Today in the MHSAA: 8/20/18
August 20, 2018
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Each weekday of the school year, we break down the top headlines courtesy of Michigan’s sports media.
1. Boys Soccer: Salem defeated reigning Division 1 champion Detroit Catholic Central in a shootout to claim the Balconi Invitational title at Canton – Observer & Eccentric
2. Girls Golf: Reigning Lower Peninsula Division 2 champion Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern came back to win the Lober Classic at Grand Traverse Resort, ahead of first-day leader Muskegon Reeths-Puffer – Traverse City Record-Eagle
3. Boys Tennis: Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern finished 3-0 at Traverse City West on Friday, in the process earning coach Dave Sukup the 600th match win (boys and girls combined) of his career – Grand Rapids Press
4. Volleyball: Reigning Class C champion Bronson opened with a title at the 24-team Carrie Adams Tournament at Battle Creek St. Philip – Sturgis Journal
5. Boys Soccer: Midland Dow downed Grand Blanc, Haslett and Saginaw Swan Valley during an undefeated run at the Saginaw Heritage Invitational – Midland Daily News
6. Volleyball: Muskegon Western Michigan Christian went 7-1-1 over the first two days of the season, including a 4-0 run to win the Holton Invitational – Local Sports Journal
7. Girls Tennis: Last season’s runner-up Iron River West Iron County played reigning Upper Peninsula Division 2 champ Ishpeming Westwood to a shared title at the Kingsford Invitational – Iron Mountain Daily News
8. Cross Country: Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart swept the Division 3 races and Charlevoix swept Division 4 at the annual Ryan Shay Invitational – Athletic.net
9. Boys Tennis: Hudsonville, which tied for 11th in LPD1 last season, finished just ahead of Traverse City Central (which tied for 14th) to win Central’s invitational – Traverse City Record-Eagle
10. Boys Soccer: Ludington opened 3-0 with shutouts of Shelby and Fruitport and a 5-1 win over Muskegon Reeths-Puffer at the Fruitport Invitational – Local Sports Journal
Also of note …
Boys Tennis: Armada named its courts after coach Dave Fredette, who is entering his 53rd year after starting the boys program at the school – Macomb Daily
Today in the MHSAA: 10/19/16
October 19, 2016
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
District soccer continued Tuesday and league champions were crowned in volleyball and cross country all over the Lower Peninsula – but the must-see stories are a pair of “good reads” coming out of the Jackson and Alpena areas.
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.
Cross Country
The Caro boys – No. 4 in Lower Peninsula Division 3 – and the No. 6 Shepherd girls won championships at the Tri-Valley Conference all-division final – Saginaw News
The Ubly girls and boys teams repeated as East champions at the Greater Thumb Conference championship race (Ubly's girls are No. 9 in LPD4), and the Reese girls and LPD4 honorable mention Cass City boys repeated as West winners – Huron Daily Tribune
Traverse City West swept the final Big North Conference jamborees, the West boys earning the league title and the Central girls finishing as overall league champion for the 14th straight season. The Central girls are No. 4 in LPD1 and the West girls are an honorable mention – Traverse City Record-Eagle
Harbor Springs’ boys (No. 2 LPD4) kept their undefeated season going with a third straight Lake Michigan Conference final championship, and Traverse City St. Francis (No. 2 LPD3) clinched the girls title – Petoskey News-Review
Boys Soccer
Division 1 No. 2 Portage Northern moved on with a 4-1 District win over Lansing Everett thanks to three goals by Ryan Melgar – Kalamazoo Gazette
Adrian Lenawee Christian freshman Zach Riordan set his school’s scoring record of 36 goals in an 8-0 Division 4 win over Clinton – Adrian Daily Telegram
Girls Swimming & Diving
LPD1 No. 2 Saline got past No. 10 Brighton 112-74 in a matchup of top Division 1 teams – Saline Post
Volleyball
Walled Lake Central repeated as Lakes champion in the Kensington Lakes Activities Association with a five-set win over Brighton – Livingston Daily Argus & Press
Class A top-ranked Novi swept Canton to win its fourth straight KLAA Kensington championship – Oakland Press
Marine City improved to 8-1 in the Macomb Area Conference Gold and clinched a share of the league title with a three-set win over Warren Mott – Port Huron Times Herald
Good Reads
The story of Brooklyn Columbia Central standout running back Micah Raby is captivating, if not from this passage alone about how his adopted parents found him: “Inside the missionary’s hut, on an ordinary table lay an ordinary bible box containing an extraordinary sight, and it caught Doug and Sandy Raby’s eyes and hearts immediately. Inside that bible box – no bigger than a size 10 shoebox – was a 1-month-old boy named Joseph, one of two surviving triplets. His brother did not survive the birth and the birth parents decided to keep the other one, believed to be a girl, because it was the biggest and had the greatest chance of surviving.” – Jackson Citizen-Patriot
Lincoln Alcona announcer Don Franklin first gave voice to the school’s athletic events in 1967, and will retire at the end of this school year with 50 years on the microphone announcing football and a number of other sports over a half century – Alpena News