Today in the MHSAA: 5/9/19

May 9, 2019

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Tennis, track & field and lacrosse teams continued to close out league titles Wednesday as those three sports approach the starts of their MHSAA postseasons next week.

1. Girls Tennis: Holland West Ottawa, No. 7 in Lower Peninsula Division 1, edged No. 6 Rockford to lock up half of the Ottawa-Kent Conference Red championship – Holland Sentinel

2. Girls Soccer: Division 1 No. 2 Midland finished a perfect run through the Saginaw Valley League North with a 2-1 win over rival Dow – Midland Daily News

3. Girls Soccer: With a 1-1 draw against Division 2 No. 3 Richland Gull Lake, Portage Central locked up the Southwestern Michigan Athletic Conference regular-season title – WWMT

4. Girls Tennis: LPD3 No. 6 Grand Rapids Catholic Central downed Spring Lake to clinch half the title in the O-K Blue – Grand Rapids Press

5. Track & Field: The LPD4 top-ranked Pittsford girls and No. 6 Hillsdale Academy boys repeated as Southern Central Athletic Association East champions – Hillsdale Daily News

6. Boys Lacrosse: Hartland, No. 5 in Division 1 entering the week, downed Plymouth 14-5 in the Kensington Lakes Activities Association title game – Livingston Daily Press & Argus

7. Baseball: Division 2 No. 14 Essexville Garber scored a sweep of Division 3 No. 19 Pinconning, 3-0 and 6-2 – Bay City Times

8. Boys Golf: LPD2 No. 3 Gaylord continued to surge with a win at the Big North Invitational, shooting a 323 – Gaylord Herald Times

9. Boys Lacrosse: Traverse City United followed up an earlier one-goal win over Petoskey with an 11-10 overtime victory in the rematch – MI Sports Now

10. Boys Golf: Spring Lake shot a 159 to maintain first place in the O-K Blue with a nine-stroke league win – Grand Haven Tribune

Also of note …

Boys Basketball: Coach Jacob Polfus stepped down with a 169-75 record after 11 seasons leading Carney-Nadeau, including guiding a trip to the Class D Semifinals in 2012 – Escanaba Daily Press

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