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: 9/16/16
September 16, 2016
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
A number of intriguing results came in from girls golf and volleyball Thursday, and make sure to check out a number of “Good Reads” to get you into another sports-filled weekend.
Each weekday during the school year, we’ll gather and post media links covering the most significant and intriguing high school events from all over the state.
Girls Golf
Midland Dow’s Stephanie Carras continued a dominating season for the top-ranked team in Division 2, winning a playoff hole tiebreaker to earn the medalist honor at the Ann Arbor Pioneer Invitational – Midland Daily News
Second-year program Shepherd won its third straight Tri-Valley Conference West jamboree – Mount Pleasant Morning Sun
Volleyball
Lake Orion won a matchup of honorable mention teams in the Class A rankings, sweeping Rochester Hills Stoney Creek – Oakland Press
Houghton took down Calumet in four sets to take an upper hand among top teams at the top of the Upper Peninsula – Houghton Daily Mining Gazette
Less than a week after falling to DeTour in the final at its home invitational, Pickford downed DeTour in three sets in league play – Sault Ste. Marie Evening News
Good Reads
Longtime Brighton swim coach Tim McInnis died suddenly Tuesday, leaving behind a community where his influence has been felt for decades – Livingston Post
MLive tells the story of the football rivalry between Utica Eisenhower and Sterling Heights Stevenson through the eyes of their former longtime coaches – MLive-Detroit
Two days before his father and former Farmington hockey coach Bill Newton died after a fight with cancer, Chris Newton – his dad’s former assistant the a former goalie on the team – received a lung transplant that is providing him new opportunities – Observer & Eccentric
Katherine Ristola’s older brother Jonathan never got to play varsity football because of injuries his junior and senior years. But she’s taken the opportunity to play in part with him in mind and become a big part of the Livonia Churchill football family – Detroit Free Press
Vanessa Romero has played football for 10 years, and after starting at the subvarsity level is contributing on the offensive line for Westland John Glenn’s varsity – Detroit News