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: 10/29/15
October 29, 2015
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half
Boys Soccer Regionals continued Wednesday with a number of ranked teams matching up, but also note some significant volleyball accomplishments and a piece on a football coach taking major strides with West Bloomfield.
Boys Soccer
Division 3 No. 10 Gladwin downed No. 9 Whitehall by shootout in a Regional Semifinal – Muskegon Chronicle
Division 3 No. 11 Ludington made its first Regional Final since 2001 with a shutout of No. 12 Elk Rapids – Muskegon Chronicle
Division 4 No.3 Muskegon Western Michigan Christian took No. 12 Charlevoix to a shootout before winning their Regional Semifinal – Muskegon Chronicle
Division 4 No. 14 Burton Genesee Christian flew under the radar for much of this fall, but remained undefeated with a 5-0 win over Lincoln Alcona – Flint Journal
Division 1 No. 4 Utica Ford outlasted No. 7 Utica Eisenhower for a 2-0 Regional Semifinal win – Macomb Daily
Reigning Division 1 runner-up Rochester Adams, now ranked No. 3, edged Bloomfield Hills 1-0 – Oakland Press
Volleyball
Class C No. 10 Kent City won its first volleyball league title in 15 seasons while ending Morley-Stanwood’s run of 13 straight championships – Grand Rapids Press
Class B honorable mention Frankenmuth capped a perfect run through a Tri-Valley Conference East that includes No. 8 North Branch – Saginaw News
Class C honorable mention Calumet survived a five-set match against Hancock, a possible opponent in next week’s District – Houghton Daily Mining Gazette
Good Read
West Bloomfield football is undefeated for the first time since 1962, coached by former University of Michigan and NFL receiver Ron Bellamy, who brought his team through struggles his first few seasons and also received some touching assistance from the legendary longtime coach next door – Detroit News