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: 8/31/15
August 31, 2015
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
The final weekend of August was a giant weekend for MHSAA volleyball contenders, with some of the top regular-season events this fall providing opportunities for the best to see how they might match up when playoffs begin in two months.
Below are headlines for some of the key high school reports from across the state; the weekend’s football round-up will publish later this afternoon.
Cross Country
Muskegon Reeths-Puffer’s Maryssa Depies set a course record of 18:11.3 to win the Big Red Invitational at McGraft Park – Muskegon Chronicle
Flint Powers Catholic’s top individual finisher came in ninth, but the Chargers girls as a team were first at the Lansing Catholic Invitational – Flint Journal
The reigning Lower Peninsula Division 2 champion Grand Rapids Christian boys repeated as winner of the prestigious Benzie Central Invitational, finishing ahead of Traverse City West and Central, while Central senior Anthony Berry won individually in 15:24 – Grand Rapids Press
Boys Soccer
Tawas, a Division 3 semifinalist last season, finished first from an Elk Rapids Invitational field that included Berkley and Saginaw Nouvel – Bay City Times
Volleyball
Lake Odessa Lakewood, last season’s Class B runner-up and the second-ranked team in that class this week, eliminated Class A No. 6 Grand Rapids Christian to win the West Michigan Volleyball Officials Association tournament for the first time in a decade – Grand Rapids Press
Class A No. 4 Grand Haven continued its perfect run at its outdoor Battle of the Boardwalk tournament, sweeping three opponents to remain undefeated through the event's third year – Grand Haven Tribune
Battle Creek Harper Creek, No. 9 in Class B, improved to 17-0 by winning the Cereal City Tournament at Pennfield with a 2-1 championship match win over Temperance Bedford, an MHSAA semifinalist last season in Class A – Battle Creek Enquirer
Good Reads
The Holland Sentinel introduced its top female athletes in that area’s history Sunday, and highlighted nationally-known softball star Kathy Arendsen and her successes during one of the MHSAA’s first Softball Finals – Holland Sentinel
Anyone who follows high school football history will enjoy going through the Muskegon Chronicle’s sampling of top-20 moments from that area’s football past – Muskegon Chronicle
More than 60 former Shepherd High School players from the last 25 seasons returned for an alumni doubleheader Sunday to honor coach Jack Nartker, who will retire after this spring – Mount Pleasant Morning Sun