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: 9/3/15
September 3, 2015
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Exciting soccer finishes, plus news from volleyball, girls golf and cross country top today’s headlines from media across the state.
Cross Country
The biggest school at the Battle Creek All-City Invitational swept the team titles, with Lakeview’s boys and girls both winning; the top racers from the smallest school, Battle Creek St. Philip’s Ava Strenge and Jack Greenman, won the individual titles – Battle Creek Enquirer
Girls Golf
Same players, new coach, and Muskegon Mona Shores is back among the elite with a win in the Ottawa-Kent Black on Wednesday after finishing second in the first league jamboree – Muskegon Chronicle
Boys Soccer
Portage Central won a battle of undefeated teams from the Kalamazoo area, downing Mattawan 1-0 with a second-half goal – Kalamazoo Gazette
Ludington scored three goals over a 10-minute second-half span to win a high-scoring 5-3 matchup with Whitehall – Ludington Daily News
Saginaw Heritage freshman keeper Joseph Horwath became a wall over the final two minutes as the Hawks edged Valley Lutheran 3-2 – Saginaw News
Volleyball
Camden-Frontier came back from two sets down to beat Hillsdale Academy, claiming the deciding game 15-13 – Hillsdale Daily News
New Baltimore Anchor Bay improved to 12-1-2 this fall under first-year coach Brittany McGinnis, a former standout at Fraser, by beating her alma mater and two others – Macomb Daily
Good reads
Most of the competitors at Frankenmuth’s Patriot Cup girls golf tournament were toddlers or only a little older on Sept. 11, 2001, so the Eagles will host 21 teams in remembrance of the victims of attacks and those who continue to serve – Saginaw News
Charlevoix dedicated its recently purchased football scoreboard Friday to late coach Don Carey, who led multiple teams at the school over nearly three decades – Charlevoix Courier