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: 9/23/20
September 23, 2020
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
The official first day of Fall in Michigan saw ranked opponents facing off against some of their toughest opponents to date in volleyball and cross country, plus a league championship tournament in golf.
1. Volleyball: No. 6 Charlevoix won a matchup of Division 3 ranked teams, defeating No. 10 Traverse City St. Francis in five sets – Petoskey News-Review
2. Cross Country: The LPD3 No. 13 Grass Lake girls team handed Hanover-Horton its first league loss since 2015 – Jackson Citizen-Patriot
3. Volleyball: Division 1 No. 10 Traverse City West downed Division 2 No. 6 Cadillac 17-15 in the deciding fifth set for a key league win – Up North Live
4. Cross Country: Pinckney’s boys – ranked No. 13 in Lower Peninsula Division 2 – edged LPD1 No. 12 Brighton 26-29, while the No. 4 Brighton girls held off unranked Pinckney’s by the same score – Livingston Daily
5. Volleyball: Rudyard ran its Eastern Upper Peninsula Conference winning streak to 43 matches with a 3-1 win over Pickford – Sault Ste. Marie Evening News
6. Girls Golf: Adrian Lenawee Christian shot a 393 to win the Independent Golf League championship tournament – JTV
7. Girls Swimming & Diving: Grand Blanc celebrated seven event winners in a 104-82 team victory over Midland Dow; they are honorable mentions in Divisions 1 and 2, respectively – Midland Daily News
8. Volleyball: Division 3 No. 4 Muskegon Western Michigan Christian came back for a five-set win over Ludington – Local Sports Journal
9. Volleyball: Edwardsburg downed Dowagiac 3-1 in a matchup of first-place teams in the Wolverine Conference – Niles Daily Star
10. Boys Soccer: Chelsea improved to 7-0 with a 2-0 win over Melvindale, the reigning Division 2 runner-up – Ann Arbor News
Also of note …
Boys Tennis: From Monday, Lansing Catholic earned a share of the Capital Area Activities Conference White title with a 7-1 win over Ionia – Greenville Daily News
Boys Basketball: Mark Gainforth retired after 24 seasons coaching Unionville-Sebewaing and with a 423-133 record – Bay City Times