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: 3/7/16
March 7, 2016
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
What a weekend – we covered all four Cheer Finals, all eight Bowling Finals, and quoted all 56 individual wrestling champions, plus awarded girls basketball District and boys ice hockey Regional champions.
Girls Basketball
Reed City is .500 this season, but rose to the occasion last week with its first District championship since 2000 – Big Rapids News
St. Johns won its first District title since 2005, handing Flushing only its third loss, 37-31 – Lansing State Journal
Bowling
The Davison girls won their fourth Division 1 title in seven seasons Friday, and junior Taylor Davis rolled a 300 and won the individual title Saturday. On the boys side, Wyandotte Roosevelt claimed the championship and Warren Mott’s Brad Delmarle won the individual title – Second Half Team | Singles
The Lansing Eastern boys won the school’s first MHSAA championship since 1981, while Kearsley won the girls title for the third straight year and then got an individual title Saturday from Hannah Ploof. Sturgis’ Austin Robison claimed the Division 2 boys singles title – Second Half Team | Singles
After slow starts, the Alma girls and Saginaw Swan Valley boys won MHSAA team titles in Division 3, while Flat Rock’s Kayla Jackson and Olivet’s Daniel Higgins shined for singles titles Saturday – Second Half Team | Singles
The Ithaca girls won their first MHSAA bowling title in Division 4, while Sandusky’s boys won their first since 2005. St. Charles’ Kyle Tuttle won his third straight singles title Saturday, and Vandercook Lake’s Brianna Fish claimed the girls championship – Second Half Team | Singles
Competitive Cheer
Rochester won its first MHSAA championship since 2009 and record 13th total – Second Half
Gibraltar Carlson set an MHSAA record with its sixth consecutive championship, finishing again atop Division 2 – Second Half
Pontiac Notre Dame Prep closed this cheer season with a third-straight championship in Division 3 – Second Half
Breckenridge continued to recreate its dominance in Division 4, winning its second straight MHSAA title – Second Half
Ice Hockey
Marquette scored five goals during the third period to come from behind and beat Midland 5-1 in a Division 2 Regional Final – Marquette Mining Journal
Birmingham Brother Rice got four goals from Emerson Vogel to down Berkley 8-3, also in a Division 2 Regional Final – Oakland Press
Wrestling
Detroit Catholic Central dominated and Grandville ended the season with an MHSAA individual champion at the Division 1 Final – Second Half
Upsets abounded in Division 2, but St. Johns’ Ian Parker held on to repeat as a champion – Second Half
Lake Fenton’s Jarrett Trombley won his second individual title and ended Devin Schroder’s bid for four in Division 3 – Second Half
Hudson senior Kyle Johnson bounced back from an earlier exit as a junior to win his second Division 4 title in three seasons – Second Half