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: 8/31/15
August 31, 2015
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
The final weekend of August was a giant weekend for MHSAA volleyball contenders, with some of the top regular-season events this fall providing opportunities for the best to see how they might match up when playoffs begin in two months.
Below are headlines for some of the key high school reports from across the state; the weekend’s football round-up will publish later this afternoon.
Cross Country
Muskegon Reeths-Puffer’s Maryssa Depies set a course record of 18:11.3 to win the Big Red Invitational at McGraft Park – Muskegon Chronicle
Flint Powers Catholic’s top individual finisher came in ninth, but the Chargers girls as a team were first at the Lansing Catholic Invitational – Flint Journal
The reigning Lower Peninsula Division 2 champion Grand Rapids Christian boys repeated as winner of the prestigious Benzie Central Invitational, finishing ahead of Traverse City West and Central, while Central senior Anthony Berry won individually in 15:24 – Grand Rapids Press
Boys Soccer
Tawas, a Division 3 semifinalist last season, finished first from an Elk Rapids Invitational field that included Berkley and Saginaw Nouvel – Bay City Times
Volleyball
Lake Odessa Lakewood, last season’s Class B runner-up and the second-ranked team in that class this week, eliminated Class A No. 6 Grand Rapids Christian to win the West Michigan Volleyball Officials Association tournament for the first time in a decade – Grand Rapids Press
Class A No. 4 Grand Haven continued its perfect run at its outdoor Battle of the Boardwalk tournament, sweeping three opponents to remain undefeated through the event's third year – Grand Haven Tribune
Battle Creek Harper Creek, No. 9 in Class B, improved to 17-0 by winning the Cereal City Tournament at Pennfield with a 2-1 championship match win over Temperance Bedford, an MHSAA semifinalist last season in Class A – Battle Creek Enquirer
Good Reads
The Holland Sentinel introduced its top female athletes in that area’s history Sunday, and highlighted nationally-known softball star Kathy Arendsen and her successes during one of the MHSAA’s first Softball Finals – Holland Sentinel
Anyone who follows high school football history will enjoy going through the Muskegon Chronicle’s sampling of top-20 moments from that area’s football past – Muskegon Chronicle
More than 60 former Shepherd High School players from the last 25 seasons returned for an alumni doubleheader Sunday to honor coach Jack Nartker, who will retire after this spring – Mount Pleasant Morning Sun