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
Today in the MHSAA: 10/16/19
October 16, 2019
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
League cross country meets dominated action across the Lower Peninsula on Tuesday, and at least a pair of volleyball teams also clinched conference titles. But a major upset in boys soccer earned the most notable headline of the day, and of that sport’s postseason so far.
1. Boys Soccer: Unranked Coldwater earned the most notable win of District play to this point, upsetting No. 1 Richland Gull Lake 4-3 in Division 2 – Coldwater Daily Reporter
2. Cross Country: The Lower Peninsula Division 2 top-ranked Petoskey girls and LPD1 No. 14 Traverse City Central boys finished championship runs in the Big North Conference, Petoskey ahead of the LPD1 No. 3 Trojans – Petoskey News-Review
3. Boys soccer: No. 2 Troy Athens edged No. 9 Troy 1-0 in a Division 1 District game – Oakland Press
4. Cross Country: Hillsdale Academy swept wins at the Southern Central Athletic Association championship meet, the LPD4 honorable mention boys clinching the overall league title while the No. 4-ranked girls ended up second overall to No. 5 Adrian Lenawee Christian – Hillsdale Daily News
5. Volleyball: Unranked Montague clinched the West Michigan Conference regular-season championship with a sweep of Division 2 honorable mention Whitehall – Local Sports Journal
6. Boys Soccer: Unranked Birmingham Seaholm upset No. 14 Livonia Stevenson 1-0 in Division 1 District play – Observer & Eccentric
7. Volleyball: Division 3 honorable mention Harbor Beach claimed a share of the Greater Thumb Conference East title with a sweep of Sandusky – Huron Daily Tribune
8. Cross Country: The Bronson girls and LPD4 No. 7 Concord boys finished championship runs through the Big 8 Conference – Coldwater Daily Reporter
9. Cross Country: Reed City’s girls and Fremont’s LPD2 top-ranked boys completed championship runs in the Central State Activities Association Gold – Big Rapids News
10. Cross Country: The LPD3 No. 12 Reese and Sandusky girls and Capac and LPD4 No. 3 Unionville-Sebewaing boys won their races at the Greater Thumb Conference championship meet – Athletic.net
Also of note …
Cross Country: Clinton swept league championships in the Tri-County Conference – Adrian Daily Telegram
Cross County: Beal City completed a championship sweep in the Highland Conference – Cadillac News
Cross Country: Ludington’s girls and boys teams swept Lakes 8 Conference championship meet titles – Ludington Daily News