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: 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