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: 8/31/15

August 31, 2015

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

The final weekend of August was a giant weekend for MHSAA volleyball contenders, with some of the top regular-season events this fall providing opportunities for the best to see how they might match up when playoffs begin in two months.

Below are headlines for some of the key high school reports from across the state; the weekend’s football round-up will publish later this afternoon.  

Cross Country

Muskegon Reeths-Puffer’s Maryssa Depies set a course record of 18:11.3 to win the Big Red Invitational at McGraft Park – Muskegon Chronicle

Flint Powers Catholic’s top individual finisher came in ninth, but the Chargers girls as a team were first at the Lansing Catholic Invitational – Flint Journal

The reigning Lower Peninsula Division 2 champion Grand Rapids Christian boys repeated as winner of the prestigious Benzie Central Invitational, finishing ahead of Traverse City West and Central, while Central senior Anthony Berry won individually in 15:24 – Grand Rapids Press

Boys Soccer

Tawas, a Division 3 semifinalist last season, finished first from an Elk Rapids Invitational field that included Berkley and Saginaw Nouvel – Bay City Times

Volleyball

Lake Odessa Lakewood, last season’s Class B runner-up and the second-ranked team in that class this week, eliminated Class A No. 6 Grand Rapids Christian to win the West Michigan Volleyball Officials Association tournament for the first time in a decade – Grand Rapids Press

Class A No. 4 Grand Haven continued its perfect run at its outdoor Battle of the Boardwalk tournament, sweeping three opponents to remain undefeated through the event's third year – Grand Haven Tribune

Battle Creek Harper Creek, No. 9 in Class B, improved to 17-0 by winning the Cereal City Tournament at Pennfield with a 2-1 championship match win over Temperance Bedford, an MHSAA semifinalist last season in Class A – Battle Creek Enquirer

Good Reads

The Holland Sentinel introduced its top female athletes in that area’s history Sunday, and highlighted nationally-known softball star Kathy Arendsen and her successes during one of the MHSAA’s first Softball Finals – Holland Sentinel

Anyone who follows high school football history will enjoy going through the Muskegon Chronicle’s sampling of top-20 moments from that area’s football past – Muskegon Chronicle

More than 60 former Shepherd High School players from the last 25 seasons returned for an alumni doubleheader Sunday to honor coach Jack Nartker, who will retire after this spring – Mount Pleasant Morning Sun