Today in the MHSAA: 9/29/16
September 29, 2016
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
The first MHSAA champions of 2016-17 were honored Wednesday as Munising and Ishpeming Westwood earned a shared tennis title.
Each weekday during the school year, we’ll gather and post media links covering the most significant and intriguing high school events from all over the state.
Cross Country
The Lower Peninsula Division 1 top-ranked Birmingham Seaholm girls and honorable mention Clarkston boys won the second Oakland Activities Association Red jamborees – Oakland Press
Girls Golf
Lapeer shot a school-record 322, but Midland Dow claimed the Saginaw Valley League title with a 319 at the league tournament – Saginaw News
Boys Soccer
Undefeated Grand Ledge downed Holt 3-2 (and East Lansing fell to Okemos) to claim the Capital Area Activities Association Blue championship – MLive-Lansing
Division 1 No. 16 Utica Ford downed Sterling Heights Stevenson 2-1 to remain undefeated in the Macomb Area Conference Red – Macomb Daily
Division 3 No. 7 Grosse Ile and Division 4 No. 4 Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central tied 2-2 to remain tied atop the Downriver League standings – Southgate News-Herald
Girls Tennis
Munising and Ishpeming Westwood shared the Upper Peninsula Division 2 title as the first MHSAA champions of 2016-17 were crowned – Second Half
Volleyball
Class C honorable mention New Lothrop downed No. 7 and nonleague Laingsburg after sweeping Byron in what was a battle of undefeated teams in Genesee Area Conference play – Owosso Argus-Press
Stevensville Lakeshore won a close matchup over rival St. Joseph, 31-29, 25-15 and then 25-23 – St. Joseph Herald-Palladium
Class C No. 2 Bronson dropped its first set against unranked Centreville before winning the next three – Coldwater Daily Reporter
Good Read
Frequently, teams playing each other come together to make their game a fundraiser. But Friday, four Cascades Conference football teams will join together to support the veterans – Jackson Citizen-Patriot
Today in the MHSAA: 10/19/16
October 19, 2016
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
District soccer continued Tuesday and league champions were crowned in volleyball and cross country all over the Lower Peninsula – but the must-see stories are a pair of “good reads” coming out of the Jackson and Alpena areas.
Each weekday during the school year, we’ll gather and post media links covering the most significant and intriguing high school events from all over the state.
Cross Country
The Caro boys – No. 4 in Lower Peninsula Division 3 – and the No. 6 Shepherd girls won championships at the Tri-Valley Conference all-division final – Saginaw News
The Ubly girls and boys teams repeated as East champions at the Greater Thumb Conference championship race (Ubly's girls are No. 9 in LPD4), and the Reese girls and LPD4 honorable mention Cass City boys repeated as West winners – Huron Daily Tribune
Traverse City West swept the final Big North Conference jamborees, the West boys earning the league title and the Central girls finishing as overall league champion for the 14th straight season. The Central girls are No. 4 in LPD1 and the West girls are an honorable mention – Traverse City Record-Eagle
Harbor Springs’ boys (No. 2 LPD4) kept their undefeated season going with a third straight Lake Michigan Conference final championship, and Traverse City St. Francis (No. 2 LPD3) clinched the girls title – Petoskey News-Review
Boys Soccer
Division 1 No. 2 Portage Northern moved on with a 4-1 District win over Lansing Everett thanks to three goals by Ryan Melgar – Kalamazoo Gazette
Adrian Lenawee Christian freshman Zach Riordan set his school’s scoring record of 36 goals in an 8-0 Division 4 win over Clinton – Adrian Daily Telegram
Girls Swimming & Diving
LPD1 No. 2 Saline got past No. 10 Brighton 112-74 in a matchup of top Division 1 teams – Saline Post
Volleyball
Walled Lake Central repeated as Lakes champion in the Kensington Lakes Activities Association with a five-set win over Brighton – Livingston Daily Argus & Press
Class A top-ranked Novi swept Canton to win its fourth straight KLAA Kensington championship – Oakland Press
Marine City improved to 8-1 in the Macomb Area Conference Gold and clinched a share of the league title with a three-set win over Warren Mott – Port Huron Times Herald
Good Reads
The story of Brooklyn Columbia Central standout running back Micah Raby is captivating, if not from this passage alone about how his adopted parents found him: “Inside the missionary’s hut, on an ordinary table lay an ordinary bible box containing an extraordinary sight, and it caught Doug and Sandy Raby’s eyes and hearts immediately. Inside that bible box – no bigger than a size 10 shoebox – was a 1-month-old boy named Joseph, one of two surviving triplets. His brother did not survive the birth and the birth parents decided to keep the other one, believed to be a girl, because it was the biggest and had the greatest chance of surviving.” – Jackson Citizen-Patriot
Lincoln Alcona announcer Don Franklin first gave voice to the school’s athletic events in 1967, and will retire at the end of this school year with 50 years on the microphone announcing football and a number of other sports over a half century – Alpena News