Today in the MHSAA: 6/8/16

June 8, 2016

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Michigan’s top girls soccer teams took the next step in the MHSAA Tournament with the start of Regionals on Tuesday, and a number of close finishes ensued.

Girls Soccer

Three-time reigning Division 2 champion and No. 2-ranked Richland Gull Lake needed overtime to survive Marshall 2-1 – Battle Creek Enquirer

Canton edged Ann Arbor Pioneer 1-0 with a 3-2 advantage in a shootout in Division 1 – Ann Arbor News

After winning its first District title since 2008 on Saturday, Brighton downed No. 15 Rochester Adams 1-0 for its first Regional win since 2005 – Livingston Daily

Grand Rapids Christian in Division 2 also got past Spring Lake, 1-0, with a shootout – Grand Rapids Press

No. 4 Novi came back from a 2-0 deficit to beat No. 5 Grand Blanc in overtime 3-2 in Division 1 – Oakland Press

Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern in Division 2 came back from a goal deficit to beat Mount Pleasant 2-1 – Grand Rapids Press

Baseball

Top-ranked Coldwater, making up a regular-season came, got coach Randy Spangler his 600th career win during a sweep of Jackson Lumen Christi – Coldwater Daily Reporter

Today in the MHSAA: 8/24/15

August 24, 2015

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

All MHSAA fall sports but football kicked off competition last week, with cross country, boys soccer, girls swimming and diving and volleyball starting Saturday.

Below are some notable headlines from the first weekend of this season, plus links to coverage.

Cross Country

St. Johns hosted its second “Under the Lights” meets Friday; Ithaca’s girls and Saugatuck’s boys bested fields loaded with much larger opponents – Lansing State Journal

The St. Joseph girls and Bridgman boys won championships at the Niles Stampede – the St. Joseph girls, who finished fourth in Lower Peninsula Division 2 last season, by a large margin – St. Joseph Herald-Palladium

Girls Golf

Maple City Glen Lake’s Nichole Cox, last season’s LP Division 4 individual champion, came back to defeat Brighton freshman Annie Pietila at the two-day Lober Invitational at Grand Traverse Resort – Traverse City Record-Eagle

Boys Soccer

Two of the state’s powers met in the championship game of the Detroit Country Day Tournament on Saturday – with 2013 Division 1 runner-up Bloomfield Hills downing the host Yellowjackets 1-0 in a shootout – Oakland Press

Girls Swimming & Diving

Howell won its Kenzie Klassic, which honors swimmer Mackenize Watts, who died in 2005 at age 15. The school also raised enough money to award three scholarships and begin funding cardiac-related causes – Livingston Daily

Volleyball

Novi won the Lakeshore Classic by coming back after losing the first two games to beat Grand Haven 3-2 in a rematch of a 2014 Class A Semifinal – Muskegon Chronicle

Battle Creek Harper Creek, for the first time, won the gold championship at the long-running Carrie Adams Memorial Tournament hosted by reigning Class D champion Battle Creek St. Philip – Battle Creek Enquirer

Good Read

Mike Steele, a Midland Dow grad and now pitching coach at Long Beach State in California, argues that parents need to raise their athletes to compete instead of providing specific training in one sport – Midland Daily News