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: 10/23/2018
October 23, 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.
A pair of Detroit Catholic League Tournament championship celebrations lead a list filled with Monday volleyball winners and a pair of cross country invitational pacesetters.
1. Volleyball: Division 1 top-ranked Farmington Hills Mercy swept No. 7 Bloomfield Hills Marian to win the Detroit Catholic League A-B championship for the second straight season – Observer & Eccentric
2. Volleyball: Division 2 No. 6 Wixom St. Catherine claimed its second straight Catholic League C-D title with a sweep of Division 3 No. 4 Riverview Gabriel Richard – Oakland Press
3. Volleyball: Division 2 honorable mention Kingsley and Traverse City St. Francis both went 2-1 at the ABCD quad with Division 4 top-ranked Leland with Traverse City Central also playing – Traverse City Record-Eagle
4. Cross Country: The Hanover-Horton boys and Pittsford girls won Sand Creek Invitational championships; Pittsford’s girls are ranked No. 4 in Lower Peninsula Division 4 and Hanover-Horton’s boys are No. 3 in LPD3 – Adrian Daily Telegram
5. Volleyball: Midland came out on top in a matchup of second-place finishers in the Saginaw Valley League with a crossover sweep of Flint Powers Catholic – Midland Daily News
6. Volleyball: Pellston earned wins over Gaylord and Harbor Springs – Petoskey News-Review
7. Volleyball: L’Anse took the season’s second “Battle of the Bay” meeting with Baraga with a three-set sweep – Houghton Daily Mining Gazette
8. Volleyball: Kalamazoo Central swept Climax-Scotts on the Maroon Giants’ senior night – JoeInsider.com
9. Volleyball: Petoskey swept Cheboygan in nonleague play to improve to 33-4-1 – Petoskey News-Review
10. Volleyball: Chassell continued to make strides with a sweep of Dollar Bay – Houghton Daily Mining Gazette
Also of note …
Cross Country: From last week, Grand Rapids Ottawa Hills girls won the Ottawa-Kent Conference White championship, believed to be the first in program history – Grand Rapids Press
Cross Country: From Saturday, Portage Northern’s boys won their first Southwestern Michigan Athletic Conference meet championship in a decade – Kalamazoo Gazette
Cross Country: From Saturday, Parma Western held on at the Interstate 8 Athletic Conference meet to sweep the overall league championships – Coldwater Daily Reporter
Cross Country: From Saturday, Brownstown Woodhaven swept Downriver League meet titles and the boys won the league outright; Allen Park’s girls held on to their overall league championship – Southgate News-Herald girls | boys