Today in the MHSAA: 4/14/16
April 14, 2016
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
A set of milestone coaching wins and the passing of a legendary basketball coach received the biggest headlines Thursday.
Baseball
Hudsonville coach Dave VanNoord added his 500th career win with his team’s 6-1 victory over Zeeland East – Grand Rapids Press
Pinch-hitter Connor Margosian drove in two runs to give Richmond an 8-7 walk-off win over Marysville – Port Huron Times Herald
From Tuesday, St. Louis won the 300th game of coach Rollie Carman’s career, 9-1 over Harrison – Mount Pleasant Morning Sun
Girls Lacrosse
Spring Lake opened a 7-3 lead, Grand Haven caught up at 10-10 to force overtime, and Spring Lake then prevailed with one more goal – Grand Haven Tribune
Girls Soccer
Frankenmuth scored with six seconds to play to edge Midland Bullock Creek 2-1 – Midland Daily News
Softball
Jenison gave coach Kari Kossen the 399th and 400th wins of her 17-season career leading the program with a sweep of Grand Rapids Northview – Grand Rapids Press
Dowagiac swept Decatur 10-0 and 10-8 with pitcher Taylor Hulett tossing a no-hitter in the opener – Niles Daily Star
Good Read
The Lansing and statewide basketball communities are mourning one of the winningest coaches in Michigan high school history, Paul Cook, who died Tuesday evening and coached the first two Mr. Basketball winners and also won an MHSAA title with the Lansing Catholic girls – Lansing State Journal
Today in the MHSAA: 10/19/16
October 19, 2016
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
District soccer continued Tuesday and league champions were crowned in volleyball and cross country all over the Lower Peninsula – but the must-see stories are a pair of “good reads” coming out of the Jackson and Alpena areas.
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.
Cross Country
The Caro boys – No. 4 in Lower Peninsula Division 3 – and the No. 6 Shepherd girls won championships at the Tri-Valley Conference all-division final – Saginaw News
The Ubly girls and boys teams repeated as East champions at the Greater Thumb Conference championship race (Ubly's girls are No. 9 in LPD4), and the Reese girls and LPD4 honorable mention Cass City boys repeated as West winners – Huron Daily Tribune
Traverse City West swept the final Big North Conference jamborees, the West boys earning the league title and the Central girls finishing as overall league champion for the 14th straight season. The Central girls are No. 4 in LPD1 and the West girls are an honorable mention – Traverse City Record-Eagle
Harbor Springs’ boys (No. 2 LPD4) kept their undefeated season going with a third straight Lake Michigan Conference final championship, and Traverse City St. Francis (No. 2 LPD3) clinched the girls title – Petoskey News-Review
Boys Soccer
Division 1 No. 2 Portage Northern moved on with a 4-1 District win over Lansing Everett thanks to three goals by Ryan Melgar – Kalamazoo Gazette
Adrian Lenawee Christian freshman Zach Riordan set his school’s scoring record of 36 goals in an 8-0 Division 4 win over Clinton – Adrian Daily Telegram
Girls Swimming & Diving
LPD1 No. 2 Saline got past No. 10 Brighton 112-74 in a matchup of top Division 1 teams – Saline Post
Volleyball
Walled Lake Central repeated as Lakes champion in the Kensington Lakes Activities Association with a five-set win over Brighton – Livingston Daily Argus & Press
Class A top-ranked Novi swept Canton to win its fourth straight KLAA Kensington championship – Oakland Press
Marine City improved to 8-1 in the Macomb Area Conference Gold and clinched a share of the league title with a three-set win over Warren Mott – Port Huron Times Herald
Good Reads
The story of Brooklyn Columbia Central standout running back Micah Raby is captivating, if not from this passage alone about how his adopted parents found him: “Inside the missionary’s hut, on an ordinary table lay an ordinary bible box containing an extraordinary sight, and it caught Doug and Sandy Raby’s eyes and hearts immediately. Inside that bible box – no bigger than a size 10 shoebox – was a 1-month-old boy named Joseph, one of two surviving triplets. His brother did not survive the birth and the birth parents decided to keep the other one, believed to be a girl, because it was the biggest and had the greatest chance of surviving.” – Jackson Citizen-Patriot
Lincoln Alcona announcer Don Franklin first gave voice to the school’s athletic events in 1967, and will retire at the end of this school year with 50 years on the microphone announcing football and a number of other sports over a half century – Alpena News