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: 4/27/18

April 27, 2018

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
 

Each weekday of the school year, we break down the top headlines courtesy of Michigan’s sports media.

1. Softball: Division 3 top-ranked Clinton and unranked Adrian Madison both handed the other its first loss in a doubleheader split – Adrian Daily Telegram

2. Track & Field: Rapid River’s boys and Escanaba’s girls won Delta County Invitational titles, Escanaba for the seventh straight season (not counting last year’s meet being canceled) – Escanaba Daily Press

3. Baseball: Unranked Cass City scored a combined 22 runs in a sweep of Division 4 No. 3 Unionville-Sebewaing – Huron Daily Tribune

4. Track & Field: For the second straight meet, Hamilton’s Trevor Blood broke the school pole vault record, this time going 14-2 in a win over Hudsonville Unity Christian – Holland Sentinel

5. Girls Soccer: Division 1 No. 14 Saline scored with less than two minutes to play to edge Pinckney 1-0 – Saline Post

6. Girls Soccer: Callie Rich and Division 1 No. 4 Novi shut out Plymouth 1-0 to improve to 6-1-1 – Observer & Eccentric

7. Girls Soccer: Division 1 No. 3 Walled Lake Northern improved to 10-0 with a 7-0 win over Waterford Kettering – Detroit News

8. Girls soccer: Maya Dean has had a foot in every Traverse City West goal this season and helped the Titans past Traverse City Central 3-2 on Thursday – Traverse City Record Eagle

9. Softball: Grand Haven earned a 6-1 win over Rockford, last season’s Ottawa-Kent Conference Red champion – Grand Haven Tribune

10. Football: Jerry Diorio, most recently an assistant at Benton Harbor after previously leading Wayland to four playoff appearances, has been hired as Battle Creek Lakeview’s next coach – Battle Creek Enquirer

Also of note …

Hockey: Chelsea coach Don Wright has retired with a 304-146-35 record after 18 seasons and after leading the team to the Division 3 Quarterfinals this winter – Sun Times News