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
Did you see that? (June 3-9)
June 10, 2013
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
The second of three weeks of spring MHSAA Finals came to a close with four more champions from lacrosse – plus 16 teams still alive in both baseball and softball, eight in girls soccer and 60 in Lower Peninsula boys golf.
See below for some of the biggest headlines from the week that was June 3-9.
Girls lacrosse
Champions of the west: A pair of Grand Rapids-area teams claimed the girls championships Saturday. Rockford defeated Bloomfield Hills United 16-7 in Division 1, while East Grand Rapids repeated in Division 2 with a 16-6 victory over Livonia Ladywood. (Second Half D1) (Second Half D2)
Boys Lacrosse
East-side excellence: Birmingham Brother Rice came back from an early deficit in the Division 1 Final to win its ninth-straight title by beating Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern/Eastern 14-10. In Division 2, Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood scored with 20.2 seconds to play to edge reigning champion Forest Hills Central 10-9. (Second Half D1) (Second Half D2)
Girls Soccer
Defensive standoff: Top-ranked Plymouth and No. 3 Novi needed a shootout to decide Friday’s Division 1 Regional Final. But Novi won that final round 2-1 to earn a 1-0 win and hand Plymouth its first and only loss this season. (MLive Detroit)
Powers survives comeback: Up 3-0 at halftime, reigning Division 3 runner-up Flint Powers Catholic advanced to within one win of returning to the Finals with a 3-2 Regional Final win over Lake Fenton. (Flint Journal)
Baseball
Oilers upend No. 1: Mount Pleasant, ranked No. 4 in Division 2, beat top-ranked Bay City John Glenn on the way to winning their Regional on Saturday. (Mount Pleasant Morning Sun)
MCC wins big: Muskegon Catholic Central moved on in Division 4 with a 9-0 Regional win over No. 2 Gobles in another of the weekend’s biggest baseball matchups. MCC entered the postseason ranked No. 5. (Muskegon Chronicle)
Softball
Dundee gets its chance: The Vikings won their first Regional championship and defeated two-time reigning Division 3 champion Clinton in the process Saturday at Blissfield. Dundee entered the postseason ranked No. 1 in the division. (Monroe Evening News)
Romeo prevails in pair of nail-biters: The No. 10-ranked Bulldogs were down to their final out before defeating Troy in a Regional Semifinal and then beat Hartland 3-0 in the championship game. Both Troy and Hartland were honorable mentions in the final Division 1 coaches poll. (Oakland Press)
Escanaba headed downstate: The Eskymos will face reigning MHSAA Division 2 runner-up Saginaw Swan Valley in a Quarterfinal for the second straight season thanks to a walk-off home run by sophomore Michelle LaFave in a 5-4 Regional Final win over Remus Chippewa Hills. (Escanaba Daily Press)
Boys Golf
SMAC East dominates: Top-ranked Battle Creek Lakeview in Division 1 and Marshall and Battle Creek Harper Creek in Division 2 all qualified for LP Finals, giving the Southwestern Michigan Athletic Conference East three teams in this weekend’s championship tournaments. (Battle Creek Enquirer)
DeWitt outshoots No. 1: Previously unranked DeWitt shot a 313 to edge top-ranked East Lansing by a stroke at their Division 2 Regional at Gull Lake View. (Lansing State Journal)
Boys Basketball
CMU star takes over GRCC: Former Central Michigan University captain T.J. Meerman has taken over the Grand Rapids Catholic Central program after serving as an assistant coach last season at Grand Valley State University. Previously, Meerman coached the varsity at Grand Rapids Kenowa Hills. (Grand Rapids Press)