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: 8/28/17
August 28, 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. Cross Country: The Pete Moss Invitational at Benzie Central featured a number of the state’s top teams – and also featured three girls breaking 17 minutes after none had done so since Rochester's Megan Goethals in 2009, led by Ann Arbor Pioneer standout Anne Forsyth at 16:50.3 – Traverse City Record-Eagle
2. Boys Tennis: Reigning Lower Peninsula Division 1 runner-up Bloomfield Hills scored 27 points to beat Ann Arbor Pioneer, reigning champion Huron and reigning LPD2 champion Midland Dow among the top finishers at the Huron Invitational – Midland Daily News
3. Volleyball: Temperance Bedford finished atop a field of teams from all over the Lower Peninsula, downing Coldwater in the final of the Cereal City Classic in Battle Creek – Coldwater Daily Reporter
4. Girls Golf: Reigning three-time LPD3 champ Spring Lake shot 351 to edge LPD4 No. 1 Kalamazoo Hackett by nine strokes and win the Fruitport Invitational – Grand Haven Tribune
5. Volleyball: Southfield Christian dominated the Auburn Hills Oakland Christian Invitational, winning all 10 of its sets over five matches on the way to the title – MLive-Detroit
6. Cross Country: The annual Marquette Invitational moved from the school to Presque Isle Park, but the Marquette teams remained a dominating pair in sweeping the titles – Marquette Mining Journal
7. Volleyball: Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart swept Clare in the championship match after avenging a previous loss to Fowler to improve to 9-1-1 and win its invitational – Mount Pleasant Morning Sun
8. Volleyball: Grand Haven again won its “Battle of the Boardwalk” outdoor event, falling to Muskegon Mona Shores but then coming back to beat Fruitport and Spring Lake – Grand Haven Tribune
9. Cross Country: Blissfield’s girls and Erie-Mason’s boys won the Addison Kuenner Invitational titles, with Blissfield’s Casey Reed breaking the course record she set a year ago – Adrian Daily Telegram
10. Football: We highlighted the preview last week of Tim Shaw’s return to Livonia Clarenceville for the naming of the stadium in his honor; here’s coverage of the ceremony – Observer & Eccentric