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: 3/15/21

By Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor

March 15, 2021

Titanic matchups in wrestling and boys basketball filled in just a few spots on a weekend list packed with league champions, including the swimming & diving winner of arguably the strongest conference in the state – regardless of sport.

1. Wrestling: In a rematch of last season’s Division 1 Final, top-ranked Davison downed reigning champ and No. 2 Detroit Catholic Central 36-9 – State Champs Sports Network

2. Boys Swimming & Diving: Lower Peninsula Division 1 top-ranked Ann Arbor Pioneer finished first at the Southeastern Conference Red meet, followed by No. 5 Saline, LPD2 No. 3 Ann Arbor Skyline, LPD1 No. 9 Ann Arbor Huron and LPD2 No. 10 Temperance Bedford – We Love Ann Arbor

3. Girls Basketball: Hudsonville earned a share of the Ottawa-Kent Conference Red title with a 65-50 win over East Kentwood – FOX 17 

4. Boys Basketball: Flint Carman-Ainsworth continued its surge with an 84-76 win over Grand Blanc in a matchup of Division 1 title contenders – WJRT

5. Girls Basketball: Frankenmuth downed Bay City John Glenn 36-25 to clinch the Tri-Valley Conference 8 title – WEYI

6. Hockey: Grand Rapids Kenowa Hills clinched the O-K Fischer title outright with a 4-2 win over Grand Haven – FOX 17 

7. Boys Swimming & Diving: Manistee repeated as Coastal Conference champion – Manistee News Advocate 

8. Bowling: The Utica Ford boys and New Baltimore Anchor Bay girls finished Macomb Area Conference White championship runs – Macomb Daily 

9. Boys Swimming & Diving: Marysville claimed the MAC Gold championship meet title to go with its dual-meet first-place finish – Macomb Daily

10. Boys Swimming & Diving: Brownstown Woodhaven also added a league meet title to a perfect regular season, in the Downriver League – Southgate News-Herald

Also of note …

Boys Swimming & Diving: LPD2 honorable mention Fenton scored 508 points to win the Flint Metro League championship meet by more than 100 – Owosso Argus-Press 

Bowling: The Caledonia boys and Hudsonville girls won O-K Red championship tournament titles – Grand Haven Tribune 

Girls/Boys Basketball: Shelby Cade, playing on Buckley’s boys team this season, went over 1,000 points for her career in a 71-61 win over Lake Leelanau St. Mary – Cadillac News

Girls Basketball: Mackenzie Egger went over 1,000 career points as Mount Pleasant downed Bay City Central 39-30 – Mount Pleasant Morning Sun

Boys Basketball: Kevin Pearson went over 1,000 career points as Onaway defeated Pellston 48-40 – Cheboygan Daily Tribune 

Boys Basketball: Rogers City’s Nick Freel also went over 1,000 career points, doing so in a 77-69 win over Posen – Alpena News

Athletic Directors: Longtime athletic director and coach Brian Gordon is retiring after more than 30 years in school sports, most recently at Novi – Oakland Press