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: 10/15/18

October 15, 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.

1. Cross Country: The DeWitt girls, No. 3 in Lower Peninsula Division 2, and No. 12 Corunna boys claimed Greater Lansing Invitational championships – Lansing State Journal girls | boys

2. Cross Country: Traverse City St. Francis’ girls (LPD3 No. 6) and boys (No. 15) swept Lake Michigan Conference titles, and Harbor Springs’ Jeremy Kloss won his fourth league individual championship – Petoskey News-Review

3. Volleyball: Division 2 No. 10 Fruitport downed No. 9 Whitehall to win its third Greater Muskegon Athletic Association tournament in four seasons – Local Sports Journal

4. Boys Tennis: Unranked Traverse City Central and No. 6 Midland Dow shared their Lower Peninsula Division 2 Regional title – Traverse City Record-Eagle

5. Boys Tennis: LPD1 No. 5 Northville locked up its first Regional tennis title since 1995 – Observer & Eccentric

6. Volleyball: Division 3 No. 9 Centreville avenged a loss to Division 4 No. 2 Mendon to win the Southwest 10 Conference tournament title – JoeInsider.com

7. Volleyball: Division 1 honorable mention Battle Creek Lakeview locked up its third straight All-City title – Battle Creek Enquirer

8. Volleyball: Division 3 honorable mention Adrian Madison edged Onsted by two points in both sets to win the Lenawee County tournament for the third straight season – Adrian Daily Telegram

9. Cross Country: Muskegon Reeths-Puffer swept championships at the Greater Muskegon Athletic Association city meet – Local Sports Journal

10. Volleyball: Pentwater defeated Marion to earn the West Michigan D League tournament title – Manistee News Advocate

Also of note:

Girls Swimming & Diving: From Thursday, LPD1 No. 8 Brighton clinched a share of the Kensington Lakes Activities Association West title with a win over honorable mention Hartland – Livingston Daily Press & Argus

Boys Soccer: Marysville claimed its second straight Macomb Area Conference Gold title with a 2-0 win over Roseville – Port Huron Times-Herald

Boys Tennis: From Thursday, Gibraltar Carlson claimed its fourth straight Regional title, in LPD2 – Southgate News-Herald