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: 5/8/17
May 8, 2017
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Muskegon County championships in a number of sports highlighted a busy weekend of action to kick off May, the final month of the spring regular season for most teams across the state.
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 4 No. 6 Muskegon Catholic Central won a championship game rematch with Montague 7-4 to claim the Greater Muskegon Athletic Association Tier 2 title – Muskegon Chronicle
Whitehall downed Muskegon Mona Shores 10-6, ending the Sailors’ GMAA Tier 1 title streak at five straight – Muskegon Chronicle
Bay City Western split with Mount Pleasant, getting a 1-0 shutout win from pitcher Cody Freed in the first game – Bay City Times
Division 1 No. 9 Livonia Stevenson came back to down Livonia Franklin 3-1 to win an all-city championship – Observer & Eccentric
Boys Golf
Lower Peninsula Division 4 No. 2 Muskegon Catholic Central followed medalist Collin Powers to a Greater Muskegon Athletic Association win of two strokes over Mona Shores – Muskegon Chronicle
Gladstone edged the host by two strokes at the Escanaba Invitational as Carney-Nadeau’s Hunter Eichhorn shot a first-place 67 – Escanaba Daily Press
Boys Lacrosse
Division 1 No. 3 Hartland remained undefeated by ending No. 7 Brighton’s 51-game league winning streak with a 16-5 victory – Livingston Daily Press & Argus
Softball
Muskegon Reeths-Puffer fell in its opener but came back to repeat as Greater Muskegon Athletic Association Tier 1 champion – Muskegon Chronicle
Division 2 No. 5 Muskegon Oakridge repeated as GMAA Tier 2 champion with an 8-2 win over Division 4 No. 4 Holton – Muskegon Chronicle
Division 1 No. 4 Walled Lake Northern won the 40-team Michigan Stars Invitational, with No. 5 Midland finishing third – Midland Daily News
Girls Tennis
Lower Peninsula Division 4 No. 6 North Muskegon claimed its fifth straight Greater Muskegon Athletic Association championship as Brittany Bailey won a flight title for the third time in four seasons – Muskegon Chronicle
Battle Creek Lakeview clinched the All-City championship, sweeping all eight flight titles – Battle Creek Enquirer
Track & Field
Muskegon Reeths-Puffer’s girls won their eighth straight Greater Muskegon Athletic Association meet led again by standout Maryssa Depies – Muskegon Chronicle
Fruitport’s boys won their fourth straight Greater Muskegon Athletic Association title with three two-event winners – Muskegon Chronicle
Marysville swept the Algonac Muskrat Classic Small School titles, sharing the boys championship with Marine City – Port Huron Times Herald
St. Ignace’s girls won their Kiwanis Invitational, while Newberry’s boys claimed that title – Sault Ste. Marie Evening News
Lake Linden-Hubbell’s teams swept the Lakes Invitational titles – Houghton Daily Mining Gazette
Remus Chippewa Hills swept the Sanford Meridian Nite Trax Invitational titles; the girls team is ranked No. 8 in Lower Peninsula Division 2 – Big Rapids News
LP Division 4 No. 4 Grand Haven’s girls edged LP Division 2 top-ranked Ada Forest Hills Eastern by 14 points at the Holland West Ottawa Invitational – Grand Haven Tribune
Centreville’s girls, No. 3 in LP Division 4, finished ahead of No. 6 Marcellus to win their invitational – Sturgis Journal