Today in the MHSAA: 9/16/2015

September 16, 2015

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

MHSAA Finals favorites in cross country and boys tennis got an early look at each other Tuesday, while a Corunna volleyball standout set a school record – literally.

Cross Country

Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart has become arguably the team to beat in Lower Peninsula Division 4 girls cross country, evidenced again by its win at the Beal City Invitational ahead of the reigning MHSAA champion Aggies – Mount Pleasant Morning Sun

Boys Soccer

Division 2 No. 14 Fruitport scored with six minutes to play to push past Division 3 No. 12 Ludington 4-3 – Muskegon Chronicle

Northville, ranked No. 4 in Division 1, improved to 8-0 with a 4-1 win over Livonia Stevenson – Detroit News

Boys Tennis

The top-ranked teams in LP Division 4 met Tuesday, with No. 1 Ann Arbor Greenhills prevailing in close matches to claim a 6-2 win over No. 2 Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett – Mlive-Detroit

We’ve heard of lots of traveling trophies in football, but this might be a first for tennis; Clio tied Swartz Creek 4-4, and with a 5-3 win as well this season, retained “The Rock” – Flint Journal

From Saturday, we’ve got a more detailed account of how the strong competition played out at the Grosse Pointe North Invitational – Grand Rapids Press

Girls Tennis

Iron Mountain, last season’s Upper Peninsula Division 2 runner-up, moved to 14-0 this season in a close match against reigning Division 1 runner-up Kingsford – Iron Mountain Daily News

Volleyball

Reigning Class A champion Romeo rode a strong finishing run by Miss Volleyball favorite Gia Milana to down always-powerful Marysville – Macomb Daily

Corunna’s Skylar Napier broke her school’s career assists record with 2,328 during a pair of wins over Lake Fenton and Montrose – Flint Journal

Midland Bullock Creek may be unranked, but at least locally has been nearly unstoppable, moving to 19-2-1 with a pair of wins Monday – Midland Daily News

Good Read

And a good cause – Okemos and Mason’s boys soccer teams introduced this season’s "Compete for a Cause" game, which will be played Sept. 26 under the lights at Okemos High School. The teams combined last season to raise $11,000 for childhood cancer research – Lansing State Journal

Today in the MHSAA: 2/1/16

February 1, 2016

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Incredible numbers in girls basketball and boys swimming and a matchup of undefeated rivals led the weekend’s headlines across Michigan. 

Girls Basketball

Southfield-Lathrup doubled up Southfield in the final regular-season matchup between the rivals – the schools are scheduled to merge next year – Oakland Press

Grand Rapids South Christian made 11 3-pointers to stay undefeated and hand the first loss this season to Grand Rapids Catholic Central, 70-50 – Grand Rapids Press 

Benton Harbor’s Kysre Gondrezick continues to climb the MHSAA career scoring list and moved past St. Joseph’s Kim Knuth for seventh place with 39 against Niles to give her 2,460 points – St. Joseph Herald Palladium

Competitive Cheer

Portage Central, Plainwell, host Otsego and Delton Kellogg won division titles at the Bulldog Invitational with Plainwell putting up the top score overall – Kalamazoo Gazette 

Boys Swimming & Diving

Midland Dow won its 14th Tri-Cities Swim Invitational title, and Nehemiah Mork broke multiple meet records including one set in 1982 – Saginaw News 

Wrestling

Six of the 14 champions at the Lenawee County All-Star Tournament came from Hudson – Adrian Daily Telegram

Battle Creek Lakeview won the Bill Evans Memorial Invitational ahead of a field that included Division 4 No. 7 Bronson – Battle Creek Enquirer

Macomb teams dominated the Macomb-Oakland County Challenge, led by undefeated Richmond – Macomb Daily

Unranked Niles won its fourth straight Greater Berrien County Invitational ahead of a field that included Division 2 No. 10 Stevensville Lakeshore – St. Joseph Herald-Palladium

Good Reads

Fans of all schools will be rooting for Howell coach Ken Richards, who remains the school’s freshman boys basketball coach after being given a 50-50 chance of surviving cancer this past football season – Livingston Daily

Mount Pleasant is mourning the death of longtime coach Jim Powell, who guided more than 4,000 athletes during a 60-year career – Mount Pleasant Morning Sun