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: 3/2/18
March 2, 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.
Today's Top 10
1. Girls Basketball: Fowlerville won its first District title in girls basketball since 2002 with a 48-33 win over Williamston – Lansing State Journal
2. Hockey: Unranked Lake Orion scored three goals during the first period in upsetting No. 6 Utica Eisenhower 3-2 in a Division 1 Pre-Regional – Macomb Daily
3. Boys Basketball: Clarkston finished an outright Oakland Activities Association Red title with a 48-38 win over Hazel Park despite not having injured star guard Foster Loyer – Oakland Press
4. Hockey: Traverse City West scored with 7.5 seconds left in regulation to force overtime, and then added the game winner in a 5-4 Division 1 Pre-Regional win over the Traverse City Bay Reps co-op – MI Sports Now
5. Hockey: No. 5 Trenton got past No. 6 Saline 4-0 in a Division 2 Pre-Regional game – Southgate News Herald
6. Hockey: No. 8 Grand Rapids Catholic Central got past East Grand Rapids 4-2 in a Division 3 Pre-Regional – FOX 17
7. Boys Basketball: Maple City Glen Lake, Buckley and Frankfort all won to finish a three-way share of the Northwest Conference title – Traverse City Record-Eagle
8. Boys Basketball: Bear Lake claimed a share of the West Michigan D League title with a 93-51 win over Walkerville – Manistee News Advocate
9. Boys Basketball: Calumet downed Hancock 67-42 to guarantee a shared Western Peninsula Athletic Conference title with Iron River West Iron County – Houghton Daily Mining Gazette
10. Boys Basketball: Class A contender Holland West Ottawa downed Class B contender Grand Rapids Catholic Central 59-49 – Holland Sentinel
Also of note …
Boys Basketball: Ishpeming’s Hart Holmgren became his school’s al-time leading scorer, breaking a record that had stood since 1965 in a 66-60 win over Escanaba – Marquette Mining Journal
Boys Basketball: Norway edged Rapid River 58-56 as the Knights’ Connor Ortman scored his 1,000th career point – Iron Mountain Daily News
Boys Basketball: West Michigan Conference champion North Muskegon downed Lakes 8 Conference title winner Ludington 55-43 – Local Sports Journal