Today in the MHSAA: 9/30/15
September 30, 2015
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Ranked teams faced off all over the state in a variety of sports Tuesday – but perhaps the most intriguing score was a tie in tennis between teams outside the state coaches polls.
Cross Country
The Lower Peninsula Division 1 No. 6 Saline boys raced past No. 14 Monroe in the second Southeastern Conference jamboree after falling to Monroe in the first. In the girls race, No. 3 Saline edged No. 6 Ann Arbor Pioneer by only five points – AnnArbor.com
Ithaca’s girls, No. 3 in LP Division 2, won their eighth straight Tri-Valley Conference West jamboree, dating to 2013, and ahead of a field that includes No. 14 St. Louis – Saginaw News
The Chassell girls, No. 1 in Upper Peninsula Division 3, won the Houghton Invitational keyed by a strong group leading the pack – Houghton Daily Mining Gazette
Boys Soccer
LP Division 1 top-ranked Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central earned another impressive win, this time 4-0 over Division 2 No. 6 East Grand Rapids – Grand Rapids Press
LP Division 4 No. 5 Muskegon Western Michigan Christian outlasted No. 8 Grand Rapids Covenant Christian 2-1 – Muskegon Chronicle
Boys Tennis
Jackson found itself with only four players this summer as it prepared for the fall season – but turned that into 14 and tied rival Jackson Lumen Christi on Tuesday – Jackson Citizen-Patriot
Volleyball
Unranked Kalamazoo Hackett pushed rival and Class C No. 7 Kalamazoo Christian to five sets before Christian prevailed 15-8 to close out the match – Kalamazoo Gazette
Montague, No. 2 in Class C, swept Whitehall to end the Vikings’ 54-match win streak in West Michigan Conference play – Muskegon Chronicle
Class B No. 4 Pontiac Notre Dame Prep survived a tough four-set match against rival and Class A honorable mention Bloomfield Hills Marian, with three of four sets decided by three or fewer points – Oakland Press
Today in the MHSAA: 1/5/16
January 5, 2016
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Winter sports return in force with a full slate of events statewide tonight, but here are a few headlines of note as we get rolling – plus two great reads from the wrestling world.
Boys Basketball
Ishpeming in recent seasons has scheduled its first basketball games later than other teams to offset the football team’s four straight runs to the MHSAA Finals at Ford Field – but the Hematites were one of the first to play in 2016 and came away with a 74-72 win over Gladstone to move to 2-0 – Marquette Mining Journal
Girls Bowling
From Sunday, two-time reigning Division 2 champion Flint Kearsley got past 2015 Division 1 finalist Jackson to win the Lila Jean Furnish Classic in Owosso, which included a number of the state’s top teams – Jackson Citizen-Patriot
Good Reads
When Clinton wrestler Nick Rolland was 3, his parents were told to say their good-byes after he was pulled from under a running lawn mower. But doctors were able to save his life, and then his leg, and this weekend he’ll wrestle for his 100th career win – Adrian Daily Telegram
Hastings wrestling coach Mike Goggins started out as an athlete for the Saxons, later coached at the middle school and now also is the high school athletic director – and owner of more than 400 varsity coaching wins after reaching that milestone during the Montrose Invitational on Dec. 29 – Grand Rapids Press