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: 2/17/20

February 17, 2020

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

The first MHSAA winter champions were crowned Saturday – congrats to Marquette on a girls and boys swimming & diving sweep. Find coverage of those meets also on Second Half, and check out this list of others who made the biggest headlines. 

1. Girls Basketball: Detroit Renaissance claimed its first Detroit Public School League overall title since 2011 with an 81-55 win over Detroit Cass Tech – State Champs Sports Network 

2. Boys Basketball: Cass Tech won its third PSL title over the last four seasons with a 66-41 victory over Douglass – State Champs Sports Network

3. Gymnastics: Howell won its first Kensington Lakes Activities Association title in this sport – Livingston Daily Press & Argus

4. Wresting: Division 4 No. 2 New Lothrop celebrated nine District champions among 14 total Regional qualifiers – Owosso Argus-Press 

5. Hockey: Division 1 No. 1 Detroit Catholic Central won a matchup of top-ranked teams, shutting out Division 2’s Livonia Stevenson 4-0 – Observer & Eccentric

6. Hockey: Utica Eisenhower clinched a share of the Macomb Area Conference Red title with a 6-3 win over Division 1 No. 5 Macomb Dakota – Macomb Daily

7. Bowling: The Division 3 top-ranked Flat Rock girls and Monroe boys won Monroe County championships – Monroe News

8. Boys Basketball: Wyoming handed Grand Rapids Christian its first loss, 62-61, to move into a first-place tie in the Ottawa-Kent Conference Gold – FOX 17

9. Boys Basketball: Ann Arbor Skyline ended Ann Arbor Huron’s perfect run with a 53-40 victory – We Love Ann Arbor

10. Boys Swimming & Diving: Monroe’s Gavin Redden and Howell’s Hunter Gubeno won multiple championships at the prestigious MISCA Meet – MISCA Online

Also of note …

Hockey: St. Clair Shores Unified repeated as MAC White champion with a 6-5 win over Port Huron United – Macomb Daily

Bowling: Traverse City West’s girls and Cadillac’s Division 2 No. 3 boys locked up Great Northwest High School Bowling Conference titles – Traverse City Record-Eagle