Today in the MHSAA: 9/22/15

September 22, 2015

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Check out these close calls in golf and soccer and milestone finishes in tennis that highlighted Monday’s action from across the state.

Girls Golf

Bay City Western won the closest Bay County Girls Golf Championship in the event's 20-year history, scoring 423 to edge reigning champion Bay City Central by a stroke – Bay City Times

Boys Soccer

Two of the top teams in Division 1 faced off in Macomb Area Conference Red play, with No. 4 Utica Eisenhower downing No. 8 Fraser – Macomb Daily

Lapeer’s Eric McGeary scored the winning goal on his team’s Senior Night for the second straight year, this time to down Saginaw Heritage – Flint Journal

Division 2 No. 2 Holland Christian and reigning Division 3 champion Hudsonville Unity Christian tied 1-1 in a meeting of Ottawa-Kent Conference Green contenders; they play each other again Oct. 7 – Grand Rapids Press

Boys Tennis

Parma Western, No. 10 in Lower Peninsula Division 3, downed Jackson Lumen Christi for the first time in nearly a decade  – Jackson Citizen-Patriot

Top-ranked LP Division 2 Portage Central (see today’s 2H feature) won all eight flights to sweep the Greater Kalamazoo Tournament, and didn’t give up a set – Kalamazoo Gazette

Whitehall, No. 5 in LP Division 4, moved to 4-0 in the Coastal Conference with a shutout of Fruitport – Muskegon Chronicle

Division 2 No. 7 Birmingham Groves stayed a step ahead of rival and No. 8 Seaholm in Oakland Activities Association Red action – Observer & Eccentric

Volleyball

Cadillac, No. 3 in Class B, took a step toward unseating Class A honorable mention Traverse City West atop the Big North Conference standings with a three-set win Monday – Cadillac News

From Saturday, Class D honorable mention Crystal Falls Forest Park downed also-honorable mention Stephenson in the final of the Trojans’ tournament – Iron Mountain Daily News

Today in the MHSAA: 5/6/19

May 6, 2019

By Geoff Kimmerly
Special for Second Half

Finishes both close and historic highlighted the first weekend of May as top teams navigated the rain in many places in kicking off the final month of the regular season.

1. Softball: Grace Lehto nearly threw a perfect game as Division 2 No. 3 Eaton Rapids edged Division 3 top-ranked Millington to win the “marquee matchup” of the MI Stars Tournament – State Champs Sports Network 

2. Boys Golf: By way of a fifth-golfer tie-breaker, Gaylord – No. 10 in Lower Peninsula Division 2 – edged LPD1 No. 6 Grosse Pointe South to win its invitational with a near-school record score – Gaylord Herald Times

3. Track & Field: Zeeland West’s boys won their 12th-straight Holland West Ottawa Von Ins Relays, while Lower Peninsula Division 1 No. 6 Grand Haven and No. 7 West Ottawa’s girls shared their meet championship – Holland Sentinel

4. Boys Golf: Nathan Taylor finished as medalist to lead Muskegon Mona Shores to the Greater Muskegon Athletic Association championship, 30 years after his father won the same tournament – Muskegon Chronicle

5. Track & Field: The Muskegon Reeths-Puffer girls won their 10th straight GMAA title, and the Fruitport boys won their sixth straight – Local Sports Journal

6. Softball: Division 3 No. 7 Standish-Sterling edged No. 3 Sanford Meridian 5-4 to win Meridian’s invitational – Midland Daily News

7. Softball: Division 2 No. 4 Stevensville Lakeshore defeated Schoolcraft in the final to win its invitational for the first time – St. Joseph Herald-Palladium

8. Boys Golf: Troy edged Rochester by 12 strokes to win the Oakland County Division 2 championship – Oakland Press

9. Softball: Muskegon Reeths-Puffer and Division 2 No. 5 Oakridge both won their fourth straight GMAA softball titles – Muskegon Chronicle

10. Track & Field: A total of 61 teams including a number of the best from multiple divisions participated at the Triangle Invitational at Saline – Athletic.net