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: 8/27/15
August 27, 2015
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Much usually changes from the start of a season to its end.
But August provides a great opportunity for the state’s best to see how they stack up against each other before locally-focused league competition gets underway.
Today's list of links includes some of those results.
Cross Country
Nate Carey won last season’s MHSAA Upper Peninsula Division 1 Final in 17:19.1, with Escanaba’s Joey Wolfe third at 17:28. But Wolfe edged Carey at Tuesday’s Munising Invitational – Escanaba Daily Press
Boys Soccer
Bay City Western only tied Flushing 2-2 on Wednesday, but did so coming back from two goals down to remain undefeated – and with senior Tyler Fulco netting his 14th goal already this season – Bay City Times
East Grand Rapids fell in its District opener in Division 2 last season, but played reigning Division 3 champion Hudsonville Unity Christian to a 3-3 draw Wednesday – Grand Rapids Press
Boys Tennis
Midland’s teams enjoyed a perfect Wednesday, with Midland High defeating Holt, Grand Blanc and Traverse City West and Dow taking down Okemos and Holly to move to 5-0 this fall – Midland Daily News
Good Read
Longtime official Jerry Hendrickson, 78, will begin his 53rd and final season tonight, surrounded by three sons on his crew at Houseman Stadium – Grand Rapids Press
The Lansing Eastern football varsity is 27-126 since its last winning season in 1997, and with a new coach starts again in an attempt to bring success back to a proud program – Lansing State Journal