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 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)