Today in the MHSAA: 9/12/16

September 12, 2016

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Cross country, volleyball and soccer all saw matchups of some of the state’s elite over the weekend, and the Midland Dow boys tennis coach was quoted as saying Saturday was "the biggest day for Dow tennis in three seasons." 

Each weekday during the school year, we’ll gather and post media links covering the most significant and intriguing high school events from all over the state.

Cross Country

Northville’s girls outran Saline and Hudsonville to win the Class 1 meet at the competitive Bath Invitational – Observer & Eccentric

The Saline boys put five runners among the top 12 to outpace Rockford and Northville in their Class 1 meet at the Bath Invitational – Saline Post

The Ubly girls and Bad Axe boys bested a field of more than 400 runners at the Bad Axe Invitational – Huron Daily Tribune

Boys Soccer

Division 1 No. 9 Novi just got past No. 3 Rochester Adams 1-0, with the lone goal coming just more than six minutes into the second half – Oakland Press

Boys Tennis

Lower Peninsula Division 2 No. 2 Midland Dow improved to 10-0 with wins over No. 1 Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central, No. 4 Birmingham Groves and Holly – Midland Daily News

Volleyball

Class B No. 7 Buchanan took down a trio of impressive teams – Bronson, Temperance Bedford and Battle Creek Harper Creek – to win the Battle Creek Lakeview Invitational – Niles Daily Star

Class B top-ranked North Branch downed Class C No. 5 Brown City in the championship match of the Croswell-Lexington Invitational – Port Huron Times Herald

Good Read

Jackson’s Kallen Park has taken a spot in the soccer net for the Vikings this season first occupied by his father J. Scott Park, the keeper when Jackson started its boys soccer program in 1986 – Jackson Citizen-Patriot

Today in the MHSAA: 8/24/15

August 24, 2015

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

All MHSAA fall sports but football kicked off competition last week, with cross country, boys soccer, girls swimming and diving and volleyball starting Saturday.

Below are some notable headlines from the first weekend of this season, plus links to coverage.

Cross Country

St. Johns hosted its second “Under the Lights” meets Friday; Ithaca’s girls and Saugatuck’s boys bested fields loaded with much larger opponents – Lansing State Journal

The St. Joseph girls and Bridgman boys won championships at the Niles Stampede – the St. Joseph girls, who finished fourth in Lower Peninsula Division 2 last season, by a large margin – St. Joseph Herald-Palladium

Girls Golf

Maple City Glen Lake’s Nichole Cox, last season’s LP Division 4 individual champion, came back to defeat Brighton freshman Annie Pietila at the two-day Lober Invitational at Grand Traverse Resort – Traverse City Record-Eagle

Boys Soccer

Two of the state’s powers met in the championship game of the Detroit Country Day Tournament on Saturday – with 2013 Division 1 runner-up Bloomfield Hills downing the host Yellowjackets 1-0 in a shootout – Oakland Press

Girls Swimming & Diving

Howell won its Kenzie Klassic, which honors swimmer Mackenize Watts, who died in 2005 at age 15. The school also raised enough money to award three scholarships and begin funding cardiac-related causes – Livingston Daily

Volleyball

Novi won the Lakeshore Classic by coming back after losing the first two games to beat Grand Haven 3-2 in a rematch of a 2014 Class A Semifinal – Muskegon Chronicle

Battle Creek Harper Creek, for the first time, won the gold championship at the long-running Carrie Adams Memorial Tournament hosted by reigning Class D champion Battle Creek St. Philip – Battle Creek Enquirer

Good Read

Mike Steele, a Midland Dow grad and now pitching coach at Long Beach State in California, argues that parents need to raise their athletes to compete instead of providing specific training in one sport – Midland Daily News