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: 5/22/17
May 22, 2017
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
This past weekend belonged mostly to Track & Field Regionals, with some familiar faces – Oak Park and Saugatuck among them – shining brightest again.
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
Mattawan, coached by Joe Clifford, downed younger brother Phil Clifford and Jackson Lumen Christi to win the Al Glick Classic – Jackson Citizen Patriot
Essexville Garber equaled its most wins since 2006 in claiming its invitational title, and after opening with a 10-run victory over Division 4 No. 9 Saginaw Nouvel – Bay City Times
Howell swept Division 1 No. 5 Birmingham Brother Rice 8-0 and 4-2 – Livingston Daily Press & Argus
Boys Lacrosse
Vi Lobo set Midland’s career scoring record with three goals in a 17-1 Division 1 Regional win over Holly/Ortonville Brandon – Midland Daily News
Softball
Ishpeming Westwood won the Mid-Peninsula Conference tournament for the first time, downing Norway in the final – Marquette Mining Journal
Girls Tennis
Bay City All Saints and Frankenmuth shared a Lower Peninsula Division 4 Regional title after an All Saints win in the final match – Bay City Times
St. Joseph won an LP Division 2 Regional title by two points over three runners-up – St. Joseph Herald-Palladium
Track & Field
Oak Park’s girls and boys – both reigning MHSAA Finals champions – dominated in sweeping LP Division 1 Regional titles – Oakland Press
Saugatuck’s boys and girls teams won their fifth straight Regional titles, this time in LP Division 3; the girls are ranked No. 1 and the boys No. 3 – Grand Rapids Press
Led by a star freshman, Lansing Waverly’s girls won their first Regional title after winning their first MHSAA Finals title last season – Lansing State Journal
Battle Creek St. Phillip’s boys won their first Regional title since 1982 after entering the meet ranked No. 3 in LP Division 4 – Battle Creek Enquirer
Bessemer’s boys won their fifth straight Regional title, while Lake Linden-Hubbell’s girls also dominated at Wakefield-Marenisco – Houghton Daily Mining Gazette
The Houghton boys and Negaunee girls won Regional titles at Ishpeming – Houghton Daily Mining Gazette
Salem’s No. 4-ranked boys won their LP Division 1 Regional by 36 points – Observer & Eccentric
Livonia Churchill’s girls repeated as LP Division 1 Regional champions by edging No. 3 Plymouth – Observer & Eccentric
Zeeland East swept LP Division 2 Regional titles; the girls are ranked No. 3 and the boys No. 4 – Holland Sentinel
No. 3 Pittsford edged No. 4 Hillsdale Academy by 3.5 points to win their LP Division 4 Regional – Hillsdale Daily News
Coldwater’s No. 5-ranked boys remained undefeated on the season with an LP Division 2 Regional title – Coldwater Daily Reporter
Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart’s girls won their first Regional title "in decades," finishing 46 points better than the LP Division 4 field – Mount Pleasant Morning Sun
Shepherd’s No. 6 girls finished 46 points better than reigning LP Division 3 champion Ithaca to claim a Regional title – Mount Pleasant Morning Sun
Niles’ boys won their second Regional title in three seasons in LP Division 2 – Niles Daily Star