Today in the MHSAA: 6/5/17

June 5, 2017

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

What a weekend – 30,000 Michigan high school athletes took part in championships across eight sports, with Saturday’s Track & Field and Girls Tennis again leading the busiest day of the sports school year. 

Second Half covered all 18 Finals events, and links are included to those as well as to coverage of a number of Districts in baseball, softball and girls soccer.

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

No. 17 Grand Ledge lost a teammate to a car crash at the start of last fall, and won Saturday’s Division 1 District title with him in mind – Lansing State Journal

Algonac claimed its first District title since 2011 with a 4-1 win over No. 10 St. Clair and 6-4 victory over reigning District champ Marysville, in Division 1 – Port Huron Times Herald

Plymouth got past No. 6 Canton in eight innings, 7-6, for a Division 1 District title win – Observer & Eccentric

No. 2 Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett emerged from a loaded Division 1 District that included No. 13 Grosse Pointe North and Grosse Pointe South – Detroit News

No. 5 Centerville won its fourth straight District title, downing Marcellus in a Division 4 championship game – Sturgis Journal

No. 7 Midland downed No. 19 Mount Pleasant 3-2 and then beat Bay City Central 5-3 to claim its first Division 1 District title since 2011 – Midland Daily News

Girls Soccer

A Division 1 District Final rematch saw No. 2 Brighton advance again, this time 4-0 over Hartland – Livingston Daily Press & Argus

Troy took No. 9 Bloomfield Hills to a shootout and emerged as a Division 1 champion with a 2-1 victory – C&G Newspapers

In Division 2, Allen Park downed Dearborn Divine Child 2-1 to clinch its first District title in the sport – Southgate News Herald

No. 19 New Baltimore Anchor Bay tied its school wins record of 17 with a 4-0 Division 1 District title win over Clinton Township Chippewa Valley – Macomb Daily

St. Clair Shores Lake Shore also won its first District title in this sport, defeating Roseville in Division 1 – Macomb Daily

Cadillac claimed its first District title in girls soccer, downing Mount Pleasant 1-0 in Division 2 to move to 19-1-1 this season – Cadillac News

Softball

Top-ranked Macomb Dakota trailed No. 9 Utica Ford by a run with one out left in their Division 1 District Final, but knocked in two runs to win 5-4 – C&G Newspapers

Jenny Bressler struck out 17 to lead No. 3 Plymouth past honorable mention Canton 2-0 in a Division 1 District Final – Observer & Eccentric

No. 4 Rogers City claimed its sixth straight District crown, downing No. 10 Hillman 7-1 in a Division 4 championship game – Alpena News

No. 8 Ottawa Lake Whiteford got past honorable mention Morenci 3-2 in eight innings for a Division 4 District title – Adrian Daily Telegram

Girls Tennis

The four Lower Peninsula Finals were packed with excitement, led by a near-perfect score by Detroit Country Day in Division 3 and a tie for the Division 1 title between powerhouses Midland Dow and Northville. East Grand Rapids in Division 2 and Ann Arbor Greenhills in Division 4 also were victorious – Second Half

Track & Field

A dramatic run to the Lower Peninsula Division 1 girls title by Ann Arbor Pioneer and Southfield Christian’s first championship in the sport were among highlights of many Saturday. Lansing Waverly, Adrian Madison, Marquette, St. Ignace and Lake Linden-Hubbell also won MHSAA girls track & field titles – Second Half

Final dominating performances from stars like East Kentwood’s Khance Meyers and Corunna’s Noah Jacobs were among storylines from the seven boys Finals, which saw Meyers’ Falcons, Zeeland East, Chesaning, Whittemore-Prescott, Marquette, Newberry and Rapid River claim the team titles – Second Half

Today in the MHSAA: 5/23/16

May 23, 2016

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

It’s been an exciting few days especially for our track & field and girls tennis teams, which competed in Regionals over the weekend – with some of the many highlights among those linked below.

Baseball

Battle Creek Lakeview’s Ethan Eldridge threw a shutout to lead his team over Harper Creek for their all-city championship, 3-0 – Battle Creek Enquirer

Division 1 No. 4 Rockford swept Division 3 No. 1 Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett 4-1 and 4-2 – Detroit Free Press

Girls Soccer

Pontiac Notre Dame Prep won its first Detroit Catholic League A-B championship in this sport, downing Warren Regina in an overtime shootout – Oakland Press

Softball

Sierra Stoepker drilled a walk-off home run in the bottom of the 14th inning to lead Lake Odessa Lakewood to a 10-9 win over DeWitt in the championship game of the Lansing Softball Classic – Lansing State Journal

Napoleon (32-1) outscored its opponents 32-5 to win a second straight Al Glick Tournament championship, beating Parma Western 3-0 in the final – Jackson Citizen-Patriot

Petoskey won the Lansing Waverly Invitational, opening with a 5-4 win over two-loss Grand Ledge – Petoskey News

Division 3 No. 4 Clinton beat Division 2 No. 7 Muskegon Oakridge and later Division 3 No. 9 Reese for the Best of Michigan Tournament title at Byron Center – Adrian Dailey Telegram

Girls Tennis

Bay City All Saints won its first Regional and qualified for the MHSAA Finals for the first time since 1992 – Bay City Times

Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern edged East Grand Rapids by three points to win its 15th straight Regional, in Division 2 – Grand Rapids Press

Edwardsburg claimed its first Regional title as well, dominating the field to finish six points ahead of the rest in Division 3 – Kalamazoo Gazette

Ludington shared its Division 3 Regional title with Whitehall, and in the process No. 1 doubles pair Julia Flewelling and Claire Maltbie won their 100th match to break the school’s doubles record – Muskegon Chronicle

Division 4 No. 3 Kalamazoo Hackett swept singles to finish ahead of No. 5 Kalamazoo Christian in their Regional – Kalamazoo Gazette

Track & Field

Lake Linden-Hubbell swept boys and girls Regionals for the first time since 1998 – Houghton Daily Mining Gazette

The Reese girls edged Frankenmuth 122-121 to win their first Regional title in 22 years – Saginaw News

The Addison boys won their first Regional since 1995, beating Petersburg Summerfield by 12 points, 124-112 – Jackson Citizen-Patriot

The Blanchard Montabella girls won their first Regional title, with the Division 4 victory also the school's first at that level of tournament competition in any sport since 2003 – Mount Pleasant Morning Sun

Good Read

The Grandville Calvin Christian baseball team will take part this week in fundraising for the medical care of Kyle Petrlich, who is awaiting a second heart transplant and in December required CPR from her brother Griffin, a player on the Calvin Christian baseball team – Grand Rapids Press