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: 5/23/18
May 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.
1. Baseball: A dramatic doubleheader split with No. 14 Sanford Meridian eventually netted Division 3 No. 15 Beaverton its first Jack Pine Conference championship in 28 years – Midland Daily News
2. Softball: After taking a loss to Niles in the night’s first game, Division 2 top-ranked Stevensville Lakeshore came back to win the second and clinch its third straight Southwestern Michigan Athletic Conference West title – St. Joseph Herald-Palladium
3. Baseball: Warren DeLaSalle dealt Division 2 top-ranked Orchard Lake St. Mary’s a 15-8 loss to claim the Detroit Catholic League A-B championship – Macomb Daily
4. Baseball: In a matchup of two of the best in Division 3, No. 6 Bronson handed No. 2 Homer its first loss as the teams split a doubleheader – Coldwater Daily Reporter
5. Boys Golf: Big Rapids, No. 2 in Lower Peninsula Division 3, claimed its 13th straight Central State Activities Association championship by shooting a 307 – Big Rapids News
6. Baseball: Division 4 No. 20 Beal City swept Evart to claim its 15th straight league title in the Highland Conference – Mount Pleasant Morning Sun
7. Softball: Alpena clinched its eighth straight Big North Conference championship with a split against second-place Traverse City Central – Alpena News
8. Boys Lacrosse: After falling to Clarkston each of the last two postseasons, No. 8 Lake Orion moved on in its Division 1 Regional with a 12-6 victory over the Wolves – Oakland Press
9. Girls Soccer: Boyne City edged Traverse City St. Francis to claim its first Lake Michigan Conference title in the sport – Petoskey News-Review
10. Softball: Division 1 No. 8 Plymouth followed pitcher Jenny Bressler to a 9-1 win over No. 6 Howell in the Kensington Lakes Activities Association semifinals – Observer & Eccentric
Also of note ...
Wrestling: Coach Nate Ethridge will be leaving Remus Chippewa Hills with more than 500 wins to take over the program at Collins Hill in Georgia – Gwinnett Daily Post