Today in the MHSAA: 9/23/19

September 23, 2019

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Today’s list of the weekend’s top achievers has a definite Grand Rapids-area tilt as teams from five schools from that part of the state emerged as invitational champions in either cross country, golf, volleyball or swimming & diving.

1. Cross Country: The East Grand Rapids girls – No. 1 Lower Peninsula Division 2 – honorable mention Tecumseh and Jackson Lumen Christi girls and LPD1 No. 4 Romeo, LPD3 No. 1 Hanover-Horton and Manchester boys all won championships at the Jackson Invitational – Athletic.net

2. Volleyball: Division 2 No. 5 Coopersville downed honorable mention Kingsley in two sets to win the Cadillac Tournament title – Traverse City Record-Eagle

3. Volleyball: Division 2 honorable mention Onsted improved to 24-0 with an undefeated run through its invitational, including sweeping Division 4 No. 9 Adrian Lenawee Christian in the final – Adrian Daily Telegram

4. Volleyball: Division 3 No. 5 Bronson also finished a perfect tourney run, taking the Portage Northern Invitational title by downing the host in that final – Coldwater Daily Reporter

5. Girls Swimming & Diving: LPD2 No. 10 Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central won the fastest wave of the Portage Central Invitational by a point over the host, ranked No. 5, and also ahead of No. 6 Midland Dow – Midland Daily News

6. Girls Golf: LPD2 top-ranked Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern shot a 297 to win the Greenville Invitational – Petoskey News-Review

7. Cross Country: The LPD2 No. 8 Sparta boys and No. 5 Cadillac girls won Muskegon Oakridge Invitational championships – Athletic.net

8. Cross Country: The LPD4 No. 8 Pittsford girls and LPD3 honorable mention Leslie boys won Pittsford’s invitational – Hillsdale Daily News

9. Volleyball: Stephenson downed Felch North Dickenson in the final to win the Crystal Falls Forest Park Invitational – Iron Mountain Daily News

10. Cross Country: Roscommon swept the big school championships at the Evart Invitational; the girls are ranked No. 13 in LPD3 – Big Rapids News

Today in the MHSAA: 12/9/19

December 9, 2019

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Matchups of a number of the state’s anticipated girls basketball best topped a weekend list full of high achievers with hockey, bowling and swimming & diving also contributing to the headliners.

1. Girls Basketball: Reigning Division 3 champion Pewamo-Westphalia downed last season’s Division 1 runner-up Southfield Arts & Technology 43-31 at the Arbor Prep Ice Breaker Challenge – State Champs Sports Network

2. Girls Basketball: Hart earned its first win since 2004 over eight-time reigning West Michigan Conference champion Muskegon Oakridge, 56-34 – Local Sports Journal

3. Girls Basketball: Hartland handed a 61-40 loss to two-time reigning Division 4/Class D champion Adrian Lenawee Christian at Arbor Prep – Adrian Daily Telegram

4. Hockey: Traverse City Central took wins of 4-3 over Division 3 No. 8 Houghton and 7-2 over No. 9 Hancock during a weekend trip – Traverse City Record-Eagle

5. Bowling: Cadillac’s boys and Traverse City West’s girls repeated as Big North Conference champions – Cadillac News

6. Boys Swimming & Diving: Grand Rapids Christian, No. 3 in Lower Peninsula Division 3, earned a 108-78 win over No. 6 Hamilton – Holland Sentinel

7. Hockey: Gaylord bounced back from a loss to Traverse City West with a 3-1 road win at Division 1 No. 7 Midland – Gaylord Herald Times

8. Girls Basketball: Midland Dow got past Maple City Glen Lake 45-43 in a game that was tied at the end of each of the first three quarters – Midland Daily News

9. Girls Basketball: East Grand Rapids got past host Kalamazoo Central 66-57 at the Lady Giant West Side Showcase – JoeInsider.com

10. Hockey: Grosse Pointe South scored five first-period goals in a 7-2 win over Traverse Bay Reps – Traverse City Record-Eagle

Also of note …

Girls Basketball: Jasmine Clerkley went over 1,000 career points as Okemos got past Haslett 58-51 – Lansing State Journal

Girls Basketball: Muskegon Reeths-Puffer’s Lauren Ross scored her 1,000th career point during a 49-40 win over Greenville – Muskegon Chronicle

Girls Tennis: Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central is mourning the death of retired coach Wayne Asher, who led the girls team to two Division 4 Finals runner-up finishes over 14 seasons – Monroe News

Softball: Longtime Spring Lake coach Bill Core has stepped down with a 642-473 record since taking over the program in 1990 – Grand Haven Tribune