Today in the MHSAA: 5/24/17
May 24, 2017
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
This list can get pretty long this time of year as we try to link up to all of the coverage of league, District and Regional championships – almost as long, relatively speaking, as the 14-year league title streaks enjoyed by the Beal City baseball, Big Rapids boys golf and Clare boys track & field teams.
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
Essexville Garber posted a pair of big wins over Bridgeport to lock up the Tri-Valley Conference East title – Bay City Times
St. Clair earned a share of the Macomb Area Conference Blue title with a six-inning win over Warren Mott – Port Huron Times Herald
Beal City swept Lake City, finishing a 14th straight Highland Conference championship run – Mount Pleasant Morning Sun
Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood dealt Division 2 No. 1 Detroit Country Day an 11-3 loss – Detroit News
Traverse City West swept Gaylord to win its second straight Big North Conference title – Traverse City Record-Eagle
Golf
Hartland’s boys won a tie-breaker to claim the Kensington Lakes Activities Association title after tying with Howell and Grand Blanc shooting 313s – Livingston Daily Press & Argus
Calumet’s boys and Houghton’s Upper Peninsula Division 1 top-ranked girls won Houghton Invitational titles, clinching West Peninsula Athletic Conference titles in the process – Houghton Daily Mining Gazette
The Big Rapids boys – ranked No. 2 in LP Division 3 – won their 14th straight Central State Activities Association championship – Big Rapids News
Gaylord’s boys, No. 3 in LP Division 2, ran their tournament winning streak to nine, this time to clinch the Big North Conference title for the first time – Gaylord Herald Times
From Monday, Munising’s girls and Carney-Nadeau’s boys won Skyline Central Conference championships, with C-N’s Hunter Eichhorn shooting a 68 to lead his team – Marquette Mining Journal
Girls Soccer
Division 3 No. 9 Birch Run clinched a share of the TVC East title with a big win over Caro – Saginaw News
Division 2 No. 8 DeWitt downed Grand Ledge 3-1 to win the Capital Area Activities Conference Gold Cup for the second straight season and fourth time over the last seven years – Lansing State Journal
Softball
Division 3 No. 3 Millington pulled away for a 6-1 win with a late rally against Frankenmuth to claim the TVC East title before dropping its only league game this season, 8-4, in the second of the night – Saginaw News
Clinton Township Chippewa Valley clinched a share of the Macomb Area Conference White title, its first league crown since 2007 – Macomb Daily
Beal City secured its fifth straight Highland Conference title, running its league winning streak to 56 games with a sweep of Lake City – Mount Pleasant Morning Sun
Division 1 honorable mention Clarkston claimed the Oakland Activities Association title outright with a pair of shutouts of North Farmington – Oakland Press
Division 2 No. 8 Spring Lake downed Comstock Park to finish a perfect run through the Ottawa-Kent Conference Blue – Grand Haven Tribune
From Monday, Hemlock swept Saginaw Valley Lutheran to claim the TVC West title – Midland Daily News
Track & Field
The Bessemer boys and Lake Linden-Hubbell girls continued dominating seasons with Copper Mountain Conference titles – Houghton Daily Mining Gazette
Clare’s boys – top-ranked in LP Division 3 – won their 14th straight Jack Pine Conference title, while the No. 5 girls won their fourth consecutive – Mount Pleasant Morning Sun
The Beal City boys, No. 9 in LP Division 4, won their first Highland Conference title; McBain’s girls also were crowned league champs – Mount Pleasant Morning Sun
Warren DeLaSalle won its first Detroit Catholic League title in 21 years, while LP Division 2 No. 8 Dearborn Divine Child dominated on the girls side – Oakland Press
LP Division 2 No. 5 Coldwater swept titles at the Interstate Eight Athletic Conference meet, the boys to clinch the league title – Coldwater Daily Reporter
The Pittsford girls and Battle Creek St. Philip boys – both ranked No. 3 in LP Division 4 – won Southern Central Athletic Association meet titles – Hillsdale Daily News
Saugatuck swept Southwestern Athletic Conference titles, doubling up or nearly doubling up the runners-up in both meets; the girls are No. 1 in LP Division 3 and the boys are No. 3 – Holland Sentinel
Wyandotte Roosevelt swept the Downriver League meet titles, the girls for the third straight season and the boys for the second time in three – Southgate News Herald
Did You See That? (April 29-May 5)
May 7, 2013
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
The resignation of one of Michigan's winningest boys basketball coaches made arguably the biggest headlines during a week that also saw sad news about two more coaches who will be remembered fondly in their respective communities.
But before we get to those, here's also a look at the story of another coach making his way back from a challenging situation:
Good Read of the Week
DeWitt welcomed back by his teams: Last Monday's Holland Calvary vs. Holland Freedom Christian baseball doubleheader at Fifth Third Ballpark was more than just a chance to play some big games on a bigger-than-usual stage. The teams also welcomed coach Lanny DeWitt, who coaches basketball at Calvary and baseball and Freedom Christian and is recovering from a stroke suffered March 20. (Holland Sentinel)
Boys Basketball/Volleyball
Keener leaves for Arizona: Detroit Country Day boys basketball coach Kurt Keener – whose 678 victories are second in MHSAA history only to legendary River Rouge coach Lofton Greene – announced he was leaving Country Day after 35 years Friday to move to Arizona, where he will coach a high school team in Scottsdale. Keener led Country Day this winter to its ninth MHSAA boys hoops title. (Oakland Press)
Mona Shores hires veteran leaders: Muskegon Mona Shores announced Wednesday that it hired former Muskegon Community College athletic director and men’s basketball coach Gene Gifford to take over its boys hoops program, and former Fruitport coach Dan Potts to take over the volleyball program. Potts led Fruitport to the 2005 MHSAA Class B championship. (Muskegon Chronicle)
Girls Basketball
Detroit mourns Knott: The Detroit Public School League and its basketball community are mourning the death of recently-retired Detroit Cody girls hoops coach Charles Knott, who was reportedly shot and killed Tuesday. Knott – hired at Cody in 1988 – was a graduate of Detroit Southeastern and also coached softball during his tenure. (Detroit News)
Softball
D2 powers split: Division 2 No. 4 Coloma and honorable mention Portland split a doubleheader Wednesday. Portland won the first 1-0 before Coloma handed the Raiders their first loss this season, 2-1. (Ionia Sentinel-Standard)
Stevenson surges: Sterling Heights Stevenson moved up to No. 1 in Division 1 this week in part because of a split Saturday against previously top-ranked and now No. 5-Mattawan. (Kalamazoo Gazette)
Boys Golf
Lansing Catholic dominates: The Cougars, keyed by senior Jacob Johnson and junior Brent Marshall, won Friday’s Capital Area Activities Conference Open by nine strokes over East Lansing. The event matches the teams from all four divisions of the CAAC, which currently includes four top 10-ranked teams including Division 2 No. 1 Haslett and Lansing Catholic – which is No. 1 in Division 3. (Lansing State Journal)
Lakeview cards record: Battle Creek Lakeview shot a 290 during the Southwestern Michigan Athletic Association Championships last week at Island Hills Golf Club in Centreville, breaking the previous team record of 295 shot in 2010. Lakeview is ranked No. 5 in Division 1. (Battle Creek Enquirer)
Girls Track and Field
Bark River-Harris reigns in Central U.P.: The Broncos – who finished ninth at last season’s MHSAA Upper Peninsula Division 3 Final – clinched their second Central Upper Peninsula Conference title in three seasons Tuesday by edging Rapid River by nine points and Eben Junction Superior Central by 43. Superior Central was runner-up at that MHSAA Division 3 Final last spring. (Escanaba Daily Press)
Boys Track and Field
Algonac tops at Muskrat Classic: Algonac not only won the Division 2 portion of its annual invitational, but scored 100 points to top all of the Division 1 schools as well. (Port Huron Times-Herald)
Baseball
Hessbrook throws third no-hitter: Ithaca’s Logan Hessbrook threw not only his third no-hitter of the season Thursday, but his second straight as the Yellowjackets downed St. Charles 15-0 and then 4-0 in a doubleheader. He had seven strikeouts in seven innings. (Saginaw News)
DCC gains big split: Unranked Detroit Catholic Central earned a 9-8 win over No. 3 Birmingham Brother Rice on Thursday before falling 4-1 in the second game. (Mlive Detroit)
Football
Williams heads to Ypsilanti: Lamanzer Williams – who played at the University of Minnesota and also has served as football coach at Kalamazoo Central and Inkster – has resigned as Holland High football coach after one season to become athletic director at the new Ypsilanti Community High School. (AnnArbor.com)
Grand Rapids mourns Julian: Former Grand Rapids West Catholic and Grand Rapids Community College football coach Fred Julian died Saturday after a battle against prostate cancer. The Detroit Pershing grad taught and coached at West Catholic for 16 seasons and also played professionally for the old American Football League’s New York Titans. (Grand Rapids Press)
Wrestling
Boyer nears end at Pennfield: Larry Boyer, who led Battle Creek Pennfield's wrestling team to a 1992 MHSAA title, will retire from the school after this spring and 36 years including the last 13 as athletic director. He also has coached football and track and field. (Battle Creek Enquirer)