Today in the MHSAA: 12/13/19

December 13, 2019

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Matchups close to home in boys swimming & diving and girls basketball stood out most from Thursday’s headliners across the state, but one of the biggest newsmakers of the week came this morning from Rockford football.

1. Boys Swimming & Diving: Williamston/Lansing Christian won the annual Waverly Relays as the top three teams were separated by just six points – Lansing State Journal

2. Girls Basketball: Ann Arbor Huron downed Ypsilanti Arbor Prep 62-49 in a matchup of teams with high expectations this winter – Ann Arbor News

3. Boys Swimming & Diving: Grand Haven got past Spring Lake 110-71; Spring Lake is ranked No. 5 in Lower Peninsula Division 3 – Grand Haven Tribune

4. Girls Basketball: Neveah Benavides’ basket during the closing seconds gave Saginaw Arthur Hill a 48-46 win over Saginaw High – Saginaw News

5. Girls Basketball: Adrian Lenawee Christian won a matchup of frequent small-school powers, 64-30 over Waterford Our Lady of the Lakes – Adrian Daily Telegram

6. Girls Basketball: Fruitport Calvary Christian won a meeting of two more highly-regarded small-school programs, 53-46 over Battle Creek Calhoun Christian – Muskegon Chronicle

7. Boys Basketball: Oxford earned coach Steve Laidlaw his 100th victory with a 59-36 win over Walled Lake Central – Oakland Press

8. Girls Basketball: Riverview Gabriel Richard improved to 4-0 with a 42-37 win over Grosse Ile – Southgate Times-Herald

9. Girls Basketball: Lake City also moved to 4-0 with a 56-31 win over Houghton Lake – Cadillac News

10. Girls Basketball: Gaylord St. Mary capitalized on 37 turnovers in a 44-29 win over Mancelona – Gaylord Herald-Times

Also of note …

Football: Rockford coach Ralph Munger announced his retirement Friday after 40 seasons coaching there and at Frankenmuth – FOX 17

Today in the MHSAA: 6/6/16

June 6, 2016

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Another busiest week – and busiest day – in MHSAA sports is in the books. So too are Finals champions in track & field and girls tennis, and hundreds of District champions in baseball, softball and girls soccer and Regional champions in girls and boys lacrosse.

We touch on the statewide media coverage of just some of the highlights below.

Baseball

Top-ranked Coldwater won its fifth straight District title, downing No. 10 Marshall 8-4 in the championship game in Division 2 – Battle Creek Enquirer

Unranked Beaverton emerged from a Division 3 District that included No. 2 Sanford Meridian and No. 3 Clare – Midland Daily News

Birmingham Groves got past Birmingham Brother Rice 8-6 in Division 1 to win its first District championship since 2005 – Oakland Press

Boys Lacrosse

Birmingham Brother Rice received a rare scare before downing Clarkston 9-6 in Division 1 – Observer & Eccentric

Okemos won its second straight Division 2 Regional title by surviving Pontiac Notre Dame Prep, 9-8 – Lansing State Journal

Girls Lacrosse

Reigning Division 2 champion East Grand Rapids needed overtime to survive, 11-9, against Grand Rapids Catholic Central – Fox17

Rockford just edged Grand Rapids Forest Hills United 9-8 to move on in Division 1 – Grand Rapids Press

Girls Soccer

Division 3 No. 6 Freeland won its seventh straight District title, this time with a 4-1 championship game clincher over Alma – Midland Daily News

Division 4 No. 2 Elk Rapids moved to 21-0 this season with an 8-0 championship game win over No. 14 Leland – Traverse City Record-Eagle

Softball

Blissfield downed No. 6 Dundee to start Saturday, but top-ranked Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central beat Blissfield 4-1 in 10 innings in the Division 3 championship game – Adrian Daily Telegram

After seeing a 10-year District streak snapped in 2015, New Baltimore Anchor Bay made it 11 in 12 seasons with a 2-1 avenging of last year’s loss to Harrison Township L’Anse Creuse in Division 1 – Macomb Daily

Fulton won its first District title in this sport, downing rival Fowler 8-3 in the Division 4 championship game – Mount Pleasant Morning Sun

Girls Tennis

Four MHSAA Lower Peninsula tennis teams won championships: Midland Dow in Division 1 after finishing runner-up in 2015, Bloomfield Hills Marian in Division 2 for the first time since 2013, Detroit County Day in Division 3 breaking a five-year hold on the title by Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood, and Bloomfield Hills Academy of the Sacred Heart in a repeat in Division 4 – Second Half

Girls Track & Field

We covered all seven championship meets across both peninsulas, with the following teams winning titles: Oak Park, Lansing Waverly, Ithaca, Fowler, Marquette, Ishpeming and Ontonagon. Ithaca and Lansing Waverly's titles were their first, and Ontonagon’s its first since 1974 – Second Half

Boys Track & Field

We also covered all seven boys meets, with the following champions: Oak Park, Orchard Lake St. Mary’s, Sanford Meridian, Saugatuck, Marquette, Ishpeming and Rapid River. Oak Park’s title was its first in the sport – Second Half