Today in the MHSAA: 6/1/17

June 1, 2017

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

The first MHSAA Finals championships of this spring were celebrated Wednesday in golf and tennis, while Hudsonville’s longtime softball coach celebrated a milestone win few have equaled.

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.

Girls Golf

Escanaba repeated as Upper Peninsula Division 1 champion, finishing 18 strokes ahead of Houghton – Second Half

Boys Golf

Escanaba pushed past three-time reigning champion Houghton to win the Upper Peninsula Division 1 title – Second Half

Lower Peninsula Division 3 No. 10 Shepherd won its first Regional title in more than a decade – Saginaw News

Unranked Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central edged No. 7 Rockford by a stroke to win an LP Division 1 regional title – Grand Rapids Press

No. 6 Plymouth won a third straight LP Division 1 Regional title, shooting a 319 to edge No. 10 Ann Arbor Skyline by five strokes – Observer & Eccentric

Boys Lacrosse

No. 3 Hartland claimed its first Regional title in boys lacrosse with an 11-10 win over Midland in Division 1 – Livingston Daily Press & Argus

No. 5 Warren DeLaSalle edged No. 8 Grosse Pointe North 10-8 to claim a Division 2 title – Macomb Daily

No. 9 Clarkston avenged a regular-season loss by downing No. 8 Lake Orion 12-9 in another Division 1 Regional Final – Oakland Press

Girls Soccer

Swartz Creek continued its perfect run with a 2-1 Division 1 District Semifinal win over Davison, which scored first – Flint Journal

Newaygo escaped with a 2-1 win over Muskegon Oakridge after a shootout in a Division 3 District Semifinal and thanks to 36 saves by Jenna Janke – Muskegon Chronicle

No. 17 Portage Central got past rival Portage Northern 1-0 in a Division 1 District Semifinal – Kalamazoo Gazette

Softball

Hudsonville downed Allendale 10-0 to give 36-year coach Tom Vruggink his 1,000th career win, against only 263 losses – Grand Rapids Press

Division 1 No. 10 Mount Pleasant split with Division 2 top-ranked Saginaw Swan Valley, with a 6-5 win in the first game the Vikings’ first loss this season – Mount Pleasant Morning Sun

Boys Tennis

Ishpeming Westwood won six flights in claiming a fourth straight Upper Peninsula Division 2 title – Second Half

Negaunee won its fifth MHSAA Finals title this decade, claiming six flights during a Division 1 run – Second Half

Today in the MHSAA: 5/1/17

May 1, 2017

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

A loaded weekend of tournament action all over the state was topped by the best in boys golf and girls tennis facing off as their MHSAA postseasons draw near – Lower Peninsula Regionals for both begin in less than three weeks, and we got a preview of how some of the best might shake out at crunch time.

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

Division 3 No. 9 Blissfield downed No. 7 Sand Creek 7-3 in their lone matchup, as the second game was canceled because of bad weather – Adrian Daily Telegram

Boys Golf

Top-ranked Detroit Catholic Central won the Division 1 title and overall, and Division 2 No. 4 Flint Powers Catholic and Division 3 No. 2 Big Rapids also won divisional titles at the Traverse City Tee-Off – Traverse City Record-Eagle

Boys Lacrosse

Battle Creek Lakeview came back from a late four-goal deficit to down reigning champion and Division 2 No. 9 Harper Creek and win the Battle Creek All-City Invitational – Battle Creek Enquirer

Softball

Reed City’s softball team led a combined effort with the baseball team to claim the Osceola Royal Rumble, which took into account both teams' efforts combined – Cadillac News

Unranked New Baltimore Anchor Bay downed Division 2 reigning champion and top-ranked Richmond 13-1 in the final of the Macomb Classic #2 – Macomb Daily

Muskegon Mona Shores’ Taylor Dew had two home runs and six RBI going 6 for 6 over a two-game sweep of Whitehall – Muskegon Chronicle

Vicksburg’s Shaidan Knapp also had two home runs and six RBI, in one game, to lead the Division 2 No. 4 Bulldogs to a 10-1 win over Paw Paw – Kalamazoo Gazette

Sydney Pezzoni’s walk-off single gave Division 1 No. 9 Howell a 5-4 win over No. 4 Walled Lake Northern – Livingston Daily Press & Argus

From last week, longtime Trenton coach John Biedenbach went over 1,000 career wins in a victory over Southgate Anderson – Southgate News Herald

Girls Soccer

Caroline Lewis posted a pair of shutouts to lead Adrian to the first Adrian Lenawee Christian Cougar Cup – Adrian Daily Telegram

Girls Tennis

Division 1 No. 3 Northville, No. 1 Midland Dow and No. 8 Port Huron Northern claimed the top three spots at the 33rd Ann Arbor Huron Invitational – Midland Daily News

Division 4 No. 3 Jackson Lumen Christi downed No. 2 Kalamazoo Hackett 5-3 after Hackett had also beaten No. 8 Traverse City St. Francis and lost to No. 4 Ann Arbor Greenhills earlier in the week – Kalamazoo Gazette

Track & Field

Chesaning swept the boys and girls titles at its first home invitational in more than a decade; the boys team is ranked No. 3 in Lower Peninsula Division 3 – Saginaw News

Grand Rapids Christian swept the Grand Rapids Elite Meet titles, while Grand Haven finished runner-up in both competitions; the Eagles boys are No. 5 and the girls No. 6 in LP Division 2 – Grand Haven Tribune

Good Read

Fruitport’s Karson Kriger pitches, hits and plays outfield for his baseball team, also played football and is now giving rodeo a try – and providing inspiration to many doing so without an amputated left forearm – Muskegon Chronicle

Petoskey is mourning the unexpected death of girls tennis coach Dree Lo, a former standout at Okemos, beloved member of her community and longtime contributor to athletics – Petoskey News-Review