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: 10/4/17

October 4, 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: Rochester Adams held firm to its No. 2 ranking in Division 1 with a 2-0 win over No. 3-ranked Troy Athens – Detroit News

2. Girls Golf: Division 2 No. 2 Brighton continued to shine with a 309 to win the Kensington Lakes Activities Association tournament ahead of runner-up and No. 7-ranked Northville, which shot a school-record 313 – Livingston Daily Press & Argus

3. Boys Soccer: Unranked East Lansing upset Division 3 No. 5 Williamston in a shootout in Capital Area Activities Conference Gold Cup play, while unranked DeWitt also upset Division 2 No. 9 Haslett in another first-round game and unranked St. Johns knocked out top seed and Division 1 No. 20 Jackson also in a shootout – Lansing State Journal

4. Volleyball: Class C No. 9 Calumet came back from dropping the first set to beat honorable mention Houghton in five as senior Lea Bjorn set a school record with 28 kills – Houghton Daily Mining Gazette

5. Girls Swimming & Diving: LPD1 honorable mention Zeeland edged LPD3 No. 2 Holland Christian 105-81 – Holland Sentinel

6. Boys Soccer: Division 1 No. 14 Rochester broke open a scoreless game at halftime to down No. 18 Troy 3-0 – Oakland Press

7. Girls Golf: Marysville shot a 348 to win the St. Clair County tournament by 21 strokes over runner-up St. Clair – Port Huron Times Herald

8. Boys Soccer: Division 2 No. 19 St. Joseph got past No. 20 Richland Gull Lake 1-0 – St. Joseph Herald-Palladium

9. Girls Golf: LPD3 No. 10 Big Rapids added another Central State Activities Association championship to the program’s successful history – Big Rapids News

10. Volleyball: For the second time in four days, Rudyard’s Sydnie Zeeryp broke her school record for blocks in a match with 10 this time against DeTour; Rudyard is No. 8 in Class D – Sault Ste. Marie Evening News

Also of note …

Girls Golf: From Monday, Brighton, DeWitt and LPD4 No. 2 Jackson Lumen Christi claimed the top three places, respectively, at Monday’s East Lansing Invitational – JoeInsider.com