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: 10/4/16
October 4, 2016
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Golf, tennis and soccer teams continued to claim league championships Monday, as some of the state’s best played their last local matches before the start of MHSAA tournaments later this week.
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 Country
Cedarville’s girls and boys teams, both ranked No. 4 in Upper Peninsula Division 3, swept the Eastern U.P. Conference second jamboree, the girls dominating and the boys edging UPD2 honorable mention Newberry by a point – Sault Ste. Marie Evening News
Girls Golf
Port Huron Northern followed Megan Randolph’s 79 to a St. Clair County championship with a 373 total, four strokes lower than runner-up Marysville – Port Huron Times Herald
LPD2 No. 6 St. Joseph shot a 349 to edge LPD4 No. 2 Kalamazoo Hackett by seven strokes and win the HawksHead Invitational in South Haven, the Bears' seventh tournament win in eight events this fall – St. Joseph Herald-Palladium
LPD1 No. 2 Traverse City West and Harbor Springs finished first and second, respectively, at the Traverse City Central Invitational, which doubled as the Big North Conference championship tournament – Traverse City Record-Eagle
Boys Soccer
St. Clair Shores Lake Shore got three second-half goals from Antonio Kazdaglis to down Warren Woods-Tower, and in doing so, clinch the Macomb Area Conference Gold title – Macomb Daily
Alpena’s Evan LeTourneau broke his school’s career goals record with his 42nd in a 5-1 win over Ogemaw Heights – Alpena News
Boys Tennis
LPD3 No. 7 Allegan claimed the Wolverine Conference championship with 72 points, three more than runner-up Sturgis – Sturgis Journal
Coldwater claimed its third straight Interstate 8 Athletic Conference championship by edging Parma Western by two points in the league tournament; both are tied for No. 10 in LPD3 – Coldwater Daily Reporter