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: 9/28/20

September 29, 2020

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

A possible preview of this week’s Upper Peninsula Division 1 Girls Tennis Finals topped the weekend’s most notable media coverage across a variety of sports statewide.

1. Girls Tennis: Negaunee won seven of eight flight championships to claim the team title at the Mid-Peninsula Conference Tournament; Ishpeming Westwood was runner-up – Marquette Mining Journal

2. Boys Tennis: Lower Peninsula Division 2 No. 2 Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central and No. 5 Midland Dow tied for first at the former’s quad which also included LPD1 No. 12 Rockford and LPD4 No. 2 Traverse City St. Francis – Midland Daily News

3. Cross Country: Hart (LPD3 No. 1 girls, No. 2 boys) and McBain (LPD3 No. 10 girls, No. 9 boys) swept races at the Cougar Falcon Invitational at Calvin University – Athletic.net

4. Cross Country: Five girls broke 19 minutes and two boys broke 16 at the Petoskey Invitational – Athletic.net

5. Boys Soccer: Holland moved to 9-0 with a 2-1 win over Grand Rapids Union – Holland Sentinel

6. Cross Country: The LPD1 honorable mention Northville boys and unranked Macomb Dakota girls won titles at Anchor Bay’s James Cleverley Invitational – Athletic.net

7. Volleyball: Oscoda won its Linda Hennigan Tournament – WBKB

8. Cross Country: Manistee High swept races featuring the three Manistee County teams – Manistee News Advocate

9. Volleyball: Division 4 No. 10 Carney-Nadeau hosted and defeated Kingsford, Menominee and Stephenson – Escanaba Daily Press

10. Boys Tennis: LPD1 No. 2 Ann Arbor Pioneer improved to 10-1 with a win over Rochester – We Love Ann Arbor