Today in the MHSAA: 9/23/15

September 23, 2015

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Top-ranked soccer teams continued to face off Tuesday on the west side of Michigan, which also is mourning the passing of a major voice in both the high school and college games.

Cross Country

The Upper Peninsula Division 1 No. 3 Calumet girls finished ahead of No. 5 Houghton and others for the Calumet Invitational title, while Houghton’s boys won as well – Houghton Daily Mining Gazette

Boys Soccer

Division 1 No. 7 East Kentwood downed No. 20 Rockford 2-0 to move into first place in the Ottawa-Kent Conference Red – Grand Rapids Press

In another battle of ranked opponents, Division 2 No. 10 Fruitport moved into first place alone in the Lakes 8 Conference with a 1-0 win over No. 7 Spring Lake – Muskegon Chronicle

Rivals Portage Northern and Portage Central met with first place in the Southwestern Michigan Athletic Conference East on the line, and Northern handed Central its first loss this season, 2-0 – Kalamazoo Gazette

Division 2 No. 17 DeWitt edged top-ranked Mason 1-0 to take control in the Capital Area Activities Conference Red race. 

Volleyball

Class A No. 7 Romeo was pushed to seven games by rival Macomb Dakota before clinching with a 15-3 victory that included nine of a match-high 30 kills by all-stater Gia Milana – Macomb Daily

Marine City and St. Clair split the first four sets before the Mariners came away with a 17-15 win in the decider of this Macomb Area Conference Gold match – Port Huron Times-Herald

Good Reads

The wait was worth it for the Adrian Madison girls golf team, which has found immediate success since forming three years ago – Adrian Daily Telegram

West Michigan is mourning to the death of longtime radio voice Doug Wentworth, who called Calvin College men’s basketball games for 50 years and also received an MHSAA Bush Award in 2005 for his service to the high school game – Calvin College

Today in the MHSAA: 9/21/15

September 21, 2015

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

This weekend was packed with prestigious cross country events and also featured a milestone win by a longtime volleyball coach.  

Cross Country

Centreville stunned an “elite” field by finishing ahead of reigning Lower Peninsula Division 1 champ Birmingham Seaholm to win the Spartan Invitational elite girls race at Michigan State University. Novi won the boys elite race despite its top individual coming in only 21stPlaymakers.com

The Otsego girls put five runners among the top six to finish among champions at the Sparta Invitational. Rockford’s boys put three among the top 10 to ascend among boys champions – Grand Rapids Press girls story; Grand Rapids Press boys story

The Holly and Lake Orion boys and Rochester Adams and Holly girls were among champions at Holly’s invitational – Oakland Press

Girls Golf

A number of top teams from the southwest part of the Lower Peninsula played in Friday’s Coldwater Lady Cardinal Invitational, with Division 4 power Kalamazoo Hackett winning with a score of 347 – Coldwater Daily Reporter

Boys Soccer

Battle Creek Central won the first All-City soccer tournament in that community, downing Battle Creek Lakeview in overtime – Battle Creek Enquirer

No. 14 Saline downed No. 4 Northville in a matchup of two of the best in Division 1 – AnnArbor.com

The No. 8-ranked teams in Divisions 3 and 4 met, with Division 4’s Muskegon Western Michigan Christian downing Whitehall, 2-1 – Grand Haven Tribune

Girls Swimming and Diving

Saline, the top-ranked team in LP Division 1, downed a strong field at Salem’s Rock Maurer Invitational, finishing just head of No. 3 Farmington Hills Mercy, with No. 9 Northville coming in third – AnnArbor.com

Boys Tennis

Essexville Garber scored a perfect 24 to win the Bay County Tournament for the third time in four seasons – Bay City Times

Volleyball

Longtime Mount Morris coach Jim Pender celebrated the 700th win over his career as his team went 7-0 to win its invitational Saturday; Mount Morris, No. 3 in Class B, beat Class A honorable mention Farmington Hills Mercy in the final – Flint Journal

Lake Odessa Lakewood, No. 2 in Class B, downed Class C No. 3 Montague to win the Grandville Calvin Christian Invitational – Muskegon Chronicle