Today in the MHSAA: 8/30/17
August 30, 2017
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Each weekday of the school year, we break down the top headlines courtesy of Michigan’s sports media.
Today's Top 10
1. Girls Swimming & Diving: Holland West Ottawa, ranked No. 5 in Lower Peninsula Division 1, got past honorable mention Zeeland 108-78 – Holland Sentinel
2. Cross Country: The Fremont boys and Allendale girls won races at the Don Anderson Trail Run at Grand Haven, with the host finishing runner-up in both meets – Grand Haven Tribune
3. Volleyball: Bay City Western became the first two-time champion of the fifth-year Bay County Volleyball Championship, downing Essexville Garber in the final – Bay City Times
4. Volleyball: Freeland went 5-0-2 overall in winning its invitational, downing Birch Run in the championship match after splitting with the Panthers earlier – Midland Daily News
5. Volleyball: Pellston is up to No. 7 in the Class D poll and continued to impress with a sweep of Harbor Springs to improve to 7-3-4 – Petoskey News-Review
6. Girls Golf: Midland Dow opened its match season with three wins and a score of 171, led by Alexis Carras’ 39 – Midland Daily News
7. Boys Soccer: Plymouth shut out Grand Blanc, a Division 1 Regional finalist last season, 3-0 – Detroit News
8. Boys Soccer: Buckley, a Division 4 District champ last year, improved to 5-0 with a 3-0 win over Kalkaska – Cadillac News
9. Boys Soccer: Lincoln Alcona, another reigning Division 4 District champ, earned a 5-2 win over Saginaw Nouvel as record-setting keeper Conner McCoy had 25 saves – Alpena News
10. Football: Jack Schugars remains the 20th-winningest coach in MHSAA football history after building a 262-78 record at Muskegon Oakridge from 1979-2010, and he’s back on the sidelines assisting his son Eric at Traverse City Central – Muskegon Chronicle
Today in the MHSAA: 10/15/15
October 15, 2015
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Championship are won on a seemingly daily basis in October, and plenty were earned and celebrated Wednesday – but please also check out some great reads at the bottom of this list, including a look at why specialization is increasing as a nationwide concern.
Cross Country
The Saugatuck girls, ranked No. 2 in Lower Peninsula Division 4, won their ninth straight Southwestern Athletic Conference title with 12 runners earning all-league honors – Grand Rapids Press
Boys Soccer
LP Division 2 No. 5 East Lansing capped an impressive run through the Capital Area Activities Conference Gold Cup by winning the final 3-1 over Grand Ledge – Lansing State Journal
LP Division 1 No. 15 East Kentwood secured its 12th Ottawa-Kent Conference Red title in 13 seasons with a 1-0 win over Grandville, helped in part by a pair of players whose ties the program go back to the early years of the run – Grand Rapids Press
LP Division 1 No. 7 Utica Ford shut out No. 14 Fraser to clinch the Macomb Area Conference Red championship – Macomb Daily
Unranked Birmingham Brother Rice stunned LP Division 1 No. 3 Detroit Catholic Central 2-1 in the championship game of the Detroit Catholic League A-B tournament – Oakland Press
LP Division 4 No. 11 Charlevoix clinched a share of the Lake Michigan Conference title with a 3-0 win over Grayling, thanks to a hat trick by Walker Drost – Charlevoix Courier
Saginaw Heritage scored the first goal Flint Powers Catholic had given up since Sept. 12, but the Chargers emerged with a 2-1 win and the overall Saginaw Valley League championship – Flint Journal
Volleyball
Lansing Catholic won the first volleyball league championship in its long history, beating Fowlerville in three sets to claim a share of the CAAC White title – Lansing State Journal
Good Reads
Single-sport specialization has become a topic of national focus and concern, and MHSAA Executive Director Jack Roberts was among association directors talked to for this report on why it’s a health-related issue and how states are working to promote multi-sport participation instead – NFHS.org
Vandercook Lake is enjoying its best football season in 45 years and plays for a league title this weekend, and is led by a three-sport athlete who has been on a long road back after Crohn’s disease led to his shedding 90 pounds only two years ago – Jackson Citizen-Patriot
The Christmas tree standing tall in front of the Capitol in Lansing this winter will come from Wakefield thanks to a donation by Florence Daniels in honor of her husband Jim, who coached Wakefield High's boys basketball team to 355 wins, 12 district the five regional titles in 28 seasons. He also was a member of Channing High’s Upper Peninsula championship team in 1944 and coached Al Inkala, who went on to become an MHSAA championship-winning girls tennis coach at Okemos – Lansing State Journal