freeland – Saginaw News
Another Class B honorable mention, Grant, won its fifth straight District title with a sweep of Fremont – Muskegon Chronicle
Class C No. 8 Brown City won its fourth straight District title with a sweep of Sandusky – Port Huron Times-Herald
Montague, No. 3 in Class C, won its first District title since 1997 with a sweep of Shelby – Muskegon Chronicle
Unranked Hemlock won the final two sets to claim a 3-2 win over honorable mention St. Louis in Class C – Mount Pleasant Morning Sun
Honorable mention Marcellus took No. 8 Mendon to five sets before the Hornets prevailed in a Class D District Final – Sturgis Journal
Unionville-Sebewaing needed five sets and an extra point in the final to down Cass City for a fifth straight Class D District title – Huron Daily Tribune
Today in the MHSAA: 10/15/15
October 15, 2015
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Championship are won on a seemingly daily basis in October, and plenty were earned and celebrated Wednesday – but please also check out some great reads at the bottom of this list, including a look at why specialization is increasing as a nationwide concern.
Cross Country
The Saugatuck girls, ranked No. 2 in Lower Peninsula Division 4, won their ninth straight Southwestern Athletic Conference title with 12 runners earning all-league honors – Grand Rapids Press
Boys Soccer
LP Division 2 No. 5 East Lansing capped an impressive run through the Capital Area Activities Conference Gold Cup by winning the final 3-1 over Grand Ledge – Lansing State Journal
LP Division 1 No. 15 East Kentwood secured its 12th Ottawa-Kent Conference Red title in 13 seasons with a 1-0 win over Grandville, helped in part by a pair of players whose ties the program go back to the early years of the run – Grand Rapids Press
LP Division 1 No. 7 Utica Ford shut out No. 14 Fraser to clinch the Macomb Area Conference Red championship – Macomb Daily
Unranked Birmingham Brother Rice stunned LP Division 1 No. 3 Detroit Catholic Central 2-1 in the championship game of the Detroit Catholic League A-B tournament – Oakland Press
LP Division 4 No. 11 Charlevoix clinched a share of the Lake Michigan Conference title with a 3-0 win over Grayling, thanks to a hat trick by Walker Drost – Charlevoix Courier
Saginaw Heritage scored the first goal Flint Powers Catholic had given up since Sept. 12, but the Chargers emerged with a 2-1 win and the overall Saginaw Valley League championship – Flint Journal
Volleyball
Lansing Catholic won the first volleyball league championship in its long history, beating Fowlerville in three sets to claim a share of the CAAC White title – Lansing State Journal
Good Reads
Single-sport specialization has become a topic of national focus and concern, and MHSAA Executive Director Jack Roberts was among association directors talked to for this report on why it’s a health-related issue and how states are working to promote multi-sport participation instead – NFHS.org
Vandercook Lake is enjoying its best football season in 45 years and plays for a league title this weekend, and is led by a three-sport athlete who has been on a long road back after Crohn’s disease led to his shedding 90 pounds only two years ago – Jackson Citizen-Patriot
The Christmas tree standing tall in front of the Capitol in Lansing this winter will come from Wakefield thanks to a donation by Florence Daniels in honor of her husband Jim, who coached Wakefield High's boys basketball team to 355 wins, 12 district the five regional titles in 28 seasons. He also was a member of Channing High’s Upper Peninsula championship team in 1944 and coached Al Inkala, who went on to become an MHSAA championship-winning girls tennis coach at Okemos – Lansing State Journal