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: 3/19/21

By Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor

March 19, 2021

The basketball regular season pulled another day closer to its close Thursday with more league title celebrations, while wrestling and hockey teams continued to advance through their postseasons.

1. Girls Basketball: Saline clinched a share of its first league title since 2002, downing Ann Arbor Huron 69-33 in the Southeastern Conference Red – Saline Post

2. Wrestling: Bloomfield Hills downed Birmingham Seaholm in Division 1 to claim its first District title – Oakland Press

3. Girls Basketball: Hartland won the Kensington Lakes Activities Association overall title with a 48-30 victory over Wayne Memorial – Detroit News

4. Girls Basketball: Brooke Daniels became Macomb L’Anse Creuse North’s all-time leading scorer in a 47-32 win over Grosse Pointe North – Macomb Daily

5. Wrestling: Gladstone defeated Kingsford and Negaunee in Division 3 to clinch its 13th-straight District title – Escanaba Daily Press

6. Girls Basketball: Erie Mason clinched the Tri-County Conference title with a 50-36 win over Petersburg Summerfield – Monroe News

7. Girls Basketball: Lake Orion clinched the Oakland Activities Association Blue title with a 47-26 win over Berkley – Oakland Press

8. Boys Basketball: Rudyard clinched the Straits Area Conference title outright with a 74-32 win over Cheboygan – Sault Ste. Marie Evening News

9. Wrestling: Comstock Park – whose coach, Jim Olson, died near the start of the season – won its Division 3 District with his memory as inspiration – FOX 17

10. Hockey: No. 4 Rockford downed No. 7 Traverse Bay Reps 6-2 in a Division 1 Regional Semifinal – Traverse City Record-Eagle

Also of note …

Girls Basketball: Saginaw Arts & Sciences Academy’s Makaiya Thomas went over 1,000 career points during a 74-47 win over Carrollton – Saginaw News

Girls Basketball: Detroit is mourning the weekend death of longtime Martin Luther King coach William Winfield – Detroit News

Boys Basketball: Blissfield finished an outright title run in the Lenawee County Athletic Association with a 61-41 win over Ida – Adrian Daily Telegram

Boys Basketball: Ann Arbor Huron finished its outright title run in the SEC Red with a 66-40 win over Saline – Ann Arbor News