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: 11/6/17

November 6, 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. Girls Cross Country: Lansing Catholic’s Olivia Theis ran the fastest time in MHSAA Lower Peninsula Finals 5K history to lead the Cougars to the Division 2 title, their first championship, while Hart also won its first MHSAA title, Troy its first in more than 20 years and Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart its third straight – Second Half

2. Boys Cross Country: Chelsea and Hanover-Horton won their first MHSAA boys cross country championships, while Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart claimed its first in 40 years and Ann Arbor Pioneer swept the team and individual titles in Division 1 – Second Half

3. Boys Soccer: Detroit Catholic Central, Holland and Ann Arbor Greenhills won first MHSAA titles in boys soccer Saturday, while Flint Powers Catholic avenged a 2016 Finals loss to also raise a trophy – Second Half

4. Girls Swimming & Diving: Lower Peninsula Division 1 top-ranked Saline set three Southeastern Conference Red meet records in winning the team title ahead of No. 10 Ann Arbor Huron and No. 3 Ann Arbor Skyline – Saline Post

5. Girls Swimming & Diving: LPD1 No. 7 Northville, unranked Novi and No. 6 Brighton took the top three places at the Kensington Lakes Activities Association championship meet – Observer & Eccentric

6. Girls Swimming & Diving: LPD2 honorable mention Midland Dow capped an undefeated regular season with a 12th straight Saginaw Valley League meet championship – Midland Daily News

7. Volleyball: Warren Woods-Tower swept Warren Mott to claim its first Class A District title in volleyball – Macomb Daily

8. Volleyball: Pellston won a District title for the 11th consecutive season, downing Harbor Springs Harbor Light Christian in Class D – Petoskey News-Review

9. Girls Swimming & Diving: The Traverse City co-op with athletes from Central, West and St. Francis saw 51 personal records set over two days in winning the Coastal Swim Conference championship – Traverse City Record-Eagle

10. Volleyball: In their fourth meeting this season, Class A honorable mention Richland Gull Lake held off Battle Creek Lakeview in five sets to claim a District title – Battle Creek Enquirer