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: 2/20/17

February 20, 2017

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

League titles … District titles … Regional titles … and we even crowned our first MHSAA Finals champions of the winter during a weekend of celebrations. Check out this sizable collection of links to find out more.

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. 

Girls Basketball

Marshall won the outright Interstate 8 Athletic Conference title with a 50-29 win over rival Jackson Northwest – Battle Creek Enquirer

DeWitt earned a share of the Capital Area Activities Conference Red title with a 54-43 win over Haslett – Lansing State Journal

Farmington Hills Mercy clinched the Detroit Catholic League A-B championship with a 45-36 win over Bloomfield Hills Marian – Detroit Free Press

Battle Creek Lakeview finished an outright Southwestern Michigan Athletic Conference East title with a 72-32 win over Kalamazoo Loy Norrix – Battle Creek Enquirer

Sault Ste. Marie downed Newberry 45-34 to clinch its first Straits Area Conference title since 2007-08 – Sault Ste. Marie Evening News

Ludington repeated as champ of the Lakes 8 Athletic Conference with a 60-40 win over Manistee – Ludington Daily News

Warren Cousino clinched the Macomb Area Conference Red-White tournament title with a 53-34 win over Port Huron Northern – Macomb Daily

Royal Oak Shrine downed Waterford Our Lady 52-49 in the Detroit Catholic League C-D Final to clinch its first league title in 23 years – Oakland Press

Detroit Martin Luther King clinched its sixth straight Detroit Public School League tournament title by downing Mumford 56-33 – Detroit News

Boys Basketball

East Lansing clinched a share of the Capital Area Activities Conference Blue title with a 66-61 win over Holt – Lansing State Journal

Kinross Maplewood Baptist won the Northern Lights League tournament by downing Mackinac Island in the final – Escanaba Daily Press

A game-winning 3-pointer gave Sturgis a 52-51 upset of Benton Harbor – Sturgis Journal

Detroit Cass Tech won its first Detroit PSL title in more than 20 years with a 55-47 win over King – Detroit News

Bowling

The St. Charles boys – No. 1 in Division 4 – won their fourth straight Tri-Valley Conference championship and placed three of the top five in singles – Saginaw News

Gaylord’s girls claimed the Northern Michigan Bowling Conference championship – Petoskey News-Review

Grand Haven’s boys, ranked No. 8 in Division 1, capped a dominating run through the Ottawa-Kent Conference Red – Grand Haven Tribune

Cheer

Division 1 honorable mention Southgate Anderson clinched its ninth straight District championship – Southgate News-Herald

Top-ranked Gibraltar Carlson made it nine straight Division 2 District titles, finishing four points ahead of No. 3 Dearborn Divine Child and also ahead of No. 2 Allen Park – Southgate News-Herald

Gymnastics

Northville won a close race for the KLAA league meet title, edging Plymouth by fewer than two points – Observer & Eccentric

Hockey

Division 1 top-ranked Brighton downed Division 2 No. 2 Hartland to claim the overall Kensington Lakes Activities Association title – Livingston Daily Press & Argus

Swimming & Diving

Brighton’s boys earned a share of the KLAA West championship with Howell and Grand Blanc by winning the league meet – Livingston Daily Press & Argus

Marquette’s boys claimed their fourth straight Upper Peninsula Finals championship – Second Half

Houghton’s girls outlasted a competitive field to claim the Upper Peninsula Finals title – Second Half

Wrestling

Lowell advanced 13 to the MHSAA Individual Finals in Division 2, including five Regional champions – Grand Rapids Press

Davison is sending 12 wrestlers to the Division 1 Individual Finals, including six who won titles Saturday – Flint Journal