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: 10/18/17
October 18, 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. Boys Soccer: Division 4 No. 9 Elk Rapids came back from a two-goal deficit to get past Northport 4-3 in overtime and advance in their District – Traverse City Record-Eagle
2. Volleyball: Class C No. 7 Calumet finished an outright Western Peninsula Athletic Conference title with a five-set win over rival Houghton, coming back after losing the second and third games – Houghton Daily Mining Gazette
3. Boys Cross Country: Although it didn’t win the final Blue Water Area Conference jamboree, Yale clinched its first boys league title in 22 years – Port Huron Times Herald
4. Boys Cross Country: Jonesville claimed its first league title since 2003, finishing ahead of rival Concord (No. 7 in LPD4) to win the Big 8 Conference – Hillsdale Daily News
5. Volleyball: New Haven improved to 27-0 and clinched the Macomb Area Conference Bronze title with a sweep of Clinton Township Clintondale – Macomb Daily
6. Girls Cross Country: The Lower Peninsula Division 2 No. 10 Remus Chippewa Hills girls finished a sweep of Central State Activities Association Gold jamborees to claim the league title – Big Rapids News
7. Cross Country: Bad Axe’s boys won their first league title since 2009, as both Ubly teams and the Reese girls also won repeat championships in the Greater Thumb Conference East and West; Ubly’s boys are No. 4 in LPD4 and the girls are No. 6 – Huron Daily Tribune
8. Cross Country: Spring Lake’s boys (No. 8 in LPD2) and girls (No. 11) also swept league titles, winning in the Ottawa-Kent Conference Blue – Grand Haven Tribune
9. Boys Soccer: Fruitport downed Sparta 5-0 in Division 2 as Zack Shane scored all five goals and broke his school’s single-season scoring record – Local Sports Journal
10. Cross Country: The Pittsford girls (No. 11 in LPD4) and Battle Creek St. Philip boys (No. 6) also finished league title runs, in the Southern Central Athletic Association – Hillsdale Daily News
Also of note:
Volleyball: Gwinn got past Iron Mountain in five sets and after dropping the first two to secure a share of the Mid-Peninsula Conference championship – Marquette Mining Journal
Cross Country: From Monday, the St. Ignace girls (No. 1 in UPD2) and Brimley boys (No. 3 in UPD3) finished sweeps of Eastern Upper Peninsula Conference jamborees to claim league titles – Sault Ste. Marie Evening News
Boys Soccer: From Monday, Division 4 No. 6 Hillsdale Academy won an early big-time matchup, downing No. 7 Adrian Lenawee Christian 2-0 in District play – Adrian Daily Telegram