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: 12/7/17
December 7, 2017
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. Hockey: Division 1 No. 2 Detroit Catholic Central downed Division 3 No. 4 Warren DeLaSalle 3-0 in a matchup of Catholic League Central and statewide powers – Observer & Eccentric
2. Hockey: Staying in the Catholic League Central, Division 1 No. 3 Orchard Lake St. Mary’s downed Division 2 No. 4 Birmingham Brother Rice 5-2 – Oakland Press
3. Wrestling: As Division 1 No. 4 Hartland opened with a sweep of Flushing and Lake Orion, an Eagles senior celebrated a return to the mat after two seasons away – Livingston Daily Press & Argus
4. Boys Swimming & Diving: Okemos, an honorable mention in Lower Peninsula Division 2, won the annual Howard Comstock Waverly Relays, anticipating it as the start to what could be a special season for the Chiefs – Lansing State Journal
5. Girls Basketball: Rickea Jackson scored 30 points to lead reigning Class C champ Detroit Edison Public School Academy past Detroit East English 89-47 – Detroit News
6. Hockey: Division 2 No. 10 Midland Dow scored four unanswered goals during the third period to get past rival Midland 5-1 – Midland Daily News
7. Wrestling: Division 3 No. 3 Remus Chippewa Hills has high expectations this season and started things out with a 46-20 win over Traverse City West – Mount Pleasant Morning Sun
8. Wrestling: Division 2 No. 7 Stevensville Lakeshore opened its season with a loss, but not before giving undefeated Mishawaka, Ind., a tough challenge, 37-29 – St. Joseph Herald-Palladium
9. Hockey: The ice surface at USA Hockey Arena – home to the MHSAA Finals – was renamed for former Detroit Catholic Central goalie Mitchel Kiefer, who died in a car crash with a distracted driver in 2016 after helping the Shamrocks to a Division 1 championship earlier that year – Observer & Eccentric
10. Wrestling: New Baltimore Anchor Bay dedicated its wrestling mat to former standout Larry Rybarz III, who won more than 200 matches during his high school career and died in a car crash in August at age 24 – Macomb Daily