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: 12/12/16

December 12, 2016

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

An incredible shooting performance Friday from an Upper Peninsula perimeter ace was followed Saturday by an equally incredible comeback by a top-ranked hockey team.

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.

Boys Basketball

Iron Mountain’s Carson Wonders sank 12 of 13 3-point shots in a 72-43 win over Gwinn – the 12 3-pointers tied for third-most for one game in MHSAA history – Iron Mountain Daily News

Big Rapids’ Demetri Martin scored the 1,000th point of his career in his team’s 65-50 win over Grant – Big Rapids News

Lake Fenton needed just about all of Jalen Miller’s 34 points to get past Flint Hamady 80-76 – Flint Journal

Henry Speight put up 18 points and 15 rebounds in Saginaw’s 62-56 win over Oak Park – Saginaw News

Despite 37 points from North Farmington’s Amauri Hardy, Southfield Christian emerged with a 72-65 win at the Oakland Invitational – MLive-Detroit

Class C Manton won the Petoskey Invitational by beating a pair of Class A teams, Traverse City West on Friday and the Northmen on Saturday – Cadillac News

Girls Basketball

Sault Ste. Marie earned a key Straits Area Conference victory against a state power, downing St. Ignace 51-44 – Sault Ste. Marie Evening News

Hockey

Division 2 top-ranked Hartland trailed Grand Rapids Christian by four but came back to win in overtime, 6-5 – Livingston Daily Press & Argus

Unranked Houghton continued its surge through the week with a 6-5 overtime win over Division 1 No. 10 Utica Eisenhower on Friday followed by a 6-1 victory Saturday over Rochester – Houghton Daily Mining Gazette

Wrestling

For the second straight season, Division 2 No. 3 St. Johns won the Jackson Area Wrestling Showdown, as 21 teams competed in the 31-year event – Jackson Citizen Patriot

Allendale won the Mason County Central Invitational, as Muskegon Reeths-Puffer’s Dawson Romanowski won his 100th career match for the runner-up – Muskegon Chronicle

Division 2 top-ranked Lowell won the Allegan Southwest Classic ahead of No. 8 Stevensville Lakeshore, Niles and Division 4 No. 2 Hudson – Adrian Daily Telegram