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: 9/7/16
September 7, 2016
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
The first day of school for most across our state brought with it mega matchups in a variety of sports – and some early re-ordering of teams as a few new league title contenders emerged.
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
Remus Chippewa Hills’ girls, who had only an individual qualifier at last season’s MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 2 Final, downed Big Rapids, which finished 16th at that race in 2015 – Big Rapids News
Girls Golf
Division 1 No. 9 Brighton continued to dominate this young season, downing Hartland while still playing without the reigning Miss Golf and another expected starter – Livingston Daily
Boys Soccer
Division 1 No. 5 Troy Athens earned a key early league win over No. 19 Rochester Hills Stoney Creek, 3-0 – Oakland Press
Warren DeLaSalle handed Sterling Heights Stevenson the latter’s first loss this season, 4-3, after trailing at halftime – Macomb Daily
Volleyball
Zeeland East downed both reigning Ottawa-Kent Conference Green champions in one night, defeating Zeeland West and then Byron Center both in two sets – Holland Sentinel
Port Huron Northern swept Marysville in three sets in a matchup of top Port Huron-area programs – Port Huron Times Herald