Today in the MHSAA: 5/21/18

May 21, 2018

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
 

Each weekday of the school year, we break down the top headlines courtesy of Michigan’s sports media.

1. Track & Field: Saline’s boys won their eighth straight Regional title, in Lower Peninsula Division 1, by a mere point over Ann Arbor Pioneer – Saline Post

2. Track & Field: The top-ranked Ada Forest Hills Eastern girls won their fifth straight Regional title, edging East Grand Rapids by fewer than two points in LPD2 – Grand Rapids Press

3. Track & Field: The reigning Upper Peninsula Division 3 champion girls from Lake Linden-Hubbell continued their undefeated run this spring with a Regional title – Houghton Daily Mining Gazette

4. Girls Soccer: Division 2 top-ranked Bloomfield Hills Marian got past Division 3 No. 6 Warren Regina 2-1 in overtime to claim the Detroit Catholic League Division 1 tournament title – Oakland Press

5. Girls Tennis: No. 2 Northville swept the flight championships in winning its LPD1 Regional with a perfect 24 points – Observer & Eccentric

6. Girls Tennis: Traverse City St. Francis, No. 3 in LPD4, won its Regional as expected, with Charlevoix also qualifying for the MHSAA Finals for the first time – Traverse City Record-Eagle

7. Track & Field: Beal City’s boys, No. 2 in LPD4, had only one individual first place but won their first team Regional title since 1999 – Mount Pleasant Morning Sun

8. Baseball: Division 1 No. 7 Brownstown Woodhaven extended its school-record winning streak to 21 games with a 5-4 8-inning win over Gibraltar Carlson; the previous day, Woodhaven’s MHSAA record opponents’ scoreless streak came to an end at 60 innings – Southgate News Herald

9. Baseball: Ludington swept Division 4 No. 13 Muskegon Catholic Central to clinch the Lakes 8 Conference title, its first league championship since 2006 – Ludington Daily News

10. Track & Field: Deckerville’s girls, No. 7 in LPD4, added their sixth straight Regional title to a league title won earlier in the week – Huron Daily Tribune

Also of note …

Softball: From Thursday, Muskegon Mona Shores’ Taylor Dew hit her 50th home run as she and Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard’s Julia Kennedy continue to re-set the MHSAA career record – Local Sports Journal

Baseball: From Thursday, Division 1 No. 21 Byron Center finished a three-game sweep of Division 2 No. 6 Holland Christian to claim a share of the Ottawa-Kent Conference Green title – FOX 17

Volleyball: Novi coach Jennifer Cottrill resigned after leading the Wildcats to the last three Class A championships Oakland Press

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