Today in the MHSAA: 9/9/19

September 9, 2019

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Unranked – and probably soon-to-ranked – volleyball and soccer teams dominated the top half of today’s list of achievers from an invitational-filled weekend across a number of sports. 

1. Volleyball: Unranked Beaverton defeated Division 3 No. 4 Bronson in the final to claim Bay City Central’s Mitten Bay Invitational title – Midland Daily News

2. Volleyball: Also-unranked Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern downed Division 1 No. 6 Grand Haven and then honorable mention Northville to win the Grand Haven Invitational – Grand Haven Tribune

3. Cross Country: The East Grand Rapids, Ada Forest Hills Eastern and Pewamo-Westphalia girls and Ann Arbor Skyline, Haslett and Hanover-Horton boys won championships at the Bath Bret Clements Invitational – Athletic.net 

4. Boys Soccer: Unranked Portage Northern made a number of stops in getting past Division 2 top-ranked Mattawan 1-0 – JoeInsider.com

5. Girls Swimming & Diving: Chelsea, No. 4 in Lower Peninsula Division 3, edged LPD2 honorable mention Grand Rapids Northview to win the DeWitt Invitational – Chelsea Sun Times News 

6. Cross Country: Brighton’s boys and Troy’s girls won Gold division Averill Invitational championships at Kensington Metropark – Athletic.net

7. Cross Country: Traverse City teams swept titles at the Bullock Creek Lancer Invitational, the West girls and St. Francis boys claiming championships – Traverse City Record-Eagle

8. Volleyball: Petoskey finished the day 6-0 and defeated Midland Dow in the final to win its home invitational – Petoskey News-Review

9. Cross Country: The Petoskey girls and Charlevoix boys won Charlevoix Mud Run championships – Petoskey News-Review

10. Volleyball: Kingsford repeated as the Great 8 Tournament champion at West Iron County – Iron Mountain Daily News

Today in the MHSAA: 10/23/19

October 23, 2019

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Boys Soccer Regional Semifinals began in full force Tuesday across the state, and today’s list of achievers is filled with those results – with some volleyball and swimming & diving mixed in.

1. Boys Soccer: Top-ranked Grandville Calvin Christian edged reigning Division 4 champion and current No. 6 Leland 2-1 in a Regional Semifinal – MI Sports Now

2. Boys Soccer: No. 4 Muskegon Western Michigan Christian’s fourth straight postseason shutout came over No. 3 North Muskegon in another high-powered Division 4 Regional Semifinal – Local Sports Journal

3. Boys Soccer: No. 3 Grosse Ile won another of the biggest matchups in Regional Semifinal play, downing No. 7 Ann Arbor Father Gabriel Richard 6-0 – Southgate News-Herald

4. Boys Soccer: No. 4 Mattawan moved on in Division 2 with a 4-1 win over No. 10 DeWitt – Lansing State Journal

5. Boys Soccer: No. 5 Dansville got past No. 14 Hartford 2-0 in a Division 4 Regional Semifinal – St. Joseph Herald-Palladium

6. Volleyball: Midland Dow finished a perfect run to the Saginaw Valley League North title with a sweep of rival Midland – Midland Daily News

7. Boys Soccer: No. 7 Detroit Catholic Central came back from an early 1-0 deficit to get past Clarkston 2-1 in a Division 1 Regional Semifinal – Observer & Eccentric

8. Girls Swimming & Diving: Zeeland, an honorable mention in Lower Peninsula Division 1, downed LPD2 No. 9 Byron Center 105-73 – Holland Sentinel

9. Boys Soccer: No. 2 Troy Athens advanced to a Division 1 Regional Final with a 4-0 win over Warren De La Salle Collegiate – Oakland Press

10. Boys Soccer: Clinton Township Chippewa Valley went to overtime to get past Rochester Adams 2-1 in Division 1 – Oakland Press

Also of note …

Football: The southwestern football community is mourning the death of longtime Galesburg-Augusta football coach Bill Maskill, who when he retied after the 1991 season was the all-time winningest coach in the sport in Michigan high school history – WWMT

Volleyball: From Monday, Bellaire swept Johannesburg-Lewiston to claim a share of the Ski Valley Conference championship, its first league title in this sport – Traverse City Record-Eagle