Today in the MHSAA: 5/22/19
May 23, 2019
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
The league championship portion of our spring continued in full force Tuesday, with today’s list of achievers topped by a team celebrating for the first time in a long time.
1. Baseball: Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern clinched its first league title since 2000, sweeping Cedar Springs in the Ottawa-Kent Conference White – Grand Rapids Press
2. Track & Field: Pittsford’s boys and girls both edged Hillsdale Academy’s to sweep Southern Central Athletic Association meet titles, the boys by three points and the girls by just one; the Pittsford boys are ranked No. 6 and girls No. 2 in Lower Peninsula Division 4, and Hillsdale Academy’s girls are No. 1 – Hillsdale Daily News
3. Track & Field: Addison’s LPD4 top-ranked boys clinched their first Cascades Conference championship since 2003, and the LPD3 No. 4 Onsted girls also were victorious – Adrian Daily Telegram
4. Softball: Division 4 top-ranked Coleman clinched its fifth straight Mid-State Activities Conference title with a sweep of Breckenridge – Mount Pleasant Morning Sun
5. Track & Field: Corunna’s girls locked up their fifth straight Genesee Area Conference Red title – Owosso Argus-Press
6. Baseball: Richmond swept Algonac to clinch a share of the Blue Water Area Conference title, its 19th in 21 seasons – Port Huron Times-Herald
7. Baseball: Kingsley swept Division 4 No. 14 Maple City Glen Lake to win its first Northwest Conference championship in 13 years – Traverse City Record-Eagle
8. Girls & Boys Golf: Iron River West Iron County swept the Western Peninsula Athletic Conference tournament titles – Iron Mountain Daily News
9. Track & Field: Parma Western swept Interstate 8 Athletic Conference meet championships – Coldwater Daily Reporter
10. Track & Field: Clare’s girls and boys repeated as Jack Pine Conference meet champions; the girls are ranked No. 1 and the boys No. 2 in LPD3 – Mount Pleasant Morning Sun
Also of note …
Baseball: Division 4 No. 7 Beal City clinched a share of the Highland Conference title with a sweep of Leroy Pine River – Mount Pleasant Morning Sun
Track & Field: The New Lothrop boys and Byron girls finished championship runs through the Mid-Michigan Activities Conference – Owosso Argus-Press
Track & Field: The Centreville girls and Bloomingdale boys celebrated Southwest 10 Conference meet championships – Sturgis Journal
Baseball: Cheboygan swept Pickford to secure the Straits Area Conference title – Cheboygan News
Track & Field: Kingsley swept Northwest Conference league meet titles; the girls are ranked No. 2 and the boys No. 5 in LPD3 – Traverse City Record-Eagle Boys | Girls
Softball: Division 2 No. 5 Muskegon Oakridge swept Mason County Central to lock up its fourth straight West Michigan Conference championship – Local Sports Journal
Softball: Division 1 honorable mention Jenison swept Muskegon Reeths-Puffer to clinch the O-K Black championship – Muskegon Chronicle
Softball: Cheboygan finished its repeat run in the Straits Area Conference with a sweep of Pickford – Cheboygan News
Track & Field: Newberry’s boys and St. Ignace’s girls won Straits Area Conference league meet titles – Cheboygan News
Track & Field: The Rapid River boys and Felch North Dickinson girls locked up Skyline Central Conference meet titles – Escanaba Daily Press
Track & Field: Warren Mott’s boys and Macomb L’Anse Creuse North’s girls won Macomb Area Conference Blue meet titles, while Macomb Dakota’s teams swept the Red and are ranked No. 4 (boys) and No. 5 (girls) in LPD1 – Macomb Daily
Did You See That? (April 22-28)
April 29, 2013
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
The clouds finally began to break last week. And as expected, teams in every spring sport quickly got started catching up on what they'd had to put off most of this month.
Read on for some of the top headlines from all over the state, plus our favorite story – which highlights a pair of officials who will be recognized this weekend for their dedication to high school athletics.
Good Read of the Week
Father/Daughter rule the diamond: Ralph Burr will be among those celebrated by the MHSAA this weekend for 50 years of service as an official. But the past 20 have been his favorite – his daughter and umpiring partner Jackie will be recognized this weekend for her two decades of service. (Muskegon Chronicle).
Softball
McClure strikes again: Manchester pitcher Katie McClure set her school's career record of 511 strikeouts after totaling 27 more at Saturday’s Concord Invitational. Her team won the event by beating the host 3-1 in the final. (Jackson Citizen-Patriot)
One vs. One: In what has become arguably the best softball rivalry in the state, Stevensville Lakeshore swept Mattawan 4-2 and 9-4 on Thursday in a matchup of top-ranked teams. Lakeshore is ranked No. 2 in Division 2, while Mattawan holds the top spot in Division 1. (St. Joseph Herald-Palladium)
Another Clinton ace: That’s Cami Prater, who has taken over for graduated standout Tierney Nelson and no-hit the No. 5-ranked host at Saturday’s Springport Invitational. Prater hit a home run as Clinton won last season’s Division 3 championship game. (Adrian Daily Telegram)
Snowbirds down No. 1: Gaylord St. Mary scored in the bottom of the seventh inning to upset Division 4 No. 1 Onaway 2-1 a week ago before settling for a hard-earned split. (Gaylord Herald-Times)
Girls Lacrosse
“Play Day” perfection: Rockford hosted its fourth “Play Day” on Saturday, and the Division 1 top-ranked Rams finished it with wins over No. 2 Hartland and No. 3 Brighton. Grand Rapids Catholic Central, No. 2 in Division 2, also beat Hartland, along with Troy Athens and Division 2 No. 3 Ann Arbor Pioneer. (Grand Rapids Press)
Boys Golf
Upper hand, DCC: Detroit Catholic Central won what is one of the most competitive regular-season events every spring, claiming the Division 1 portion of the Traverse City Central Invitational by edging reigning champion Muskegon Mona Shores. Mona Shores finished third and DCC sixth at last season’s MHSAA Division 1 Final. (Traverse City Record-Eagle)
Baseball
Long time coming: Gladstone earned its first wins 4-3 and 5-0 over Negaunee on Friday, and those also happen to be the program’s first victories in more than a half century. The Escanaba Daily Press reports this as Gladstone’s first baseball team in 54 years. (Escanaba Daily Press)
East Lansing rises at Dow: East Lansing needed just about every one of its 16 runs over the final two games of Saturday’s Midland Dow Invitational, but came away with the championship after beating Division 3 No. 4 Saginaw Nouvel 8-7 in the final. East Lansing advanced with an 8-6 win over Dow. (Saginaw News)
Weisenberger throws no-no again: Sanford Meridian had three wins after Thursday, and two were no-hitters by pitcher Jonah Weisenberger. He threw his second in that night’s opener against Beaverton. (Midland Daily News)
Portage Northern rallies: The Huskies look like they could be an emerging force again from the Kalamazoo area, and moved to 5-2 by winning their home invitational Saturday. Portage Northern defeated Division 4 No. 2 Gobles in the championship game. (Kalamazoo Gazette)
Track and Field
Hornets buzz: Williamston’s boys, who tied for ninth at last season MHSAA Division 2 Final, won the Spartan Classic at Michigan State University, finishing eight points ahead of Division 1 power Rockford. Reigning Division 1 girls champion Grosse Pointe South won its side of the meet by a much more significant 51 points. (Playmakers.com (full results), Lansing State Journal)
All-Battle Creek is all Lakeview: Battle Creek Lakeview continues to dominate its city’s track and field scene, and again won its all-city meets Friday. The girls won despite not running standout Sarita Dotson, who was out with an injury. (Battle Creek Enquirer).
Football
Stoney Creek celebrates Fisher: A Rochester Hills Stoney Creek football coach remembered Thursday how Eric Fisher was 6-foot-1 and 150 pounds as a high school freshman. That night, Fisher was selected first in the NFL draft out of Central Michigan University by the Kansas City Chiefs. (Detroit News)