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: 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