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: 9/21/16

September 21, 2016

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

After a day away, “Today” returns with highlights of the past two, including some impressive volleyball upsets coming out of the Traverse City area, a few more in soccer as well, and the end to a lengthy win streak in swimming & diving.

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

Alpena’s Mitchell Day remains one of the state’s most dominant runners, and he finished nearly a minute ahead of the field at Tuesday’s Big North Conference race – Alpena News

The Grosse Ile girls and boys both won this season’s first Huron League races Tuesday as both seek to repeat as champions – Southgate News-Herald

Boys Soccer

Hillsdale Academy, No. 12 in Division 4, earned a 5-0 win over rival Hillsdale High on Monday – Hillsdale Daily News

Unranked Midland Dow remained undefeated at 11-0-1 on Monday with a 3-1 win over Flint Powers Catholic, ranked No. 4 in Division 3 – Midland Daily News

Unranked Grand Haven upset Division 1 No. 10 East Kentwood 2-0 in overtime Tuesday – Grand Haven Tribune

Girls Swimming & Diving

Brighton downed Dexter 98-88 on Tuesday, its first win over the Dreadnaughts in 22 years. Both are top programs; Dexter is top-ranked in Lower Peninsula Division 2, and Brighton is No. 9 in Division 1 – Livingston Daily

Volleyball

Saginaw Heritage remained undefeated in Saginaw Valley League play with a 3-1 win over Midland Dow on Tuesday – Saginaw News

Utica Eisenhower won a matchup of Division 1 honorable mentions, downing Macomb Dakota in five sets Tuesday – Macomb Daily

The northern Lower Peninsula saw a pair of upsets Tuesday as Kingsley downed Class D No. 3 Leland and Fife Lake Forest Area got past Class D No. 4 Onaway – Traverse City Record-Eagle