Today in the MHSAA: 8/26/15

August 26, 2015

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Today is prep football preview section day for most newspapers around the state, and copies will be flying as fans get prepped for Thursday’s opening games.

But there are plenty of headlines that pop up up from Tuesday’s non-football events – see those and links to coverage below, and yes, also a link to a great football story.

Cross Country

Reigning Lower Peninsula Division 4 champion Ava Stenge of Battle Creek St. Philip kicked off this fall with a win at the South Haven Rust Buster Invitational in a time of 18:18 – Battle Creek Enquirer

Staying in LP Division 4, Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart won its second invitational this season, claiming the gold division title at the Remus Chippewa Hills Warrior Invite ahead of reigning Division 4 champion Beal City – Mount Pleasant Morning Sun

St. Joseph sophomore Anna Fischer set a school record at Tuesday’s St. Joseph Invitational, running 18:52 – but finished second to another impressive underclassmen, Portage Northern freshman Peyton Witt (18:48) – St. Joseph Herald-Palladium

Girls Golf

Big Rapids hasn’t had a golfer shoot in the 70s since Elizabeth Dawkins in 2009, but younger sister Alexis did so Tuesday in a league jamboree win – Big Rapids Pioneer

Boys Soccer

Flint Powers won the first soccer game played in 29 years at Atwood Stadium, defeating Detroit Country Day 4-1 at the renovated long-serving local landmark, now managed by Kettering University – Flint Journal

Volleyball

Lake Orion, an expected contender in Class A this fall, finished undefeated at the Oxford quad against Oxford, Grand Blanc and reigning Class B semifinalist Pontiac Notre Dame Prep – Oakland Press

Good Read

First-year Traverse City Central varsity football coach Eric Schugars will begin his head coaching career this weekend but grew up following the program of his father Jack Schugars, the longtime and MHSAA championship-winning leader at Muskegon Oakridge – Traverse City Record-Eagle

Today in the MHSAA: 9/15/15

September 15, 2015

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Upsets, milestones and a marathon tennis match highlight today’s gathering of notable headlines from across the state.

Girls Golf

Jackson Lumen Christi shot a 377 to win its home invitational at the Cascades; the score was the team’s three-year low on the course – Jackson Citizen-Patriot

Traverse City West won the Lady Rayder Invitational in Charlevoix by 52 strokes, and West’s Annika Dy took the individual honor by three strokes over reigning Lower Peninsula Division 4 champion Nichole Cox of Maple City Glen Lake – Traverse City Record-Eagle

Grand Rapids Christian won a matchup of top-10 teams in Lower Peninsula Division 3, edging Lake Odessa Lakewood by 12 strokes at Centennial Acres, Lakewood’s home course – Ionia Sentinel-Standard

Boys Soccer

Clinton Township Chippewa Valley handed Division 1 No. 3 Fraser its first Macomb Area Conference loss since 2011, 1-0 – Macomb Daily

Whitehall downed undefeated Muskegon Mona Shores after scoring on a go-ahead penalty kick before halftime – Muskegon Chronicle

Girls Swimming and Diving

From Saturday, Lake Orion – an honorable mention in LP Division 1 – won the West Bloomfield Invitational for the second straight season, this time against a field that included LP Division 2 honorable mentions North Farmington and Farmington Hills Harrison – Oakland Press

Boys Tennis

LP Division 3 No. 3 East Grand Rapids claimed a 6-2 win over No. 5 Grand Rapids Christian, thanks in part to a win at No. 1 singles by Thomas Bailey that took three hours to secure – Grand Rapids Press

Volleyball

Cadillac needed four sets to outlast Traverse City Central and move to 18-2, setting up next week’s matchup of first-place Big North Conference teams against Traverse City West – Cadillac News

Good Read

Clare football coach Kelly Luplow has built his program into the dominant power in the Jack Pine Conference that has won 34 straight league games, and he needs one more win to reach 200 for his career – Bay City Times