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: 5/24/23

By Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor

May 24, 2023

1. TRACK & FIELD The Lower Peninsula Division 2 top-ranked Shepherd girls and No. 9 Gladwin boys won Jack Pine Conference meet titles, both ahead of LPD3 top-ranked teams from Clare – Mount Pleasant Morning Sun

2. SOFTBALL Division 2 top-ranked Gaylord finished a second-straight perfect season in the Big North Conference and third-straight title run with a sweep of Alpena – Petoskey News-Review

3. GIRLS TENNIS LPD4 No. 4 Traverse City St. Francis clinched the Lake Michigan Conference championship just ahead of No. 9 Elk Rapids – Traverse City Record-Eagle

4. BOYS GOLF LPD1 No. 2 Brighton won its first league title in this sport since 2007, shooting a 293 to finish a championship run in the Kensington Lakes Activities Association – Livingston Daily Press & Argus

5. TRACK & FIELD The Tri-County Conference season finished with a combined five league champions – the LPD3 No. 9 Adrian Madison, Erie Mason and Ottawa Lake Whiteford girls, and Mason and LPD3 No. 4 Whiteford boys. Additionally, Onsted’s boys and Ida’s girls clinched Lenawee County Athletic Association titles – Adrian Daily Telegram

6. TRACK & FIELD The Brownstown Woodhaven girls won their third-straight Downriver League meet, while the Allen Park boys won their first championship as part of the conference – Southgate News-Herald

7. SOFTBALL Division 1 No. 4 Farmington Hills Mercy downed Dearborn Divine Child 1-0 in eight innings to claim the Detroit Catholic League Bishop title, and Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett won the Cardinal final 9-1 over Waterford Our Lady of the Lakes – Detroit News | Oakland Press

8. SOFTBALL Division 2 honorable mention Big Rapids swept Newaygo to complete a 20-0 run in the Central State Activities Association – MI Sports Now

9. TRACK & FIELD Monroe Jefferson’s LPD2 No. 5 girls and boys teams finished repeat runs in the Huron League – Monroe News

10. SOFTBALL Division 2 honorable mention Muskegon Oakridge swept Montague, with an incredible six home runs in an inning in the second game, to finish a perfect run through the West Michigan Conference Lakes – CatchMark SportsNet

Also of note …

TRACK & FIELD Centreville finished a sweep of Southwest 10 Conference championships – Sturgis Journal

SOFTBALL Division 2 honorable mention New Boston Huron clinched a share of the Huron League title with a 4-3 eight-inning win over Milan – Monroe News

SOFTBALL/BASEBALL Beal City’s teams both swept LeRoy Pine River to clinch shares of Highland Conference championships; Beal City softball shared with Division 3 top-ranked Evart, which swept Manton. Beal City baseball is No. 5 in Division 4 – Mount Pleasant Morning Sun | Big Rapids Pioneer

TRACK & FIELD The Lake City boys and LPD3 No. 6 McBain girls finished repeats in the Highland Conference – Cadillac News

SOFTBALL Division 2 No. 3 Essexville Garber finished an outright title run in the Tri-Valley Conference Red with a sweep of Alma – Bay City Times

BASEBALL Homer and Jonesville split to also share the Big 8 Conference championship – Jackson Citizen Patriot

BASEBALL Division 2 No. 8 Bay City John Glenn swept Bridgeport to complete an outright title run in the TVC Red – Bay City Times

GIRLS TENNIS Flushing won the top two singles flights on the way to a Flint Metro League team title – WJRT

TRACK & FIELD The Kingsley girls and Benzie Central boys won Northwest Conference titles – Traverse City Record-Eagle

TRACK & FIELD The Midland Dow girls and Saginaw Heritage boys are Saginaw Valley League champions – Midland Daily News