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: 4/26/19

April 26, 2019

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

A legendary performance from a Saginaw High long jumper topped our list of Thursday’s best performances stretching across five sports.

1. Track & Field: Saginaw High’s Tony Martin continued an incredible long jumping season Thursday by going 26-6, which would break the MHSAA all-Finals record by more than two feet – Saginaw News

2. Boys Lacrosse: Rockford held on for a 10-7 win over East Grand Rapids; Rockford was No. 4 in Division 1 and East Grand Rapids No. 3 in Division 2 entering the week – FOX 17

3. Boys Golf: Plymouth, No. 10 in Lower Peninsula Division 1, shot a 294 and No. 7 Hartland a 298 to set the pace at the Kensington Lakes Activities Association preseason tournament – Livingston Daily Press & Argus

4. Track & Field: Annual contenders and neighbors Zeeland East and West met with East winning the girls meet and West the boys by identical scores of 82-55; East’s girls are No. 5 in LPD2 – Holland Sentinel

5. Baseball: Division 1 No. 15 Richland Gull Lake took an impressive sweep of No. 10 Mattawan, 8-5 and 7-0 – Kalamazoo Gazette

6. Baseball: Division 1 No. 11 Garden City continued its strong start with a 1-0 win over Division 2 No. 17 Detroit Country Day – State Champs Sports Network

7. Boys Lacrosse: Clarkston locked down Bloomfield Hills for a 12-7 win; Bloomfield Hills was No. 7 in Division 1 entering the week – Oakland Press

8. Softball: Grand Haven moved to 11-0 with a five-winning win over Division 1 honorable mention Rockford – Grand Haven Tribune

9. Boys Lacrosse: Traverse City United edged Traverse City St. Francis 6-5 – WPBN

10. Baseball: Division 1 No. 19 Bay City Western swept Mount Pleasant 4-0 and 7-2 – Midland Daily News

Also of note …

Track & Field: From Wednesday, the Ishpeming boys and St. Ignace girls won the Division 2 Superior Dome Invitational, the Hematites for the fifth straight season – Marquette Mining Journal