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: 1/13/16
January 13, 2016
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half
Close finishes in girls basketball produced the most exciting headlines from a snowy night that otherwise saw a number of games postponed.
Girls Basketball
Flint Carman-Ainsworth followed freshman Destiny Strother’s 24 points to a 67-64 win over Saginaw Nouvel – Flint Journal
Brianna Young’s 3-pointer at the buzzer gave Rockford a 53-52 win over Grand Rapids Christian – Grand Rapids Press
Addyson Tomczak made two free throws after the regulation buzzer to send Bay City Central’s game against Saginaw Arthur Hill to overtime, and three more to help finish a 57-53 win – Bay City Times
Novi held off South Lyon to remain undefeated with a 40-33 win, the 200th of coach Bill Kelp’s career – Oakland Press
Boys Basketball
Shepherd upset Freeland 47-39 after leading at the end of the first quarter and halftime against the previous one-loss Falcons – Mount Pleasant Morning Sun
Warren DeLaSalle’s Kevin McKay drained 35 points – on 13 of 17 shooting – to lead the Pilots past West Bloomfield 59-40 – Mlive Detroit
Bowling
Tecumseh’s boys trailed 12-7 heading into the final individual match frame, but emerged with an 18-12 win over rival Adrian – Adrian Daily Telegram
Good Read
Lauren Haines is only 26 and not too far removed from starring at Midland. But she studied athletic training at Alma College, earned a master’s in sports administration from Central Michigan University, and is serving her first school year as both the athletic director and trainer at Gladwin – Midland Daily News