Today in the MHSAA: 5/15/17
May 15, 2017
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
The last weekend of the track & field regular season featured league and invitational titles galore, and we've highlighted some of the most intriguing as well as the best from the rest of competition including a league title game between the top-ranked boys teams in Division 1.
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
Battle Creek Harper Creek downed Division 1 No. 12 Lakeview 3-1 to win the Battle Creek All-City championship – Battle Creek Enquirer
A bases-loaded walk in the seventh inning gave Division 2 No. 9 Fowlerville a 6-5 win over Lansing Catholic as the Gladiators clinched the Capital Area Activities Conference White title – Livingston Daily Press & Argus
Division 1 No. 8 Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett downed Division 3 No. 2 Schoolcraft 3-2 to win its invitational – Detroit News
Boys Golf
James Staab won medalist for the second straight season to lead Lakeview to its 14th straight Battle Creek All-City title – Battle Creek Enquirer
Lower Peninsula Division 2 No. 10 Grosse Ile shot a 295 to win the Marauder Invitational by 13 strokes, led by medalist Mitch Daly’s 69 – Southgate News Herald
Girls Lacrosse
Okemos, No. 4 in Division 2, won its 10th straight Capital Area Activities Conference title with a 17-9 win over Haslett/Williamston in the tournament final – Lansing State Journal
Boys Lacrosse
Division 1 top-ranked Birmingham Brother Rice locked down the Detroit Catholic League title with a 15-10 win over No. 2 Detroit Catholic Central – Oakland Press
Softball
Battle Creek Pennfield hung on to down Harper Creek in the Battle Creek All-City softball final – Battle Creek Enquirer
Warren Regina split with Farmington Hills Mercy, getting the one necessary win to clinch the Detroit Catholic League Central title – Macomb Daily
Girls Tennis
Niles Brandywine won its fifth straight league title and 10th over the last 13 seasons, this time by only a point over Comstock – Niles Daily Star
Track & Field
Bay City Western swept the Bay County titles, the boys for the ninth straight season; the girls are ranked No. 7 in Lower Peninsula Division 1 and the boys are No. 10 – Bay City Times
The Houghton boys and Lake Linden-Hubbell girls won Houghton County Invitational titles, the boys led by a record-setting performance by Clayton Sayen as he bested a school mark from 1991 and a meet record from 1995 – Houghton Daily Mining Gazette
Manton swept the titles at its invitational, defending the girls' No. 1 ranking and boys' No. 3 in LP Division 4 – Cadillac News
Unranked Novi finished 23.5 points ahead of LP Division 1 No. 3 Salem to claim the boys Kensington Lakes Activities Association Kensington title – Observer & Eccentric
Good Read
Comstock Park retired its first girls soccer number last week – the No. 3 of Kristin Stowie, who died in a snowmobile crash in 2010 – Grand Rapids Press
Holland West Ottawa Athletics Complex Recognized with National Award
December 12, 2023
Holland West Ottawa Public Schools’ new athletics complex, with architectural firm GMB, has been recognized as the top multi-field facility nationally by the American Sports Builders Association (ASBA), the national organization for builders and suppliers of materials for athletic facilities.
West Ottawa’s new stadium consists of two turf playing fields. The west field was designed deliberately without a surrounding track to bring the stands and field closer together with a central tunnel beneath the grandstands for the home team to enter onto the field. The same synthetic turf, light posts, and state-of-the-art audio/video systems are utilized on both fields for an equitable experience for all users.
Multiple ground-level entry points with access to the fields, barrier-free locker rooms and multiple seating options with elevator access also create accessibility for spectators, players, coaches, and support staff.
“This facility allows our students the opportunity to play in one of the premier complexes in the state of Michigan,” said Jeff Malloch, assistant superintendent of business services at West Ottawa Public Schools. “We have seen continued interest in lacrosse, football, and soccer, and this complex will be utilized by our community youth from elementary age to high school student-athletes.”
Adding elevated fan experiences, such as a concourse level between the upper and lower sections of the home stands, bigger bleachers, and updated concession stands and restrooms establish a venue for multiple sports and attract the entire community to utilize the facility.
“This is a one-of-a-kind facility for West Michigan, and it’s been wonderful to see student-athletes from across the state enjoy the complex’s unique amenities,” said Nate Bosch, a landscape architect with GMB. “The collaboration needed to make this project come to life was an inspiring process to be a part of, and we are so pleased to celebrate this accomplishment with West Ottawa.”
This is the first time a GMB project has been awarded a multi-field facility of the year honor by the ASBA. GMB also has received four Project of the Year honors in the outdoor tennis category and 20 distinguished awards from ASBA for other athletic facility projects over the past 12 years.
(Photos by M-Buck Studio.)