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: 12/10/18
December 10, 2018
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Each weekday of the school year, we break down the top headlines courtesy of Michigan’s sports media.
This weekend was filled with record-setting scoring on the basketball court, milestone points and titanic early-season victories as some of the state’s best met in hoops, wrestling and hockey.
1. Wrestling: No. 3 Brighton downed No. 2 Davison 34-23 in a matchup of top teams in Division 1 – Livingston Daily Press & Argus
2. Girls Basketball: Reigning Class A champion Saginaw Heritage held on for a 45-43 win over Southfield Arts & Technology at the Arbor Prep Invitational – Saginaw News
3. Girls Basketball: Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart won big over Coleman as Scout Nelson scored her 1,000th career point – MI Sports Now
4. Wrestling: Division 2 No. 9 Tecumseh downed No. 10 New Boston Huron in the final to win the Brooklyn Columbia Central Team Tournament title – Adrian Daily Telegram
5. Hockey: Division 1 No. 4 Salem followed its Thursday win over Division 2 No. 7 Howell with a 4-0 victory over Division 3 No. 11 Livonia Churchill – Observer & Eccentric
6. Girls Basketball: Comstock’s Daisy Ansel broke her school’s 27-year-old scoring record with 45 points in a big win over Buchanan – Kalamazoo Gazette
7. Bowling: Quincy’s boys entered bracket play as the eighth seed and downed the first on the way to winning the Cascades Clash Baker Tournament – Coldwater Daily Reporter
8. Girls Basketball: Taylor Folkema tied her school’s record with 39 points in Muskegon Western Michigan Christian’s big win over Muskegon Catholic Central – Local Sports Journal
9. Wrestling: Seven individual champions led Petoskey to the team title at the Owosso Invitational – Petoskey News-Review
10. Wrestling: Ishpeming Westwood won its Super Duals finishing 5-0 on the day – Marquette Mining Journal
Also of note …
Cross Country: Longtime Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart coach Mark Zitzelsberger announced his retirement; he led the Irish to six MHSAA titles including the girls team to the last four in Lower Peninsula Division 4 – Mount Pleasant Morning Sun
Wrestling: Lake City earned its first invitational team title as a program, claiming first at Manton – Cadillac News
Girls Basketball: Shepherd edged Birch Run 41-40, but Panthers junior Sarah Miller reached 1,000 points for her career – Saginaw News
Boys Basketball: From Tuesday, Bryce Hallman scored a school-record 44 points as Howard City Tri-County won its first game in nearly two calendar years, over White Cloud – Greenville Daily News