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: 2/3/16
February 3, 2016
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Records fell in three sports and a notable winning streak was broken on a night filled with classic finishes and a matchup of arguably the two best girls basketball players in Michigan.
Girls Basketball
In a battle of teams led by the likely Miss Basketball Award favorites this winter, Muskegon and Mardrekia Cook (26 points, 17 rebounds, 10 assists) downed Kysre Gondrezick and Benton Harbor (49 points) 76-54 – Muskegon Chronicle
Undefeated Stevensville Lakeshore needed double overtime to stay perfect on the season as it survived Richland Gull Lake, 61-59 – Kalamazoo Gazette
In a rematch of last season’s Class B Final, reigning champion Detroit Country Day downed now-Class A Haslett 69-56 – Lansing State Journal
Farmington Hills Mercy won a low-scoring contest with rival Bloomfield Hills Marian, 32-25, to take control of the Detroit Catholic League Central – Oakland Press
Johannesburg-Lewiston just got past Gaylord St. Mary, 61-59 in double overtime, in their annual Rivals Rally game – Petoskey News
Boys Basketball
Ivan Warren scored 44 points – with 36 coming on 3-pointers – to lead Flint Southwestern to a 77-59 win over Detroit Country Day – Flint Journal
Warren DeLaSalle’s Kevin McKay became his school’s all-time career leading scorer putting up 29 in a 56-42 win over Orchard Lake St. Mary’s – Oakland Press
Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central ended Milan’s 61-game Huron League winning streak with a 62-44 victory – Monroe Evening News
Ypsilanti Community’s Corey Allen drilled 45 points as the Grizzlies edged Ann Arbor Huron 77-74 in overtime in a matchup of top Class A teams – Detroit Free Press
Holly’s Kyle Woodruff scored his 1,000th career point in his team’s 79-42 win over Flint Kearsley – Flint Journal
Boys Swimming & Diving
Zeeland diver Josh Zylstra set his home pool and school record with a score of 323.7 to win the event and help his team to a 115-68 victory over Byron Center – Holland Sentinel
Wrestling
Sturgis’ Luke Carver earned his 150th career win during the Trojans’ match victory over Coldwater; Sturgis also beat Battle Creek Harper Creek – Sturgis Journal
Good Read
After an outstanding junior season at Traverse City Central in 2014-15, Andrew Froese took an opportunity to continue at the junior level in South Dakota. But after three games this fall, he came back to Michigan and is instead finishing a memorable high school career with his classmates – Traverse City Record-Eagle