Today in the MHSAA: 9/30/19

October 1, 2019

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

The race was the place to be this weekend as girls swimming & diving and girls and boys cross country invitationals produced much of our best competition and many of our top performances.

1. Girls Swimming & Diving: Farmington Hills Mercy – No. 2 in Lower Peninsula Division 1 – placed first and LPD3 No. 1 East Grand Rapids second at the prestigious Pioneer Classic at EGR – Swimcloud.com

2. Cross Country: The Bridgman girls continued their perfect season and the Berrien Springs boys repeated at the Berrien County Invitational – St. Joseph Herald-Palladium

3. Girls Golf: Carleton Airport won its first Monroe County tournament championship, shooting a 360 to clear the field by 21 strokes – Monroe Evening News

4. Girls Swimming & Diving: LPD3 honorable mention Trenton earned six first places to win the Downriver Classic for the third straight season – Southgate News-Herald

5. Cross Country: The UPD2 top-ranked Ishpeming boys ran their streak at their Tracy Strom Invitational to six victories, while the UPD1 No. 2 Houghton girls won their side and Negaunee’s Emily Paupore set a course record – Marquette Mining Journal

6. Cross Country: Caledonia swept Division 1 titles (the girls are No. 14 in LPD1, the boys No. 8), while the LPD2 top-ranked East Grand Rapids girls and top-ranked Otsego boys were victorious in Division 2 at the Otsego Invitational – Athletic.net

7. Cross Country: The Dearborn Divine Child (LPD2 No. 7) and Ann Arbor Pioneer girls (LPD1 No. 6) and East Lansing and Walled Lake Northern boys won Coaches Legends Classic championships – Athletic.net

8. Boys soccer: LPD2 top-ranked Richland Gull Lake edged Portage Central 1-0 to lock up the Southwestern Michigan Athletic Conference championship – JoeInsider.com

9. Boys Tennis: LPD3 No. 9 Petoskey earned a 5-3 win over LPD4 top-ranked Allegan – Petoskey News-Review

10. Girls Swimming & Diving: LPD2 No. 6 Midland Dow outpaced seven others to win the Tri-Cities Championship – Midland Daily News

Stripes Worn Well (Muskegon Chronicle)

March 1, 2012

Tim Flahive has battled diabetes for all but a few years of his life. But he's also filled half of those years with high school sports as a longtime official based in the Muskegon area.

The Muskegon Chronicle's Mark Opfermann tells the story of Flahive's final basketball game last week -- and makes us appreciate even more the significant role our officials fill to no fanfare.

A powerful excerpt:

He left the court with no fanfare, took off his whistle and shed a few tears.

But Flahive's story isn’t just about sports and an official leaving the hobby he loves. It’s about courage, getting back up and pressing on.

So, I guess it’s a lot like sports after all. But it’s a whole lot more about life.

That’s because when Flahive took the court last week, he did it with half of his left foot missing.

Click to read on.