Today in the MHSAA: 8/23/17
August 23, 2017
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Each weekday of the school year, we break down the top headlines courtesy of Michigan’s sports media.
Today's Top 10
1. Volleyball: Lake Orion emerged from what likely will end up one of the strongest volleyball quads in the state this fall, going 3-0 with wins over Clarkston, Oxford and Pontiac Notre Dame Prep – Oakland Press
2. Girls Golf: After making the MHSAA Finals last season for the first time, Hartland is rolling again after winning its Hartland Invitational by three strokes with a school-record 326 – Livingston Daily Press & Argus
3. Volleyball: Spring Lake won all six matches to earn the Grand Rapids NorthPointe Invitational title and push coach Sarah Bulthuis over 700 wins for her career – Grand Haven Tribune
4. Boys Soccer: Saline avenged last season’s Regional Semifinal loss to Salem with a 3-0 win over the Rocks – Saline Post
5. Boys Soccer: Midland Dow moved to 4-0 this season with a 7-0 win over Freeland, and still hasn’t given up a goal in 2017 – Midland Daily News
6. Cross Country: The Portage Northern girls and Otsego boys won the St. Joseph Invitational, which was split into freshman-sophomore and junior-senior races and then scored as a combination of the two – St. Joseph Herald-Palladium
7. Boys Soccer: Coldwater remained undefeated early this season with a 4-2 win over Kalamazoo Central – Coldwater Daily Reporter
8. Volleyball: Grand Traverse Academy went 6-0 in winning the Frankfort Invitational, also winning every set on the day – Traverse City Record-Eagle
9. Boys Tennis: Petoskey headed south and picked up a sweep over Coopersville and Holland – Petoskey News-Review
10. Boys Soccer: Alpena got on the board this season with an opening win, 3-1 over Ogemaw Heights – Alpena News
Also of note …
Volleyball: From Monday, Manistique came back from a 24-13 deficit in the second game to win 29-27 and then finished a sweep of rival Ishpeming that also included a 26-24 victory in the first set – Marquette Mining Journal
Volleyball: From Saturday, Howard City Tri-County won the Greenville Daily News Invitational powered in part by two 6-foot-2 juniors – Greenville Daily News
Today in the MHSAA: 6/6/16
June 6, 2016
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Another busiest week – and busiest day – in MHSAA sports is in the books. So too are Finals champions in track & field and girls tennis, and hundreds of District champions in baseball, softball and girls soccer and Regional champions in girls and boys lacrosse.
We touch on the statewide media coverage of just some of the highlights below.
Baseball
Top-ranked Coldwater won its fifth straight District title, downing No. 10 Marshall 8-4 in the championship game in Division 2 – Battle Creek Enquirer
Unranked Beaverton emerged from a Division 3 District that included No. 2 Sanford Meridian and No. 3 Clare – Midland Daily News
Birmingham Groves got past Birmingham Brother Rice 8-6 in Division 1 to win its first District championship since 2005 – Oakland Press
Boys Lacrosse
Birmingham Brother Rice received a rare scare before downing Clarkston 9-6 in Division 1 – Observer & Eccentric
Okemos won its second straight Division 2 Regional title by surviving Pontiac Notre Dame Prep, 9-8 – Lansing State Journal
Girls Lacrosse
Reigning Division 2 champion East Grand Rapids needed overtime to survive, 11-9, against Grand Rapids Catholic Central – Fox17
Rockford just edged Grand Rapids Forest Hills United 9-8 to move on in Division 1 – Grand Rapids Press
Girls Soccer
Division 3 No. 6 Freeland won its seventh straight District title, this time with a 4-1 championship game clincher over Alma – Midland Daily News
Division 4 No. 2 Elk Rapids moved to 21-0 this season with an 8-0 championship game win over No. 14 Leland – Traverse City Record-Eagle
Softball
Blissfield downed No. 6 Dundee to start Saturday, but top-ranked Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central beat Blissfield 4-1 in 10 innings in the Division 3 championship game – Adrian Daily Telegram
After seeing a 10-year District streak snapped in 2015, New Baltimore Anchor Bay made it 11 in 12 seasons with a 2-1 avenging of last year’s loss to Harrison Township L’Anse Creuse in Division 1 – Macomb Daily
Fulton won its first District title in this sport, downing rival Fowler 8-3 in the Division 4 championship game – Mount Pleasant Morning Sun
Girls Tennis
Four MHSAA Lower Peninsula tennis teams won championships: Midland Dow in Division 1 after finishing runner-up in 2015, Bloomfield Hills Marian in Division 2 for the first time since 2013, Detroit County Day in Division 3 breaking a five-year hold on the title by Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood, and Bloomfield Hills Academy of the Sacred Heart in a repeat in Division 4 – Second Half
Girls Track & Field
We covered all seven championship meets across both peninsulas, with the following teams winning titles: Oak Park, Lansing Waverly, Ithaca, Fowler, Marquette, Ishpeming and Ontonagon. Ithaca and Lansing Waverly's titles were their first, and Ontonagon’s its first since 1974 – Second Half
Boys Track & Field
We also covered all seven boys meets, with the following champions: Oak Park, Orchard Lake St. Mary’s, Sanford Meridian, Saugatuck, Marquette, Ishpeming and Rapid River. Oak Park’s title was its first in the sport – Second Half