Today in the MHSAA: 8/24/15

August 24, 2015

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

All MHSAA fall sports but football kicked off competition last week, with cross country, boys soccer, girls swimming and diving and volleyball starting Saturday.

Below are some notable headlines from the first weekend of this season, plus links to coverage.

Cross Country

St. Johns hosted its second “Under the Lights” meets Friday; Ithaca’s girls and Saugatuck’s boys bested fields loaded with much larger opponents – Lansing State Journal

The St. Joseph girls and Bridgman boys won championships at the Niles Stampede – the St. Joseph girls, who finished fourth in Lower Peninsula Division 2 last season, by a large margin – St. Joseph Herald-Palladium

Girls Golf

Maple City Glen Lake’s Nichole Cox, last season’s LP Division 4 individual champion, came back to defeat Brighton freshman Annie Pietila at the two-day Lober Invitational at Grand Traverse Resort – Traverse City Record-Eagle

Boys Soccer

Two of the state’s powers met in the championship game of the Detroit Country Day Tournament on Saturday – with 2013 Division 1 runner-up Bloomfield Hills downing the host Yellowjackets 1-0 in a shootout – Oakland Press

Girls Swimming & Diving

Howell won its Kenzie Klassic, which honors swimmer Mackenize Watts, who died in 2005 at age 15. The school also raised enough money to award three scholarships and begin funding cardiac-related causes – Livingston Daily

Volleyball

Novi won the Lakeshore Classic by coming back after losing the first two games to beat Grand Haven 3-2 in a rematch of a 2014 Class A Semifinal – Muskegon Chronicle

Battle Creek Harper Creek, for the first time, won the gold championship at the long-running Carrie Adams Memorial Tournament hosted by reigning Class D champion Battle Creek St. Philip – Battle Creek Enquirer

Good Read

Mike Steele, a Midland Dow grad and now pitching coach at Long Beach State in California, argues that parents need to raise their athletes to compete instead of providing specific training in one sport – Midland Daily News

Today in the MHSAA: 6/14/23

By Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor

June 14, 2023

2. GIRLS SOCCER No. 10 Grosse Ile earned its first Finals trip with a shootout win over No. 6 Flint Powers Catholic in a Division 3 Semifinal – Southgate News-Herald

2. GIRLS SOCCER Both of No. 4 East Grand Rapids’ goals came over the final five minutes of its 2-1 Division 2 Semifinal win over No. 11 Plainwell; the Pioneers will face unranked Grosse Pointe North, which defeated No. 10 Linden 1-0 – FOX 17

3. SOFTBALL No. 10 (tied) Brownstown Woodhaven advanced to its first Semifinals in this sport with a 5-1 win over Canton – Detroit News

4. SOFTBALL Honorable mention Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart advanced in Division 4 with a sixth postseason shutout, this one over honorable mention Lake Leelanau St. Mary – Mount Pleasant Morning Sun

5. SOFTBALL Honorable mention Ravenna turned 15 hits into a 12-6 win over No. 4 Buchanan in a Division 3 Quarterfinal – CatchMark SportsNet

6. GIRLS SOCCER Top-ranked Hudsonville Unity Christian advanced in Division 3 with a 6-0 win over No. 3 Elk Rapids – MI Sports Now

7. SOFTBALL No. 10 Standish-Sterling continued its surge with a 3-1 Division 3 Quarterfinal win over No. 5 Gladstone – Bay City Times

8. SOFTBALL No. 6 Grand Blanc is headed back to the Semifinals for the first time in 17 years thanks to a 4-2 win over No. 7 Jenison – WNEM

9. SOFTBALL No. 7 Laingsburg continued its historic run with an 8-6 win over honorable mention Cass City in Division 3 – Lansing State Journal

10. SOFTBALL A homer off the scoreboard highlighted top-ranked Gaylord’s 4-1 win over No. 7 Hudsonville Unity Christian in Division 2 – Up North Live

Also of note …

SOFTBALL No. 2 Mendon edged honorable mention Fowler 13-12 to advance in Division 4 – Sturgis Journal

SOFTBALL Honorable mention Johannesburg-Lewiston also moved on in Division 4 with a 7-1 win over Hancock – Petoskey News-Review

SOFTBALL Honorable mention Southfield Christian opened the scoring, but top-ranked Unionville-Sebewaing continued its pursuit of a fourth-straight Division 4 title with a 7-4 win – Bay City Times

SOFTBALL Unranked Dearborn Divine Child advanced in Division 2 with an 11-3 win over honorable mention Trenton – Dearborn Press & Guide