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: 10/24/16

October 24, 2016

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

This weekend wasn’t all about football, as Upper Peninsula cross country teams ran to a total of six championships and a number of soccer teams finished District title runs.

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.

Cross County

The No. 2-ranked Sault Ste. Marie girls won their first MHSAA Finals championship, taking first in Upper Peninsula Division 1, while top-ranked Ishpeming repeated in Division 2 and No. 2 Cedarville moved to the top in Division 3 – Second Half

All three reigning champions repeated in the boys Upper Peninsula Finals, with No. 1 Negaunee, No. 1 Ishpeming and No. 2 Chassell claiming titles – Second Half

The Saginaw Heritage girls extended to nine their winning streak in the annual Saginaw County Meet, and the boys team won as well – Saginaw News

The Romeo, St. Clair and Marysville girls won Macomb Area Conference meet championships – Macomb Daily

The St. Clair Shores Lakeview, Macomb Dakota, and St. Clair boys were among other winners at the MAC meet – Macomb Daily

Birmingham Brother Rice (No. 4 LPD1) ended Detroit Catholic Central’s nine-year hold of the Detroit Catholic League I/II championship, while Madison Heights Bishop Foley’s boys and Dearborn Divine Child (No. 4 LPD2) and Wixom St. Catherine’s girls also won titles – Oakland Press

Blissfield’s girls (No. 8 LPD3) and Erie-Mason’s boys (No. 9) won Lenawee County Athletic Association championships – Adrian Daily Telegram

Corunna’s Noah Jacobs ran a 15:05.36 to win the Shiawassee Invitational – Owosso Argus-Press

Boys Soccer

No. 10 Tawas won its reportedly 17th District title in 21 seasons with a 4-1 victory over West Branch Ogemaw Heights in Division 3 – Bay City Times

No. 9 Grand Rapids Covenant Christian just got past No. 8 Grandville Calvin Christian 1-0 to win a Division 4 title – Grand Rapids Press

Hartland won its first District championship since 1998, downing Walled Lake Central 2-0 in Division 1 – Livingston Daily Press & Argus

Buckley downed McBain Northern Michigan Christian 2-0 to win its first District title in 13 years, in Division 4 – Cadillac News

No. 10 Lansing Christian downed No. 7 Hillsdale Academy 3-1, also in Division 4 – Hillsdale Daily News

Volleyball

Class A honorable mention Niles won its seventh invitational of this season, downing Hartford, Paw Paw, Edwardsburg, Stevensville Lakeshore and host St. Joseph in the final – Niles Daily Star

Class C No. 2 Bronson downed Class D No. 2 Mendon in four sets to claim their Berrien-Cass-St. Joseph division championship – Sturgis Journal