Today in the MHSAA: 6/3/16

June 3, 2016

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Nine Upper Peninsula teams won the first MHSAA Finals championships awarded this spring season Thursday, while a number of Lower Peninsula teams positioned themselves for trophy hunts this weekend and beyond.

Girls Golf

Escanaba, Cedarville and Iron Mountain provided some surprises and streak breakers in winning MHSAA Upper Peninsula Finals – Second Half

Boys Golf

The top three ranked teams in Lower Peninsula Division 2 played in the same Regional on Thursday – with top ranked Ada Forest Hills Eastern finishing two strokes ahead of No. 2 Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern and four ahead of No. 3 St. Johns as all three advanced to next weekend – Grand Rapids Press

Jackson Lumen Christi, No. 2 in LP Division 3, won its 11th straight Regional title – Jackson Citizen-Patriot

Houghton won its third straight MHSAA title, Carney-Nadeau repeated and St. Ignace also won a championship at Upper Peninsula Finals – Second Half

Girls Soccer

Bay City Western avenged an earlier 5-0 loss with a 1-0 win over Midland in a Division 1 District Semifinal – Bay City Times

Traverse City West downed rival Traverse City Central 1-0 with the lone goal coming in overtime – Traverse City Record-Eagle

Division 1 No. 6 Bloomfield Hills needed a shootout to get past Waterford Mott, 1-0 – Oakland Press

Fennville downed Dowagiac 1-0 in Division 3 to advance to a District Final for the first time – Holland Sentinel

Boys Tennis

Ishpeming Westwood ran its MHSAA title streak to three straight, while a pair of powers shared the Division 1 title – Second Half

Good Read

We’re big fans of playing more than one high school sport, and so we’re big fans of the work of Grand Rapids Ottawa Hills senior Alexis Baskin, who recently received the Michigan High School Coaches Association Rich Tompkins Multi-Sport Athlete Award after earning a combined 12 letters in volleyball, basketball and track & field – Grand Rapids Press

Today in the MHSAA: 8/24/17

August 24, 2017

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

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

Today's Top 10

1. Volleyball: Mendon repeated as St. Joseph County Tournament champion, downing Three Rivers in two sets in the title match to move to 10-0-1 this season – JoeInsider.com

2. Boys Cross Country: Concord made another strong early-season move to the front of the pack with a Pittsford Early Bird Invitational win – Hillsdale Daily News

3. Girls Tennis: Escanaba took the top two singles flights, but Iron River West Iron County took the rest in an early-season dual win – Iron Mountain Daily News

4. Cross Country: The Berrien Springs boys and Bridgman girls won championships at the Bridgman Invitational – St. Joseph Herald-Palladium

5. Boys Soccer: Petoskey moved to 2-1 against a loaded schedule to start this season, downing Elk Rapids 2-1 – Petoskey News-Review

6. Volleyball: Saline emerged 2-1 from a quad featuring some of the southeast’s most intriguing teams – also Monroe, Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central and Dexter – Saline Post

7. Football: Like some other communities have experienced in moving from 11-player to 8-player football, Bay City All Saints has worked through a little bit of misunderstanding while making the switch this season – but the program is relishing the new opportunity – Bay City Times

8. Boys Soccer: Adding a little Throwback Thursday into the mix, Muskegon Western Michigan Christian is celebrating its 50th year of playing the sport – Muskegon Chronicle

9. Football: There are 616 football teams suiting up in Michigan this fall – the same as the last two seasons – including two that didn’t field teams last year, Suttons Bay and Benzie Central – Traverse City Record-Eagle

10. Volleyball: Grand Haven again will host its outdoor “Battle on the Boardwalk” on Friday, with Spring Lake, Fruitport and Muskegon Mona Shores also in the field – Grand Haven Tribune

Also of note:

Boys Soccer: From Tuesday, Brighton’s 18-game regular-season unbeaten streak was ended by Jackson as the Vikings won 2-1 – Livingston Daily Press & Argus

Boys Cross Country: From Tuesday, Niles' Devin Tomlinson won his second invitational this fall, taking the Three Rivers Big Hill race in 17:51 – Niles Daily Star

Girls Cross Country: Also from Tuesday, Remus Chippewa Hills finished ahead of a strong field to claim the Big School championship at its Early Season Warrior Invitational – Mount Pleasant Morning Sun