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: 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