Today in the MHSAA: 1/25/16

January 25, 2016

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

This weekend’s statewide action was highlighted by milestones – be it a 25-year winning streak, 600 wins total or 1,000 points scored.

Girls Basketball

Gaylord St. Mary’s senior Bekah Myler – also a member of the MHSAA Student Advisory Council – scored the 1,000th point of her career Friday in a win over Fife Lake Forest Area – Gaylord Herald Times

Grosse Pointe South trailed by 10 in the fourth quarter, but came back to beat Romeo in overtime 54-49 – Macomb Daily

Boys Bowling

Vandercook Lake rose from the eighth seed to win the first Mel Wolf Open championship, capped by a 74-pin victory over Belleville in the final – Jackson Citizen-Patriot

Boys Swimming & Diving

Battle Creek Lakeview won its 25th straight All-City championship with first places in all 12 events – Battle Creek Enquirer

Lower Peninsula Division 3 No. 10 Spring Lake won the Bridgman Invitational ahead of the host, an honorable mention in Division 1 – Grand Haven Tribune

Wrestling

Whitehall won its 10th straight Greater Muskegon Athletic Association championship, and senior Reilly Brown became the fifth wrestler in event history to win four individual championships – Muskegon Chronicle

Bronson won its first tournament since 2013, earning five victories including 53-20 over Lawton in the final to move to 20-0 this season – Coldwater Daily Reporter

Holly’s win over Warren Fitzgerald was the 600th of coach Don Pluta’s career, which dating as head coach of the program to 1983 – Flint Journal

Springport, No. 7 in Division 4, won the Lakeshore Super Duals ahead of a field that included Division 2 No. 5 Eaton Rapids and No. 8 Niles – Niles Daily Star

Today in the MHSAA: 2/2/16

February 2, 2016

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Statewide sports action Monday was light, so we’ll focus on a series of stories published today that should pull at your heart strings and put life’s little obstacles in proper perspective.

Good Reads

Mason’s Brendan Brown is fighting for his life, against a form of cancer that has led to the amputation of a leg and soon will mean the removal of parts of his lungs. The Bulldogs junior is fighting, and also continuing a high school bowling career that is inspiring opponents and those in his community – Jackson Citizen-Patriot

Also at Mason, Storm Miller might be the strongest athlete at his high school and finished third in a national weight-lifting competition last summer. He’s relying on strength now to fight a rare form of cancer that also initially was found in a leg – Lansing State Journal

Molly Holmes hasn't joined her siblings on the Leroy Pine River wrestling team yet – wait until next year – but she plays junior varsity basketball and is one of 13 kids in a family that loves sports – a family that adopted her after five foster placements and a fight to survive no child should experience – Cadillac News