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: 5/30/17

May 30, 2017

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

The last weekend before the busiest sports week of the school year still had plenty of action, as the Michigan Interscholastic Track Coaches Association hosted its team championship meets and a home run record was tied in softball.

Each weekday during the school year, we’ll gather and post media links covering the most significant and intriguing high school events from all over the state.

Baseball

Division 1 No. 2 Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett downed Division 3 No. 4 Homer 7-0 in the Memorial Day Heart Classic at Comerica Park – Jackson Citizen Patriot

Reese swept Vassar to claim a share of the Greater Thumb Conference West title – Bay City Times

Birch Run earned a share in the Tri-Valley Conference East with Division 2 No. 6 Essexville Garber, winning 1-0 in eight innings over Caro to finish a game started (and played through seven innings) in April – Saginaw News

Division 1 No. 20 Gibraltar Carlson tied its record for wins, set in 1977, with 30 thanks to a sweep of New Boston Huron – Southgate News Herald

Warren DeLaSalle junior Bryce Bush set a school record and entered MHSAA record book consideration with his 15th home run during a doubleheader against Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett – Macomb Daily

Softball

Division 1 No. 10 Mount Pleasant edged Frankenmuth 7-6 to win the Eagle Memorial Classic – Saginaw News

Harrison Township L’Anse Creuse’s Brooke Nadolny hit three home runs against Division 2 No. 2 Richmond to tie the MHSAA single-season record of 20 – Macomb Daily

Division 1 top-ranked Macomb Dakota won the New Baltimore Anchor Bay Invitational, downing Division 3 top-ranked Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central (but not ace pitcher Meghan Beaubien) 12-1 in the final – Macomb Daily

Track & Field

The fourth-ranked Pittsford girls continued a season of successes by winning the MITCA Lower Peninsula Division 4 team title – Hillsdale Daily News

Clare’s top-ranked boys won the MITCA LP Division 3 team title on their home track – Mount Pleasant Morning Sun

Additional MITCA team champions were the Rockford boys (No. 2) and girls (No. 1) in LP Division 1, the No. 4 Zeeland East boys and No. 2 Grand Rapids Christian girls in LP Division 2, the No. 3 Frankenmuth girls in LP Division 3 and the top-ranked Whittemore-Prescott boys in LP Division 4 – MITCA.org

Oak Park’s girls won the Oakland County championship for the fourth straight season, and the boys made it three county titles in a row – Oakland Press