Today in the MHSAA: 5/22/17

May 22, 2017

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

This past weekend belonged mostly to Track & Field Regionals, with some familiar faces – Oak Park and Saugatuck among them – shining brightest again.

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

Mattawan, coached by Joe Clifford, downed younger brother Phil Clifford and Jackson Lumen Christi to win the Al Glick Classic – Jackson Citizen Patriot

Essexville Garber equaled its most wins since 2006 in claiming its invitational title, and after opening with a 10-run victory over Division 4 No. 9 Saginaw Nouvel – Bay City Times

Howell swept Division 1 No. 5 Birmingham Brother Rice 8-0 and 4-2 – Livingston Daily Press & Argus

Boys Lacrosse

Vi Lobo set Midland’s career scoring record with three goals in a 17-1 Division 1 Regional win over Holly/Ortonville Brandon – Midland Daily News

Softball

Ishpeming Westwood won the Mid-Peninsula Conference tournament for the first time, downing Norway in the final – Marquette Mining Journal

Girls Tennis

Bay City All Saints and Frankenmuth shared a Lower Peninsula Division 4 Regional title after an All Saints win in the final match – Bay City Times

St. Joseph won an LP Division 2 Regional title by two points over three runners-up – St. Joseph Herald-Palladium

Track & Field

Oak Park’s girls and boys – both reigning MHSAA Finals champions – dominated in sweeping LP Division 1 Regional titles – Oakland Press

Saugatuck’s boys and girls teams won their fifth straight Regional titles, this time in LP Division 3; the girls are ranked No. 1 and the boys No. 3 – Grand Rapids Press

Led by a star freshman, Lansing Waverly’s girls won their first Regional title after winning their first MHSAA Finals title last season – Lansing State Journal

Battle Creek St. Phillip’s boys won their first Regional title since 1982 after entering the meet ranked No. 3 in LP Division 4 – Battle Creek Enquirer

Bessemer’s boys won their fifth straight Regional title, while Lake Linden-Hubbell’s girls also dominated at Wakefield-Marenisco – Houghton Daily Mining Gazette

The Houghton boys and Negaunee girls won Regional titles at Ishpeming – Houghton Daily Mining Gazette

Salem’s No. 4-ranked boys won their LP Division 1 Regional by 36 points – Observer & Eccentric

Livonia Churchill’s girls repeated as LP Division 1 Regional champions by edging No. 3 Plymouth – Observer & Eccentric

Zeeland East swept LP Division 2 Regional titles; the girls are ranked No. 3 and the boys No. 4 – Holland Sentinel

No. 3 Pittsford edged No. 4 Hillsdale Academy by 3.5 points to win their LP Division 4 Regional – Hillsdale Daily News

Coldwater’s No. 5-ranked boys remained undefeated on the season with an LP Division 2 Regional title – Coldwater Daily Reporter

Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart’s girls won their first Regional title "in decades," finishing 46 points better than the LP Division 4 field – Mount Pleasant Morning Sun

Shepherd’s No. 6 girls finished 46 points better than reigning LP Division 3 champion Ithaca to claim a Regional title – Mount Pleasant Morning Sun

Niles’ boys won their second Regional title in three seasons in LP Division 2 – Niles Daily Star

Today in the MHSAA: 12/10/15

December 10, 2015

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Wednesday was the first day of winter in full swing with significant matchups coming in six sports as four got into the heart of their first week of the season. Be sure to check out as well a story on MHSAA officials recruiting efforts.

Girls Basketball

Traverse City St. Francis won an early battle between two of the north’s top small-school teams, downing Frankfort (featured today on Second Half) 76-72 – Traverse City Record-Eagle

A pair of Concord players filled the stat sheet in a 62-56 win over Michigan Center; senior Lindsey Lehmen led with 24 points, five assists, four rebounds and four steals, and sophomore Camryn Ward grabbed 19 rebounds – Jackson Citizen-Patriot

Boys Basketball

From Tuesday, Sanford Meridian freshman Lucas Lueder will be among first-year players to watch, if his 18 points in a 65-61 win over Saginaw Nouvel are an indication – Midland Daily News

Boys Bowling

Vandercook Lake could be in line for an exciting season or four after watching freshmen Korey Reichard (278) and Conner Lackey (267) lead the way in a 29-1 win over Grass Lake – Jackson Citizen-Patriot

Ice Hockey

Division 3 No. 10 Farmington’s two first-period goals were enough as the Falcons scored a key early-season win over Division 2 No. 4 Berkley – Oakland Press

After finishing regulation tied, Division 2 No. 9 Traverse City Central needed only 14 seconds of overtime to get past Cadillac 4-3 – Traverse City Record-Eagle

Boys Swimming & Diving

Chelsea coach Dave Jolly was the mid-Michigan link to Wednesday’s Waverly Relays, the annual event for Lansing-area teams to kick off the season; his Lower Peninsula Division 3 No. 3-ranked team broke Okemos’ five-year hold on the meet championship – Lansing State Journal

Wrestling

No. 3 Davison earned one of the most significant early wins so far this season, 45-27 over No. 4 Brighton, which beat Davison in the Division 1 Semifinals last season – Livingston Daily

Saginaw Swan Valley, No. 8 in Division 3, just escaped Essexville Garber for a 32-30 win – Saginaw News

Good Read

After more than five decades as an official, Dick Kalahar is watching from the stands this season. He is among a growing number of retiring officials the MHSAA is charged with replacing over the next few years, and this piece looks at some of the challenges and opportunities, in part through Kalahar’s eyes – Jackson Citizen-Patriot