Today in the MHSAA: 9/3/15

September 3, 2015

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Exciting soccer finishes, plus news from volleyball, girls golf and cross country top today’s headlines from media across the state.

Cross Country

The biggest school at the Battle Creek All-City Invitational swept the team titles, with Lakeview’s boys and girls both winning; the top racers from the smallest school, Battle Creek St. Philip’s Ava Strenge and Jack Greenman, won the individual titles – Battle Creek Enquirer

Girls Golf

Same players, new coach, and Muskegon Mona Shores is back among the elite with a win in the Ottawa-Kent Black on Wednesday after finishing second in the first league jamboree – Muskegon Chronicle

Boys Soccer

Portage Central won a battle of undefeated teams from the Kalamazoo area, downing Mattawan 1-0 with a second-half goal – Kalamazoo Gazette

Ludington scored three goals over a 10-minute second-half span to win a high-scoring 5-3 matchup with Whitehall – Ludington Daily News

Saginaw Heritage freshman keeper Joseph Horwath became a wall over the final two minutes as the Hawks edged Valley Lutheran 3-2 – Saginaw News

Volleyball

Camden-Frontier came back from two sets down to beat Hillsdale Academy, claiming the deciding game 15-13 – Hillsdale Daily News

New Baltimore Anchor Bay improved to 12-1-2 this fall under first-year coach Brittany McGinnis, a former standout at Fraser, by beating her alma mater and two others – Macomb Daily

Good reads

Most of the competitors at Frankenmuth’s Patriot Cup girls golf tournament were toddlers or only a little older on Sept. 11, 2001, so the Eagles will host 21 teams in remembrance of the victims of attacks and those who continue to serve – Saginaw News

Charlevoix dedicated its recently purchased football scoreboard Friday to late coach Don Carey, who led multiple teams at the school over nearly three decades – Charlevoix Courier

Today in the MHSAA: 10/20/15

October 20, 2015

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

MHSAA Boys Soccer District play kicked off Monday across the Lower Peninsula, and we also catch up with a pair of big Saturday events, one from each side of the bridge.

Cross Country

From Saturday, the East Lansing girls and Corunna boys won the annual Greater Lansing Invitational against fields loaded with ranked teams; Corunna’s boys were No. 3 in Lower Peninsula Division 2 last week and East Lansing’s girls were unranked – Lansing State Journal

Boys Soccer

Detroit Catholic Central, No. 5 in Division 1, opened district play with a 1-0 win over No. 14 Novi – Oakland Press

Muskegon Orchard View continued a five-game winning streak that’s pushed it past .500 by downing Grant 2-1 in a Division 3 opener – Muskegon Chronicle

Hartland scored to tie Howell with less than two minutes to play in regulation, then won their Division 1 opener in overtime – Livingston Daily

Midland scored just more than a minute into its Division 1 game against Bay City Western and hung on for the 1-0 district victory – Bay City Times

Volleyball

Also from Saturday: Host Houghton defeated Class C honorable mention Calumet in three sets to win the Houghton Invitational, which featured 10 teams from the western half of the Upper Peninsula – Houghton Daily Mining Gazette

Girls Basketball

Ann Arbor Pioneer is mourning the loss of girls coach Crystal Westfield, who died Monday after a fight with cancer and only four months after her father, legendary cross country and track and field coach Bryan Westfield, died after fighting another form of the disease. Westfield had coached the basketball team at her alma mater since 1994 and also coached field events under her dad – AnnArbor.com