Today in the MHSAA: 3/14/16

March 14, 2016

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

The MHSAA Gymnastics, Hockey and Boys Swimming and Diving seasons closed this weekend with seven team and multiple individual champions honored, and the boys basketball postseason finished its first week with a number of communities celebrating for the first time in a long time.

Boys Basketball

Battle Creek Central claimed its first District title since 2008, downing Kalamazoo Loy Norrix in a Class A Final – Battle Creek Enquirer

Lowell claimed its first District title since 1984 with a Class A win – Grand Rapids Press

Dylan Carl went over 1,000 points for his career as Alma downed Ovid-Elsie in a Class B Final – Mount Pleasant Morning Sun

Kingsford upset Great Northern Conference champion Menominee to claim a Class B title – Iron Mountain Daily News

In Class C, Hanover-Horton won its 15th straight District championship – Jackson Citizen-Patriot

Ishpeming Westwood pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the week, downing rival Ishpeming in a Class C Final – Marquette Mining Journal

Niles Brandywine earned its first District title since 2001 with a Class C win – Niles Daily Star

Rock Mid-Peninsula claimed its first District title in two decades with a Class D victory – Escanaba Daily Press

Pickford also picked up a first District title in decades, beating Brimley to win for the first time since 1992 – Sault Ste. Marie Evening News

Gymnastics

Despite losing senior standout Madi Myers to an injury midway through the meet, Rockford/Sparta repeated as MHSAA champion after finishing with a strong rotation on beam – Second Half

Grand Ledge’s Rachel Hogan followed three top-10 finishes to end her high school career as the Division 1 individual champion Saturday – Second Half

Ice Hockey

Detroit Catholic Central extended its Division 1 title streak to three under a third coach – Second Half

Romeo added a hockey championship to its fall football title, winning Division 2 for the first time – Second Half

Hancock won its first MHSAA title since 1999 finishing an impressive run with a Division 3 clincher over Grand Rapids Catholic Central – Second Half

Boys Swimming & Diving

Birmingham Brother Rice claimed its third straight Lower Peninsula Division 1 championship, outracing the field by 77 points – Second Half

Dexter built an early lead and won LP Division 2 for the second time in five seasons – Second Half

Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood also won a third straight title, claiming LP Division 3 ahead of East Grand Rapids – Second Half

Today in the MHSAA: 5/25/17

May 25, 2017

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Last-minute goals tipped the statewide drama toward boys lacrosse and girls soccer Wednesday, as the Regional tournament continued in the former and league titles were awarded on the pitch.

Each weekday during the school year, we’ll gather and post media links covering the most significant and intriguing high school events from all over the state.

Baseball

Division 3 No. 7 Madison Heights Bishop Foley downed Division 2 No. 8 Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard 9-1 to claim the Detroit Catholic League Class C-D title for the fifth time in six seasons – MLive-Detroit

Standish-Sterling shut out Shepherd twice to claim the Tri-Valley Conference Central title – Bay City Times

From Tuesday, Division 3 No. 4 Homer downed Athens to win the Big 8 Conference championship, and in the second game gave coach Scott Salow his 500th win – Jackson Citizen Patriot

From Monday, Livonia Clarenceville won its first league title since 1982 by downing Dearborn Heights Robichaud in the Western Wayne Athletic Conference Red – Observer & Eccentric

Boys Golf

Jonesville secured the Big 8 Conference championship with a 26-stroke victory at the league tournament – Hillsdale Daily News

Boys Lacrosse

Vicksburg, No. 7 heading into the postseason, downed Battle Creek Harper Creek for the third time this season, this time 10-8, to advance to a Division 2 Regional Final – Kalamazoo Gazette

Canton came back from seven goals down to get past Saline 13-11 in a Division 1 Regional game – Observer & Eccentric

Plymouth scored with 38 seconds to play to edge Ann Arbor Pioneer 8-7, also in Division 1 – Observer & Eccentric

Girls Soccer

Division 1 No. 2 Brighton scored with 1:01 left to play to beat No. 6 Novi 2-1 and earn the Kensington Lakes Activities Association overall title – Livingston Daily Press & Argus

Roseville came back to down Sterling Heights 5-4 and claim its first soccer league title, in the Macomb Area Conference Silver – Macomb Daily

Division 2 No. 4 Trenton finished a sweep of second-place Brownstown Woodhaven to claim the Downriver League title – Southgate News Herald

Division 3 No. 5 Grosse Ile clinched the Huron League championship with a 3-2 win over Riverview – Southgate News Herald

From Tuesday, Division 4 No. 20 Harbor Beach finished an undefeated run through the Greater Thumb Conference North with a 4-1 win over Bad Axe – Huron Daily Tribune

Softball

Parma Western’s Taylor Nichols threw a five-inning perfect game in the first of a sweep of Mason – Jackson Citizen Patriot

From Tuesday, Quincy swept Springport to lock up the Big 8 Conference title – Coldwater Daily Reporter

Also from Tuesday, Lake Odessa Lakewood earned a share of the Greater Lansing Activities Conference title, their fourth straight league crown – Ionia Sentinel-Standard

Track & Field

The Chesaning boys and Shepherd girls won Tri-Valley Conference Central championships; for Lower Peninsula Division 3 No. 6 Shepherd, it was the sixth straight – Saginaw News

Bay City Western’s girls, ranked No. 9 in LP Division 1, won their first Saginaw Valley League title in 20 years, edging No. 7 Davison by six points; Flint Carman-Ainsworth won the boys title by seven points over Western – Midland Daily News

The Breckenridge boys won their first league title in this sport since 1995 – Mount Pleasant Morning Sun

Traverse City Central swept the boys and girls championships at the Big North Conference meet; the boys are tied for No. 7 in LP Division 1 with Traverse City West – Traverse City Record-Eagle

Good Read

Longtime sports editor Bill Broderick writes that the Big Ten should stay away from playing football on Friday nights. We couldn’t agree more – Battle Creek Enquirer