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: 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