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: 10/29/18
October 29, 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.
Lower Peninsula cross country teams ran for their chance to compete at this weekend’s Finals at Michigan International Speedway – with at least a pair of first-time Regional champs in the sport – and the final boys soccer Regional titles were awarded over the weekend as well. (We didn’t find coverage, but in addition to three shown below, Hudsonville Unity Christian and Burton Genesee Christian also moved on to this week’s soccer Semifinals.)
1. Cross Country: The Division 3 No. 15 Bloomingdale girls and No. 10 Berrien Springs boys won their first Regional cross country titles – St. Joseph Herald-Palladium
2. Cross Country: The No. 3 Brighton boys won their first Regional title since 1993, and the No. 10 (tied) Pinckney girls dominated in Division 1 races – Livingston Daily Press & Argus
3. Cross Country: Petoskey’s girls (No. 3) won their first Regional title since 2003, while the Fremont boys (also No. 3) also claimed a title in Division 2 – Petoskey News-Review
4. Boys soccer: Warren DeLaSalle held on for a 2-1 overtime win over Utica Eisenhower in a Division 1 Regional Final – Macomb Daily
5. Cross Country: Ann Arbor Pioneer’s girls (No. 3) and boys (No. 2) teams swept Division 1 Regional championships with Saline (No. 7 both teams) finishing second in both races – We Love Ann Arbor
6. Cross Country: The No. 3 Grandville Calvin Christian girls won their seventh straight Division 3 Regional title – Grand Rapids Press
7. Boys Soccer: No. 9 Ludington repeated as a Regional champion, downing Muskegon Orchard View 5-1 in Division 3 – Ludington Daily News
8. Boys Soccer: Top-ranked Grosse Ile moved on to this week’s Semifinals with a big Division 3 Regional Final win over Brooklyn Columbia Central – Southgate News-Herald
9. Cross Country: The top-ranked Northville girls won their seventh straight Division 1 Regional title, and the top-ranked Plymouth boys also repeated – Observer & Eccentric Girls | Boys
10. Cross Country: In Division 4, the No. 8 Ubly girls extended their Regional title streak to five, while the No. 7 Unionville-Sebewaing boys won for the first time since 2010 – Huron Daily Tribune Girls | Boys