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: 10/3/18
October 3, 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: Top-ranked Brighton edged No. 2 Plymouth in a boys race featuring the top teams in Lower Peninsula Division 1; Brighton’s No. 13-ranked girls also won close, by three over honorable mention Plymouth – Livingston Daily Press & Argus
2. Volleyball: No. 2 Farmington Hills Mercy swept No. 8 Bloomfield Hills Marian in a matchup of top Detroit Catholic League Central and statewide Division 1 teams – Oakland Press
3. Volleyball: Division 1 No. 9 Rochester Hills Stoney Creek moved into first place alone in the Oakland Activities Association Red with a 3-2 win over No. 3 Lake Orion – Oakland Press
4. Girls Swimming & Diving: Holland, tied for No. 10 in LPD2, earned its first win over rival and LPD3 No. 4 Holland Christian in four years, by two points – Holland Sentinel
5. Boys Soccer: West Bloomfield earned a share of the OAA Blue title with a draw against Farmington Hills Harrison, but Harrison also can share if it wins its final league game – Oakland Press
6. Girls Golf: LPD3 No. 4 Big Rapids locked up the Central State Activities Association championship – Big Rapids News
7. Cross Country: Traverse City Central swept Big North Conference races, the boys winning by just a point over Alpena; Central’s girls are No. 6 and Traverse City West’s No. 7 in LPD1 – Traverse City Record-Eagle
8. Boys Soccer: Grand Haven scored two second-half goals to edge East Kentwood 2-1 – Grand Haven Tribune
9. Cross Country: Allen Park’s girls added a second Downriver League jamboree win after also claiming the first conference race – Southgate News-Herald
10. Volleyball: Division 2 No. 7 Spring Lake needed a fifth set but got past Sparta – Local Sports Journal
Also of note …
Athletic Directors: The Lansing State Journal takes a behind-the-scenes look at the lives of some local athletic directors – and how much more goes into the job than many may know – Lansing State Journal
Softball: Sterling Heights Stevenson grad Alyssa Huntley, the statewide 2013 Miss Softball Pitcher, was named coach at Midland Dow – Midland Daily News