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: 10/14/20

October 14, 2020

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Manistee, Kingsley and Traverse City Central celebrated league championships Tuesday, and Ubly has a new volleyball record holder.

1. Cross Country: Manistee swept Lakes 8 Athletic Conference finale wins, the girls earning their first league title in the sport – Manistee News Advocate

2. Volleyball: Kingsley earned a share of the Northwest Conference championship with a five-set win over Division 4 No. 2 Leland – Traverse City Record-Eagle

3. Cross Country: Traverse City Central swept Big North Conference championship races; Central’s girls are No. 1 and boys are No. 4 in Lower Peninsula Division 1 – Traverse City Record-Eagle

4. Girls Swimming & Diving: LPD1 honorable mention Zeeland earned an impressive win over LPD3 No. 4 Hamilton, 103.5-82.5 – Holland Sentinel

5. Volleyball: Lindsey Guza set an Ubly record with 34 kills in her team’s four-set win over Capac; Ubly is an honorable mention in Division 4 – Huron Daily News

6. Volleyball: Fraser remained unbeaten in league play with a five-set win over Utica – Macomb Daily

7. Volleyball: Division 2 No. 5 Montague held onto its share of first in the West Michigan Conference with a sweep of Whitehall – Local Sports Journal

8. Volleyball: Constantine held onto its share of first in the Southwestern Athletic Conference Valley with a five-set win over Kalamazoo Christian – JoeInsider.com

9. Cross Country: Hanover-Horton swept Cascades Conference three-team races; Hanover-Horton’s boys are No. 8 in LPD3 – JTV

10. Volleyball: Escanaba returned to the court after two weeks and swept Stephenson – Escanaba Daily Press