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: 11/10/17

November 10, 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. Volleyball: Top-ranked Pontiac Notre Dame Prep reaffirmed its status as favorite in a big way with a sweep of No. 2 North Branch in a Class B Regional Final – Oakland Press

2. Volleyball: No. 3 Grand Rapids Christian took top-ranked Rockford to a fifth set and closed out a slight upset of the reigning Class A runner-up – Grand Rapids Press

3. Volleyball: No. 4 Schoolcraft took top-ranked and reigning champion Bronson to a fifth set as well, but the Vikings prevailed for the Class C Regional title – Coldwater Daily Reporter

4. Volleyball: No. 6 Bloomfield Hills Marian avenged two losses this season to No. 8 Clarkston by downing the Wolves in a Class A Regional Final sweep – Oakland Press

5. Volleyball: Reigning champion and top-ranked Plymouth Christian Academy got past No. 3 North Adams-Jerome to move on in Class D – Hillsdale Daily News

6. Volleyball: No. 3 Lake Odessa Lakewood will play in another Class B Quarterfinal thanks to a Regional Final sweep of No. 6 Marshall – Ionia Sentinel-Standard

7. Volleyball: Honorable mention New Baltimore Anchor Bay won its first Regional title with a five-set victory over Sterling Heights Stevenson in Class A – C&G Newspapers

8. Volleyball: Honorable mention Southfield Christian earned its first Regional title in volleyball, downing Sterling Heights Parkway Christian 3-1 in Class D – Macomb Daily

9. Volleyball: Class C No. 10 Wixom St. Catherine and Detroit Edison Public School Academy both were playing for a first Regional title, and St. Catherine claimed it with a sweep – Oakland Press

10. Volleyball: No. 6 Unionville-Sebewaing swept reigning Class C runner-up Brown City to advance with a Regional title – Huron Daily Tribune

Also of note …

Volleyball: Class A No. 4 DeWitt won its first Regional title in any class since 2010 with a sweep of honorable mention Richland Gull Lake – Lansing State Journal

Volleyball: Honorable mention Cadillac won its ninth straight Class B Regional title with a sweep of Alma – Cadillac News

Volleyball: No. 8 Calumet claimed its sixth straight Regional title with a sweep of Iron River West Iron County in Class C – Houghton Daily Mining Gazette

Volleyball: No. 10 Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart won a fifth straight Class D Regional title, defeating honorable mention Muskegon Catholic Central in five sets – Mount Pleasant Morning Sun

Volleyball: Reigning champion and No. 2-ranked Novi moved on to a rematch with Temperance Bedford by sweeping South Lyon in a Class A Regional Final – Observer & Eccentric

Volleyball: No. 8 Rogers City continued a highlight-filled week, claiming a Regional title with a sweep of honorable mention Bellaire after downing No. 2 Leland on Tuesday – Alpena News

Volleyball: Unranked Battle Creek St. Philip finds itself headed to the final week of the season again thanks to a Class D sweep of Climax-Scotts – Battle Creek Enquirer

Volleyball: Honorable mention Shelby moved on with a Class C Regional title, ending the dream season for Beaverton that included first league and District titles – Midland Daily News

Volleyball: No. 6 Farmington Hills Mercy also moved on in Class A with a sweep of Livonia Stevenson – Observer & Eccentric

Volleyball: Class B honorable mention Fruitport moved on to next week’s Quarterfinals with a sweep of Grant – Muskegon Chronicle