Today in the MHSAA: 8/20/20

August 21, 2020

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

After five months filled with anxiety and uncertainty, high school sports returned to Michigan on Wednesday and Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern's Lilia Henkel gave us all something to immediately cheer about. 

1. Girls Golf: Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern was the biggest winner on the first day of high school sports since March, winning the Muskegon Mona Shores Invitational while senior Lilia Henkel shot an incredible 60 to finish first individually – FOX 17

2. Girls Golf: St. Joseph shot a first-place 355 and Maya Hunter was medalist with a 75 at the Gull Lake Invitational – St. Joseph Herald-Palladium

3. Boys Tennis: Traverse City St. Francis defeated Haslett and Lansing Catholic as senior Charlie Schmude went over 100 career wins – Traverse City Record-Eagle

4. Girls Golf: Michigan Center shot a school-record 365 to win the Hanover-Horton Invitational by nearly 40 strokes – JTV

5. Girls Golf: Traverse City West’s Anci Dy shot a 69 to lead the Lober Classic’s individual standings after the first round, while Flint Powers Catholic was the first-day team leader at 332 – Up North Live

6. Boys Tennis: Niles Brandywine earned coach David Sidenbender his 100th win with a 5-3 victory over South Haven – Niles Daily Star

7. Girls Golf: Freeland edged Frankenmuth by a stroke to win the opening Tri-Valley Conference jamboree – Saginaw News

8. Boys Tennis: Midland Dow opened 1-0-1 with a win over Grand Blanc and tie of Troy Athens – Midland Daily News

9. Boys Tennis: Bay City Western and Central both finished 2-0-1 to pace an opening quad – Bay City Times

10. Boys tennis: Coldwater earned first-year coach Nathan Waterbury his first win with the program, shutting out Brooklyn Columbia Central – Coldwater Daily Reporter

Also of note …

Boys Basketball: Flint Beecher is mourning the death of longtime coach Moses Lacy, who led the program to Class B championships in 1985 and 1987 – ABC 12

Today in the MHSAA: 9/16/16

September 16, 2016

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

A number of intriguing results came in from girls golf and volleyball Thursday, and make sure to check out a number of “Good Reads” to get you into another sports-filled weekend.  

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.

Girls Golf

Midland Dow’s Stephanie Carras continued a dominating season for the top-ranked team in Division 2, winning a playoff hole tiebreaker to earn the medalist honor at the Ann Arbor Pioneer Invitational – Midland Daily News

Second-year program Shepherd won its third straight Tri-Valley Conference West jamboree – Mount Pleasant Morning Sun

Volleyball

Lake Orion won a matchup of honorable mention teams in the Class A rankings, sweeping Rochester Hills Stoney Creek – Oakland Press

Houghton took down Calumet in four sets to take an upper hand among top teams at the top of the Upper Peninsula – Houghton Daily Mining Gazette

Less than a week after falling to DeTour in the final at its home invitational, Pickford downed DeTour in three sets in league play – Sault Ste. Marie Evening News

Good Reads

Longtime Brighton swim coach Tim McInnis died suddenly Tuesday, leaving behind a community where his influence has been felt for decades – Livingston Post

MLive tells the story of the football rivalry between Utica Eisenhower and Sterling Heights Stevenson through the eyes of their former longtime coaches – MLive-Detroit

Two days before his father and former Farmington hockey coach Bill Newton died after a fight with cancer, Chris Newton – his dad’s former assistant the a former goalie on the team – received a lung transplant that is providing him new opportunities – Observer & Eccentric

Katherine Ristola’s older brother Jonathan never got to play varsity football because of injuries his junior and senior years. But she’s taken the opportunity to play in part with him in mind and become a big part of the Livonia Churchill football family – Detroit Free Press

Vanessa Romero has played football for 10 years, and after starting at the subvarsity level is contributing on the offensive line for Westland John Glenn’s varsity – Detroit News