Today in the MHSAA: 5/6/19

May 6, 2019

By Geoff Kimmerly
Special for Second Half

Finishes both close and historic highlighted the first weekend of May as top teams navigated the rain in many places in kicking off the final month of the regular season.

1. Softball: Grace Lehto nearly threw a perfect game as Division 2 No. 3 Eaton Rapids edged Division 3 top-ranked Millington to win the “marquee matchup” of the MI Stars Tournament – State Champs Sports Network 

2. Boys Golf: By way of a fifth-golfer tie-breaker, Gaylord – No. 10 in Lower Peninsula Division 2 – edged LPD1 No. 6 Grosse Pointe South to win its invitational with a near-school record score – Gaylord Herald Times

3. Track & Field: Zeeland West’s boys won their 12th-straight Holland West Ottawa Von Ins Relays, while Lower Peninsula Division 1 No. 6 Grand Haven and No. 7 West Ottawa’s girls shared their meet championship – Holland Sentinel

4. Boys Golf: Nathan Taylor finished as medalist to lead Muskegon Mona Shores to the Greater Muskegon Athletic Association championship, 30 years after his father won the same tournament – Muskegon Chronicle

5. Track & Field: The Muskegon Reeths-Puffer girls won their 10th straight GMAA title, and the Fruitport boys won their sixth straight – Local Sports Journal

6. Softball: Division 3 No. 7 Standish-Sterling edged No. 3 Sanford Meridian 5-4 to win Meridian’s invitational – Midland Daily News

7. Softball: Division 2 No. 4 Stevensville Lakeshore defeated Schoolcraft in the final to win its invitational for the first time – St. Joseph Herald-Palladium

8. Boys Golf: Troy edged Rochester by 12 strokes to win the Oakland County Division 2 championship – Oakland Press

9. Softball: Muskegon Reeths-Puffer and Division 2 No. 5 Oakridge both won their fourth straight GMAA softball titles – Muskegon Chronicle

10. Track & Field: A total of 61 teams including a number of the best from multiple divisions participated at the Triangle Invitational at Saline – Athletic.net

Today in the MHSAA: 6/5/19

June 5, 2019

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Nearly all of this week’s Girls Soccer Regional Semifinals were played Tuesday – and a bracket shake-up in Division 2 leads off the list of headliners across all four divisions.

1. Girls Soccer: Unranked Fenton handed top-ranked DeWitt its first and only loss this season, 2-1 in a Division 2 Regional Semifinal – Flint Journal

2. Girls Soccer: No. 2 Royal Oak Shrine will get the chance to play for its first Regional title after downing No. 4 Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central in Division 4 – Oakland Press

3. Girls Soccer: Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central, also unranked, upset No. 9 Grand Haven 4-2 in a Division 1 Regional Semifinal – Grand Haven Tribune

4. Girls Soccer: No. 2 Warren Regina held on through a late rally by No. 9 Grosse Ile to move on in Division 3 with a 3-2 win – C&G Newspapers

5. Girls Soccer: Top-ranked Novi got past No. 14 Livonia Stevenson 2-0 in a Division 1 rematch of their league title game – Observer & Eccentric

6. Girls Soccer: No. 7 Houghton Lake won a matchup of ranked Division 4 teams 2-1 over No. 12 Elk Rapids – WPBN

7. Girls Soccer: No. 9 Marshall made a first-half goal stand to the end in a 1-0 win over No. 10 Dexter in Division 2 – Chelsea Sun Times News

8. Girls Soccer: Ann Arbor Father Gabriel Richard advanced to a Division 3 Regional Final with a win over Delton Kellogg, after beginning this season 0-11-1 – Ann Arbor News

9. Girls Soccer: No. 7 Midland got past Portage Central in a shootout to move on in Division 1 – Kalamazoo Gazette

10. Girls Soccer: Top-ranked North Muskegon moved to 19-2 with a 5-0 win over Grandville Calvin Christian – Local Sports Journal

Also of note …

Boys Golf: Gaylord locked down its third straight Big North Conference championship with a one-stroke tournament win – Traverse City Record-Eagle