Today in the MHSAA: 5/13/19
May 13, 2019
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Michigan high school teams are reaching postseason form, as the weekend was filled with league championships in a variety of sports, big time matchups in a few others plus a series of record book-worthy performances.
1. Track & Field: The Zeeland East girls and Zeeland West boys won O-K Green league meet titles; both are ranked No. 1 in LPD2 – Holland Sentinel Girls | Boys
2. Girls Tennis: Rockford, No. 9 in Lower Peninsula Division 1, scored four more points than No. 6 Holland West Ottawa at the Ottawa-Kent Conference Red tournament to create a shared league title between the ranked programs – Holland Sentinel
3. Boys Lacrosse: Birmingham Brother Rice got past rival Detroit Catholic Central 16-12 to win the Detroit Catholic League tournament final; they were ranked Nos. 1 and 4, respectively, in Division 1 entering the week – Oakland Press
4. Softball: Division 3 No. 1 Millington scored a 3-0 win over Division 2 top-ranked Escanaba at the Eskymos’ invitational – Escanaba Daily Press
5. Track & Field: The Saline boys won their ninth straight Southeastern Conference Red title on the league meet’s final event, while Ann Arbor Pioneer won the girls championship – Saline Post Boys | Girls
6. Girls Soccer: Division 1 No. 3 Rochester Hills Stoney Creek downed No. 2 Midland 1-0, handing the Chemics their first loss – Midland Daily News
7. Softball: Division 1 No. 9 Hartland won the South Lyon quad, with a 1-0 win over the host and No. 4-ranked Lions – State Champs Sports Network
8. Girls Tennis: LPD1 No. 1 Grosse Pointe South earned a 6-2 win over No. 4 Midland Dow, which earned victories over No. 7 Troy and LPD2 No. 5 Holly at the GPS quad – Midland Daily News
9. Girls Tennis: Fruitport locked up its third straight O-K Black championship – Grand Haven Tribune
10. Track & Field: Milford completed a sweep of Lakes Valley Conference meet championships – Oakland Press
Also of note …
Girls Tennis: Ludington finished a sweep of Lakes 8 Conference championships by winning the league tournament – Ludington Daily News
Track & Field: The Otsego boys and Vicksburg girls won Wolverine Conference meet championships – JoeInsider.com
Track & Field: The Spring Lake girls earned a shared O-K Blue title with a league meet win, while Allendale’s boys won their side of the meet – Grand Haven Tribune
Track & Field: The Brighton boys and Northville girls won Kensington Lakes Activities Association meet championships – Livingston Daily Press & Argus
Softball: Frankfort’s Natalie Bigley hit five home runs over a double-header sweep of Bellaire, including three straight in the second game – Traverse City Record-Eagle
Baseball: Sanford Meridian’s Hunter Merillat had two doubles during a loss to Pinconning to reach 68 for his career, tying the MHSAA record – Midland Daily News
Track & Field: Coldwater thrower Dylan Targgart tossed the shot 65-9 at the Williamston Invitational, a distance that would break the LPD2 Finals record – Coldwater Daily Reporter
Baseball: Division 1 No. 17 Grand Ledge swept DeWitt, sending coach Pat O’Keefe past 1,300 career wins – Lansing State Journal
Track & Field: Definitely worth watching is Texas high school sprinter Matthew Boling setting a national record in the 100 meters at Saturday’s UIL meet with a time of 10.13 seconds – Corpus Christi Caller Times
Today in the MHSAA: 10/15/15
October 15, 2015
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Championship are won on a seemingly daily basis in October, and plenty were earned and celebrated Wednesday – but please also check out some great reads at the bottom of this list, including a look at why specialization is increasing as a nationwide concern.
Cross Country
The Saugatuck girls, ranked No. 2 in Lower Peninsula Division 4, won their ninth straight Southwestern Athletic Conference title with 12 runners earning all-league honors – Grand Rapids Press
Boys Soccer
LP Division 2 No. 5 East Lansing capped an impressive run through the Capital Area Activities Conference Gold Cup by winning the final 3-1 over Grand Ledge – Lansing State Journal
LP Division 1 No. 15 East Kentwood secured its 12th Ottawa-Kent Conference Red title in 13 seasons with a 1-0 win over Grandville, helped in part by a pair of players whose ties the program go back to the early years of the run – Grand Rapids Press
LP Division 1 No. 7 Utica Ford shut out No. 14 Fraser to clinch the Macomb Area Conference Red championship – Macomb Daily
Unranked Birmingham Brother Rice stunned LP Division 1 No. 3 Detroit Catholic Central 2-1 in the championship game of the Detroit Catholic League A-B tournament – Oakland Press
LP Division 4 No. 11 Charlevoix clinched a share of the Lake Michigan Conference title with a 3-0 win over Grayling, thanks to a hat trick by Walker Drost – Charlevoix Courier
Saginaw Heritage scored the first goal Flint Powers Catholic had given up since Sept. 12, but the Chargers emerged with a 2-1 win and the overall Saginaw Valley League championship – Flint Journal
Volleyball
Lansing Catholic won the first volleyball league championship in its long history, beating Fowlerville in three sets to claim a share of the CAAC White title – Lansing State Journal
Good Reads
Single-sport specialization has become a topic of national focus and concern, and MHSAA Executive Director Jack Roberts was among association directors talked to for this report on why it’s a health-related issue and how states are working to promote multi-sport participation instead – NFHS.org
Vandercook Lake is enjoying its best football season in 45 years and plays for a league title this weekend, and is led by a three-sport athlete who has been on a long road back after Crohn’s disease led to his shedding 90 pounds only two years ago – Jackson Citizen-Patriot
The Christmas tree standing tall in front of the Capitol in Lansing this winter will come from Wakefield thanks to a donation by Florence Daniels in honor of her husband Jim, who coached Wakefield High's boys basketball team to 355 wins, 12 district the five regional titles in 28 seasons. He also was a member of Channing High’s Upper Peninsula championship team in 1944 and coached Al Inkala, who went on to become an MHSAA championship-winning girls tennis coach at Okemos – Lansing State Journal