Today in the MHSAA: 8/24/20

August 24, 2020

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Cross country statewide and volleyball, boys soccer and girls swimming & diving in northern Michigan were able to kick off competition over the weekend, bringing a fresh slate of storylines to the return of high school athletics in this state.

1. Cross Country: Bay City Western ran its first dual meets in 21 years, with the boys defeating Freeland and the Freeland girls winning by two in a matchup of possible Finals contenders – Bay City Times

2. Girls Golf: Rockford edged St. Joseph by 11 strokes to win the Sydney Carfine Invitational at The Meadows – Local Sports Journal

3. Boys Tennis: South Lyon freshman Cameron Crosby dominated No. 1 singles in highlighting the season-opening Pinckney quad – Livingston Daily

4. Volleyball: Grand Haven opened with a strong showing at Cadillac, defeating the host Vikings, Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern and Coopersville – Grand Haven Tribune

5. Boys Tennis: Big Rapids won back-to-back quads at Ludington and Wyoming – Big Rapids News

6. Volleyball: Petoskey edged Alpena 25-23, 25-19 to win the Sault Ste. Marie Invitational – Alpena News

7. Cross Country: Adrian Lenawee Christian swept championships at the Addison Early Bird Invitational – JTV

8. Girls Tennis: Ishpeming Westwood and Iron Mountain swept their tri-meets as the annual Kingsford Invitational was split into two round-robins to account for COVID-19 restrictions – Iron Mountain Daily News

9. Girls Golf: Parma Western shot a 380 to win its invitational by nine strokes – JTV

10. Boys Soccer: Traverse City Central outscored Manistee and Boyne City by a combined 11-0 during Saturday play – Traverse City Record-Eagle

Also of note …

Football: From last week, Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood and Muskegon Catholic Central are mourning the death of Cranbrook varsity coach Ben Jones, who died in a car crash; he formerly starred at MCC – Detroit News

Boys Basketball: Clinton Township Chippewa Valley coach Kevin Voss has retired after 38 years coaching basketball – Macomb Daily

Today in the MHSAA: 6/5/19

June 5, 2019

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Nearly all of this week’s Girls Soccer Regional Semifinals were played Tuesday – and a bracket shake-up in Division 2 leads off the list of headliners across all four divisions.

1. Girls Soccer: Unranked Fenton handed top-ranked DeWitt its first and only loss this season, 2-1 in a Division 2 Regional Semifinal – Flint Journal

2. Girls Soccer: No. 2 Royal Oak Shrine will get the chance to play for its first Regional title after downing No. 4 Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central in Division 4 – Oakland Press

3. Girls Soccer: Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central, also unranked, upset No. 9 Grand Haven 4-2 in a Division 1 Regional Semifinal – Grand Haven Tribune

4. Girls Soccer: No. 2 Warren Regina held on through a late rally by No. 9 Grosse Ile to move on in Division 3 with a 3-2 win – C&G Newspapers

5. Girls Soccer: Top-ranked Novi got past No. 14 Livonia Stevenson 2-0 in a Division 1 rematch of their league title game – Observer & Eccentric

6. Girls Soccer: No. 7 Houghton Lake won a matchup of ranked Division 4 teams 2-1 over No. 12 Elk Rapids – WPBN

7. Girls Soccer: No. 9 Marshall made a first-half goal stand to the end in a 1-0 win over No. 10 Dexter in Division 2 – Chelsea Sun Times News

8. Girls Soccer: Ann Arbor Father Gabriel Richard advanced to a Division 3 Regional Final with a win over Delton Kellogg, after beginning this season 0-11-1 – Ann Arbor News

9. Girls Soccer: No. 7 Midland got past Portage Central in a shootout to move on in Division 1 – Kalamazoo Gazette

10. Girls Soccer: Top-ranked North Muskegon moved to 19-2 with a 5-0 win over Grandville Calvin Christian – Local Sports Journal

Also of note …

Boys Golf: Gaylord locked down its third straight Big North Conference championship with a one-stroke tournament win – Traverse City Record-Eagle