Today in the MHSAA: 8/22/16

August 22, 2016

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

The kickoff of football season this week will mean fall sports are back in full force. But teams from all over the state, and especially on the volleyball court, jumped quickly into tough competition during the first weekend of the 2016-17 school year.

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

Blissfield’s girls earned the Lenawee County Preview championship Saturday with a tie-breaker to just edge Tecumseh – Adrian Daily Telegram

Boys Soccer

Crosstown programs both led by new coaches faced off as Allen Park Cabrini downed Allen Park 3-0 – Southgate News-Herald

Boys Tennis

Traverse City St. Francis won all eight flights to claim the Paw Paw Rally Against Cancer Tournament, but the host Redskins won flight "No. 9" by raising the most money of participating teams for the American Cancer Society – Kalamazoo Gazette

Volleyball

Hancock’s win at the Kingsford Invitational ended a four-year run of titles by Upper Peninsula power Calumet – Iron Mountain Daily News

It’s hard to believe, but Macomb Dakota hadn’t won a tournament championship since 2013 before sweeping Sterling Heights Stevenson to win Friday’s MCVCA Kickoff – Macomb Daily

Niles enjoyed an incredible start to the season with championships on back-to-back days, first at the Gull Lake Invitational and then over reigning Class C champion Bronson at Bronson’s Invitational – Niles Daily Star

Buchanan finished 6-0 including beating reigning Class D champ Leland to win the Battle Creek St. Philip Invitational on Saturday – Niles Daily Star

For the third straight season, Petoskey opened with a win at the Sault Ste. Marie Invitational – Petoskey News

Today in the MHSAA: 8/24/20

August 24, 2020

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Cross country statewide and volleyball, boys soccer and girls swimming & diving in northern Michigan were able to kick off competition over the weekend, bringing a fresh slate of storylines to the return of high school athletics in this state.

1. Cross Country: Bay City Western ran its first dual meets in 21 years, with the boys defeating Freeland and the Freeland girls winning by two in a matchup of possible Finals contenders – Bay City Times

2. Girls Golf: Rockford edged St. Joseph by 11 strokes to win the Sydney Carfine Invitational at The Meadows – Local Sports Journal

3. Boys Tennis: South Lyon freshman Cameron Crosby dominated No. 1 singles in highlighting the season-opening Pinckney quad – Livingston Daily

4. Volleyball: Grand Haven opened with a strong showing at Cadillac, defeating the host Vikings, Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern and Coopersville – Grand Haven Tribune

5. Boys Tennis: Big Rapids won back-to-back quads at Ludington and Wyoming – Big Rapids News

6. Volleyball: Petoskey edged Alpena 25-23, 25-19 to win the Sault Ste. Marie Invitational – Alpena News

7. Cross Country: Adrian Lenawee Christian swept championships at the Addison Early Bird Invitational – JTV

8. Girls Tennis: Ishpeming Westwood and Iron Mountain swept their tri-meets as the annual Kingsford Invitational was split into two round-robins to account for COVID-19 restrictions – Iron Mountain Daily News

9. Girls Golf: Parma Western shot a 380 to win its invitational by nine strokes – JTV

10. Boys Soccer: Traverse City Central outscored Manistee and Boyne City by a combined 11-0 during Saturday play – Traverse City Record-Eagle

Also of note …

Football: From last week, Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood and Muskegon Catholic Central are mourning the death of Cranbrook varsity coach Ben Jones, who died in a car crash; he formerly starred at MCC – Detroit News

Boys Basketball: Clinton Township Chippewa Valley coach Kevin Voss has retired after 38 years coaching basketball – Macomb Daily