Today in the MHSAA: 9/17/15

September 17, 2015

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Today’s know-your-sports checklist includes catching up on impressive feats by some of the state’s top-ranked girls golf teams and enjoying a pair of inspirational stories about leading soccer scorers.

Girls Golf

Lower Peninsula Division 1 No. 4 Lake Orion won the Oakland County Division 1 Tournament for the second straight season, edging No. 6 Novi by one shot and No. 1 Rochester by two – Oakland Press

Three Spring Lake golfers carded three birdies apiece to lead the LP Division 3 No. 1 Lakers to a 53-stroke win in the Lakes 8 jamboree on their home course – Muskegon Chronicle

Boys Soccer

Freeland improved to 11-1 with its first win over Saginaw Swan Valley in three seasons, also handing the Vikings their first loss this fall – Saginaw News

Boys Tennis

Midland Dow, No. 1 in Lower Peninsula Division 2, fell to No. 3 Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central at the Midweek Classic, but still won the tournament thanks to No. 6 Detroit U-D Jesuit’s win over FHC – Midland Daily News and Saginaw News

Volleyball

Ionia swept reigning Capital Area Activities Conference White champion Williamston, beating the Hornets for the first time under sixth-year coach Jeanna Kraatz – Ionia Sentinel-Standard

Niles emerged as the biggest winner from the SMAC 6-Pack Tournament on its home floor with victories over Battle Creek Lakeview, Battle Creek Central and Richland Gull Lake, all in two games – Niles Daily Star

Bay City John Glenn improved to 9-1 with a win over Tawas, opening North East Michigan Conference play as the reigning champion and with nearly the same lineup as in 2014 – Bay City Times

Good Reads

We’re big fans of athletes who play multiple sports, and Port Huron’s Jon Miller is one of the latest – he’s the soccer team’s leading scorer and the top field goal kicker in school history, plus one of the football team’s leading receivers. A great line from the story: “But if there’s one kid that can take this on, it’s the kid that’s loading his senior year with as many memories as possible.” – Port Huron Times-Herald

Andrew Shippell is Marshall’s leading scorer this season, and after three years of fighting is preparing to celebrate a milestone – the end of his chemotherapy in February – Battle Creek Enquirer

Today in the MHSAA: 4/19/16

April 19, 2016

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

An early-season meeting of the top-ranked girls tennis teams in Lower Peninsula Division 2 highlighted headlines from Monday’s statewide spring sports action.

Baseball

Utica Eisenhower won its first game over Macomb Dakota in the last 12 tries, downing the Cougars 9-8 – Macomb Daily

Boys Golf

Utica Ford won the Evans-Gill Invitational with a 317, 16 strokes better than runner-up Macomb Dakota – Macomb Daily

Girls Soccer

From Saturday, Brighton moved to 5-0 this season with a 1-0 win over reigning Division 1 champion Saline – Livingston Daily

Softball

Haile Neal’s first hit of Monday night’s game against Taylor Kennedy was a walk-off home run as Brownstown Woodhaven won 3-2 – Detroit News

Girls Tennis

Division 2 top-ranked Bloomfield Hills Marian downed No. 2 Birmingham Seaholm 6-2 in a matchup of likely June favorites – Oakland Press

Good Read

Natalya Cavasos gained powerful perspective on education while stationed in Afghanistan for the Michigan National Guard, and she’s transferring those lessons as coach of the first-year Michigan Center girls soccer team – Jackson Citizen-Patriot