Today in the MHSAA: 4/22/19

April 22, 2019

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

From track to softball to soccer, big wins and big upsets dominated this weekend as we go back to Thursday night for today’s list of high achievers.

1. Track & Field: Zeeland East’s girls and boys teams are looking like contenders again after sweeping the Grand Rapids Elite Challenge titles – Holland Sentinel

2. Softball: Traverse City West split with Division 2 No. 5 Muskegon Oakridge, earning its win on a walk-off homer – Muskegon Chronicle

3. Softball: Division 4 honorable mention Three Oaks River Valley downed No. 6 Onaway 10-9 in 10 innings to clinch the Holton Invitational title – Alpena News

4. Girls Soccer: No. 11 Rochester Hills Stoney Creek should be moving up in Division 1 after a 2-0 win over No. 4 Troy – Oakland Press

5. Girls Soccer: Top-ranked Novi downed No. 6 Hartland 4-0 in a league matchup of top Division 1 teams statewide – Livingston Daily Press & Argus

6. Girls Tennis: Lower Peninsula Division 2 No. 9 Traverse City Central and No. 7 Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central tied for the Twin Bay Quad title – Traverse City Record-Eagle

7. Boys Golf: LPD1 No. 8 Clarkston shot a 287 to win the Green/Black/Gold/Orange tournament 19 strokes ahead of runner-up and No. 5 Birmingham Brother Rice – Livingston Daily Press & Argus

8. Track & Field: Deckerville’s girls and boys swept their home invitational titles – Huron Daily Tribune

9. Track & Field: Midland’s girls edged Traverse City West and Traverse City Central’s boys edged Alpena to win Graves/Swayze Relays titles at Midland Community Stadium – Midland Daily News

10. Softball: Quincy downed Gobles and Niles Brandywine to win Brandywine’s invitational – Coldwater Daily Reporter

Also of note …

Boys Basketball: The Detroit Mumford community is mourning the death of former coach and athletic director Sam “Sonny” Taub – Detroit News

Today in the MHSAA: 5/6/19

May 6, 2019

By Geoff Kimmerly
Special for Second Half

Finishes both close and historic highlighted the first weekend of May as top teams navigated the rain in many places in kicking off the final month of the regular season.

1. Softball: Grace Lehto nearly threw a perfect game as Division 2 No. 3 Eaton Rapids edged Division 3 top-ranked Millington to win the “marquee matchup” of the MI Stars Tournament – State Champs Sports Network 

2. Boys Golf: By way of a fifth-golfer tie-breaker, Gaylord – No. 10 in Lower Peninsula Division 2 – edged LPD1 No. 6 Grosse Pointe South to win its invitational with a near-school record score – Gaylord Herald Times

3. Track & Field: Zeeland West’s boys won their 12th-straight Holland West Ottawa Von Ins Relays, while Lower Peninsula Division 1 No. 6 Grand Haven and No. 7 West Ottawa’s girls shared their meet championship – Holland Sentinel

4. Boys Golf: Nathan Taylor finished as medalist to lead Muskegon Mona Shores to the Greater Muskegon Athletic Association championship, 30 years after his father won the same tournament – Muskegon Chronicle

5. Track & Field: The Muskegon Reeths-Puffer girls won their 10th straight GMAA title, and the Fruitport boys won their sixth straight – Local Sports Journal

6. Softball: Division 3 No. 7 Standish-Sterling edged No. 3 Sanford Meridian 5-4 to win Meridian’s invitational – Midland Daily News

7. Softball: Division 2 No. 4 Stevensville Lakeshore defeated Schoolcraft in the final to win its invitational for the first time – St. Joseph Herald-Palladium

8. Boys Golf: Troy edged Rochester by 12 strokes to win the Oakland County Division 2 championship – Oakland Press

9. Softball: Muskegon Reeths-Puffer and Division 2 No. 5 Oakridge both won their fourth straight GMAA softball titles – Muskegon Chronicle

10. Track & Field: A total of 61 teams including a number of the best from multiple divisions participated at the Triangle Invitational at Saline – Athletic.net