Today in the MHSAA: 8/25/2015

August 25, 2015

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

A soccer coach celebrated his 1,000th game and a community mourned the passing of a longtime football program leader.

Those and a feature on a member of our Student Advisory Council are among today’s notable headlines and links to coverage below.

Football

Newaygo is mourning the passing of longtime coach Mark Puff, who guided the varsity to 128 wins and seven league titles over 22 seasons before retiring in 2000 – Muskegon Chronicle

Girls Golf

Jackson Lumen Christi went from two returning members last season to 17 golfers total this fall and won its first tournament since 2013 by edging Parma Western by six strokes at Hanover-Horton’s invitational – Jackson Citizen Patriot

Boys Soccer

Fraser coach Thaier Mukhtar coached his 1,000th high school soccer game Monday (boys and girls games combined), guiding his team to a 5-0 win over Romeo. He formerly coached the Warren DeLaSalle boys and leads both teams at Fraser – Macomb Daily

Saginaw Heritage has posted three shutouts during a 4-0 start after finishing 9-10-1 last season; Monday’s was a 4-0 win over Flushing – Saginaw News

Alma’s Brevan Bender is coming off a season during which he set a school record with 30 goals, and Monday he netted five in an 8-0 win over Birch Run – Saginaw News

Volleyball

Left over from Saturday: St. Louis has long been one of the dominant programs in Class C statewide and against all classes in the mid-Michigan area; Ithaca beat the Sharks for the first time since 1993 when they faced off at the Alma Invitational – Mount Pleasant Morning Sun

Good Read

Muskegon senior Jared Pittman played in last season’s MHSAA Division 3 Football Final, and after his team was defeated handed the trophy to Orchard Lake St. Mary’s as a member of the MHSAA Student Advisory Council. He’ll be a significant contributor to his team and the Council this fall – Detroit Free Press

Today in the MHSAA: 10/9/15

October 9, 2015

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

MHSAA Boys Tennis Regionals got rolling all over the Lower Peninsula on Thursday, while girls golf continued with its second day of postseason competition.

Girls Golf

Three top-10 Lower Peninsula Division 1 teams emerged from the MHSAA Regional at Twin Lakes Golf Club. No. 7 Troy shot 309, 20 strokes ahead of the field, and was followed by No. 5 Bloomfield Hills and No. 10 Farmington Hills Mercy – Oakland Press

Boys Soccer

Division 2 No. 8 Spring Lake came back to beat No. 6 Fruitport in overtime 5-3, creating a tie between the two for first in the Lakes 8 Conference – Muskegon Chronicle

Boys Tennis

Paw Paw, ranked No. 10 in LP Division 4, won its first regional title – Kalamazoo Gazette

Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central, No. 2 in LP Division 2, won all eight flights to claim its regional championship – Grand Rapids Press 

LP Division 3 Petoskey won its seventh straight regional championship – Petoskey News

Both No. 5 Detroit U-D Jesuit and No 8 Birmingham Seaholm edged No. 4 Birmingham Groves by a point, tying for their LP Division 2 title – Oakland Press

Volleyball

Class A No. 8 Seaholm continued an impressive run, this time knocking off No. 3 Lake Orion in five sets after beating honorable mention Clarkston on Tuesday – Oakland Press 

Class A No. 6 Romeo continued its surge, coming back after losing the first set to win the next three against Class B No. 10 Marysville – Macomb Daily