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: 9/8/16
September 8, 2016
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Rain couldn’t wash out a number of Lower Peninsula cross country invitationals and the continued climb by the new runners to chase in Battle Creek.
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
Battle Creek Lakeview’s Maggie Farrell continued an impressive ascension in winning the All-City race ahead of 2014 MHSAA LP Division 4 champ Ava Strenge of St. Philip; Harper Creek's Tommy Shaw won the boys race to lead his team to its first all-city title since 2010 – Battle Creek Enquirer
Sanford Meridian swept the girls and boys races at its invitational, the girls followed by Bullock Creek and the boys by Beaverton – Midland Daily News
Shepherd also swept both races at its home invitational, run on a new course – Mount Pleasant Morning Sun
Boys Soccer
Still-undefeated Melvindale downed previously-undefeated Allen Park 2-1 as all three goals came on penalty kicks – Southgate News-Herald
Niles remained undefeated with a 2-2 tie against Division 2 No. 20 Richland Gull Lake – Niles Daily Star
Volleyball
Class C No. 2 Bronson held off multiple early rallies to down White Pigeon in three sets – Coldwater Daily Reporter
In its first match in nearly two weeks, Cadillac opened Big North Conference play with a sweep of Traverse City West – Cadillac News
Sault Ste. Marie came back from two sets down to defeat Newberry 3-2 in Straits Area Conference play Tuesday – Sault Ste. Marie Evening News