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: 10/5/18

October 5, 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. Girls Golf: Lower Peninsula Division 1 top-ranked Northville shot a 302 to win the Kensington Lakes Activities Association tournament for the first time since 2009 – Observer & Eccentric

2. Boys Tennis: Traverse City Central clinched its 13th straight Big North Conference championship, just ahead of LPD3 No. 7 Petoskey – Traverse City Record-Eagle

3. Girls Golf: LPD4 No. 3 Grand Rapids NorthPointe Christian shot a 368 to edge reigning champ Spring Lake by four strokes and clinch the Ottawa-Kent Conference Blue title – Grand Haven Tribune

4. Girls Golf: Sturgis locked up its fourth straight Wolverine Conference title  Sturgis Journal

5. Boys Soccer: Division 4 top-ranked Muskegon Western Michigan Christian clinched the Lakes 8 Conference title with a 3-0 win over Muskegon Orchard View – Local Sports Journal

6. Boys Soccer: Division 4 No. 10 Royal Oak Shrine clinched the Detroit Catholic League Intersectional 2 championship with a big win over Clarkston Everest Collegiate – Oakland Press

7. Boys Soccer: Traverse City West downed Alpena and then claimed the Big North Conference title outright thanks to Traverse City Central’s tie with Cadillac – WPBN

8. Boys Soccer: Division 2 No. 4 East Lansing defeated Division 1 No. 7 Okemos 2-1 with a shootout to advance to the Capital Area Activities Conference Gold Cup championship game – Lansing State Journal

9. Boys Soccer: Division 1 No. 2 Portage Central edged Portage Northern 1-0 to advance to the Southwestern Michigan Athletic Conference championship game – JoeInsider.com

10. Boys Soccer: Justin Raymond set a Gladwin single-season record with his 49th goal in the Division 3 No. 10 Flying Gs’ win over Clare – Midland Daily News

Also of note …

Volleyball: From Wednesday, Niles Brandywine swept Buchanan to repeat as Berrien-Cass-St. Joseph Conference Red champion – Niles Daily Star

Boys soccer: From Wednesday, Division 2 No. 5 Fenton clinched the Flint Metro League title with a win over Swartz Creek – WJRT

Boys Tennis: Jarrett Kelley set the Chesaning career wins record with his 90th in a team victory over Ortonville Brandon – Owosso Argus-Press