Today in the MHSAA: 5/19/16
May 19, 2016
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
As tennis and track & field teams prepare to begin the postseason, there’s plenty of news to report from all over the state and a few features worth a little more of your time today as well.
Baseball
Howell claimed its first Kensington Lakes Activities Association overall title with a comeback win over Northville – Livingston Daily
Golf
Midland’s Top Kamnark shot a school-record 66 to lead his team to a second straight Saginaw Valley League overall championship – Midland Daily News
Softball
Canton rallied in the seventh inning to down Milford 5-4 and win the overall KLAA championship – Oakland Press
DeWitt handed Grand Ledge the Comets’ first loss this season to advance to the Lansing Softball Classic championship game with a 12-9 win – Lansing State Journal
New Haven won its first Macomb Area Conference championship since joining the league in 2005 with a 15-6 win over Clinton Township Clintondale – Macomb Daily
From Tuesday, Escanaba launched five homers over two games to sweep Gladstone by a combined 16-0 score – Escanaba Daily Press
Girls Tennis
Niles Brandywine won its fourth straight league title and ninth in 12 seasons by claiming the Berrien-Cass-St. Joseph Conference title – Niles Daily Star
Good Reads
The Adrian Daily Telegram did a quick Q & A with Blissfield baseball coach Larry Tuttle, one of two in MHSAA history with more than 1,200 wins – Adrian Daily Telegram
Saginaw Nouvel’s Mitch Morley is the son of former Nouvel star and Kansas City Royals minor leaguer Mike Morley, and also is talented on the diamond as well as the football field and basketball court – Saginaw News
Detroit Cass Tech’s Savalas Morgan has improved significantly to become an MHSAA contender in track, but that’s just one of his talents – Detroit News
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