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: 10/20/16

October 20, 2016

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

A few more upsets rang out across the boys soccer tournament Wednesday as a number of teams clinched appearances in District Finals.

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 Soccer

Sterling Heights Stevenson eliminated No. 9 Utica Ford 4-3 in a Division 1 semifinal – Macomb Daily

Undefeated Midland Dow extended its unbeaten streak to 22 in moving on to a Division 1 District Final with a 3-1 win over Bay City Western – Saginaw News

Division 3 No. 10 Tawas edged No. 11 Gladwin 1-0 in a semifinal – Bay City Times

Division 3 No. 13 Lansing Catholic got past rival and No. 5 Williamston 2-1 – Lansing State Journal

The Muskegon area is loaded in Division 4, shown again as unranked Muskegon Catholic Central downed No. 4 North Muskegon 2-1 – Muskegon Chronicle

Division 2 No. 9 Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook shut out No. 20 Orchard Lake St. Mary’s 2-0 – Oakland Press

Volleyball

Jackson Lumen Christi downed neighbor Parma Western 3-1 in the “Kills for Kellen” game to benefit childhood cancer research and honor 9-year-old Kellen McCord, who is battling nerve cell cancer and has a cousin on the Titans – Jackson Citizen-Patriot

From Tuesday, Kingsford downed Escanaba to claim the Great Northern Conference championship – Iron Mountain Daily News

Class B No. 6 Battle Creek Harper Creek handed Coldwater a first league loss in a matchup of top Interstate 8 Athletic Conference teams – Coldwater Daily Reporter