Today in the MHSAA: 6/6/16

June 6, 2016

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Another busiest week – and busiest day – in MHSAA sports is in the books. So too are Finals champions in track & field and girls tennis, and hundreds of District champions in baseball, softball and girls soccer and Regional champions in girls and boys lacrosse.

We touch on the statewide media coverage of just some of the highlights below.

Baseball

Top-ranked Coldwater won its fifth straight District title, downing No. 10 Marshall 8-4 in the championship game in Division 2 – Battle Creek Enquirer

Unranked Beaverton emerged from a Division 3 District that included No. 2 Sanford Meridian and No. 3 Clare – Midland Daily News

Birmingham Groves got past Birmingham Brother Rice 8-6 in Division 1 to win its first District championship since 2005 – Oakland Press

Boys Lacrosse

Birmingham Brother Rice received a rare scare before downing Clarkston 9-6 in Division 1 – Observer & Eccentric

Okemos won its second straight Division 2 Regional title by surviving Pontiac Notre Dame Prep, 9-8 – Lansing State Journal

Girls Lacrosse

Reigning Division 2 champion East Grand Rapids needed overtime to survive, 11-9, against Grand Rapids Catholic Central – Fox17

Rockford just edged Grand Rapids Forest Hills United 9-8 to move on in Division 1 – Grand Rapids Press

Girls Soccer

Division 3 No. 6 Freeland won its seventh straight District title, this time with a 4-1 championship game clincher over Alma – Midland Daily News

Division 4 No. 2 Elk Rapids moved to 21-0 this season with an 8-0 championship game win over No. 14 Leland – Traverse City Record-Eagle

Softball

Blissfield downed No. 6 Dundee to start Saturday, but top-ranked Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central beat Blissfield 4-1 in 10 innings in the Division 3 championship game – Adrian Daily Telegram

After seeing a 10-year District streak snapped in 2015, New Baltimore Anchor Bay made it 11 in 12 seasons with a 2-1 avenging of last year’s loss to Harrison Township L’Anse Creuse in Division 1 – Macomb Daily

Fulton won its first District title in this sport, downing rival Fowler 8-3 in the Division 4 championship game – Mount Pleasant Morning Sun

Girls Tennis

Four MHSAA Lower Peninsula tennis teams won championships: Midland Dow in Division 1 after finishing runner-up in 2015, Bloomfield Hills Marian in Division 2 for the first time since 2013, Detroit County Day in Division 3 breaking a five-year hold on the title by Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood, and Bloomfield Hills Academy of the Sacred Heart in a repeat in Division 4 – Second Half

Girls Track & Field

We covered all seven championship meets across both peninsulas, with the following teams winning titles: Oak Park, Lansing Waverly, Ithaca, Fowler, Marquette, Ishpeming and Ontonagon. Ithaca and Lansing Waverly's titles were their first, and Ontonagon’s its first since 1974 – Second Half

Boys Track & Field

We also covered all seven boys meets, with the following champions: Oak Park, Orchard Lake St. Mary’s, Sanford Meridian, Saugatuck, Marquette, Ishpeming and Rapid River. Oak Park’s title was its first in the sport – Second Half

Today in the MHSAA: 5/14/19

May 14, 2019

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

The Saugatuck track & field teams celebrated Monday like they have for most of this decade, and South Lyon’s girls soccer team celebrated like never before as more league championships were clinched and postseason play began in boys lacrosse.

1. Track & Field: The Saugatuck girls and boys teams both won their sixth straight Southwestern Athletic Conference Lakeshore meet championships – Holland Sentinel

2. Girls Soccer: South Lyon clinched its first league title in this sport, downing Waterford Mott 1-0 in Lakes Valley Conference play – Oakland Press

3. Girls soccer: Division 2 top-ranked DeWitt downed Division 3 No. 14 Williamston 4-2 in a Capital Area Activities Conference Gold Cup quarterfinal – Lansing State Journal

4. Baseball: Division 3 No. 2 Grand Rapids NorthPointe Christian improved to 15-3 with a 12-0 win over Division 2 No. 10 Belding – FOX 17

5. Softball: Grace Lehto threw a no-hitter as Division 2 No. 3 Eaton Rapids opened Greater Lansing Hall of Fame Softball Classic play with a 6-0 win over DeWitt – Lansing State Journal

6. Boys Golf: Tecumseh shot a 336 to win the Lenawee County tournament title – Adrian Daily Telegram

7. Boys Golf: Clarkston, No. 1 in Lower Peninsula Division 1, shot a 300 to win the Chemical City Invitational in Midland – Midland Daily News

8. Boys Lacrosse: Traverse City United’s co-op team defeated Muskegon Southside’s 21-3 in a Division 1 Pre-Regional game – WPBN

9. Softball: Midland swept Division 4 top-ranked Coleman 7-6 and 8-3 – Midland Daily News

10. Baseball: Hemlock and Division 3 No. 19 Pinconning split, Hemlock’s win also the first Tri-Valley Conference West loss for first-place Pinconning since it joined the league in 2016-17 – Bay City Times

Also of note …

Athlete of the Year: Detroit Edison’s Rickea Jackson and Madison Heights Bishop Foley’s Kendel Taylor were named this year’s statewide Athlete of the Year Award winners by the Detroit Athletic Club – State Champs Sports Network

Girls Tennis: From Saturday, LPD3 No. 3 Allegan finished first and Sturgis second at the Wolverine Conference tournament – Sturgis Journal