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: 5/14/19

May 14, 2019

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

The Saugatuck track & field teams celebrated Monday like they have for most of this decade, and South Lyon’s girls soccer team celebrated like never before as more league championships were clinched and postseason play began in boys lacrosse.

1. Track & Field: The Saugatuck girls and boys teams both won their sixth straight Southwestern Athletic Conference Lakeshore meet championships – Holland Sentinel

2. Girls Soccer: South Lyon clinched its first league title in this sport, downing Waterford Mott 1-0 in Lakes Valley Conference play – Oakland Press

3. Girls soccer: Division 2 top-ranked DeWitt downed Division 3 No. 14 Williamston 4-2 in a Capital Area Activities Conference Gold Cup quarterfinal – Lansing State Journal

4. Baseball: Division 3 No. 2 Grand Rapids NorthPointe Christian improved to 15-3 with a 12-0 win over Division 2 No. 10 Belding – FOX 17

5. Softball: Grace Lehto threw a no-hitter as Division 2 No. 3 Eaton Rapids opened Greater Lansing Hall of Fame Softball Classic play with a 6-0 win over DeWitt – Lansing State Journal

6. Boys Golf: Tecumseh shot a 336 to win the Lenawee County tournament title – Adrian Daily Telegram

7. Boys Golf: Clarkston, No. 1 in Lower Peninsula Division 1, shot a 300 to win the Chemical City Invitational in Midland – Midland Daily News

8. Boys Lacrosse: Traverse City United’s co-op team defeated Muskegon Southside’s 21-3 in a Division 1 Pre-Regional game – WPBN

9. Softball: Midland swept Division 4 top-ranked Coleman 7-6 and 8-3 – Midland Daily News

10. Baseball: Hemlock and Division 3 No. 19 Pinconning split, Hemlock’s win also the first Tri-Valley Conference West loss for first-place Pinconning since it joined the league in 2016-17 – Bay City Times

Also of note …

Athlete of the Year: Detroit Edison’s Rickea Jackson and Madison Heights Bishop Foley’s Kendel Taylor were named this year’s statewide Athlete of the Year Award winners by the Detroit Athletic Club – State Champs Sports Network

Girls Tennis: From Saturday, LPD3 No. 3 Allegan finished first and Sturgis second at the Wolverine Conference tournament – Sturgis Journal