10:29 AM Sep 8, 2011
In a battle of two state-ranked Division 4 teams, host Western Michigan Christian scored early and late Wednesday night for a 2-0 win over North Muskegon. The Warriors, rated No. 6 in the state, raised their season mark to 3-1-1. WMC outshot the 10th-ranked North Muskegon, 30-4, but had trouble connecting with the twine. The Warriors got on the board six minutes into the game when sophomore Alex Rop fired a throw-in to senior Zach Meyers, who sent it past the keeper.
10:27 AM Sep 8, 2011
Grand Haven's varsity boys tennis team suffered a 5-3 loss to Rockford on Wednesday. The Buccaneers won twice in doubles but managed just one singles win. Varun Biddanda, a freshman, topped Rams' freshman Alex Amante at No. 4 singles, 6-0, 6-2. Rockford won the other three singles flights in straight sets. The Bucs played well in the doubles flights, with Cam Rickard and Isaac Bowen winning 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 at No. 1, and Janno Heins and Ryan Peterson coming out on top 6-1, 6-4 at No. 2.
10:25 AM Sep 8, 2011
Spring Lake's varsity swimming and diving squad was impressive in a double dual meet with Fremont and host West Catholic on Wednesday, with the Lakers taking either first- or second-place in all but four events in their two victories. The Lakers defeated the Packers by a 147-36 score, and topped the Falcons in a 127-59 finish.
10:21 AM Sep 8, 2011
Prior to kickoff of Friday's varsity football game, Fruitport Community Schools will hold a brief ceremony recognizing the 10th anniversary of the attacks on America on Sept. 11, 2001. Those who have served or are currently serving in the armed forces will be admitted to the game for free and will be asked to come down onto the track for the national anthem. "We consider this a small way to say thanks for protecting our freedom and safety on a daily basis,' Trojans' athletic director Ken Erny said in a press release.
10:47 AM Sep 7, 2011
Spring Lake's athletic teams are known for their school colors of red, black, and white, but the Lakers' volleyball team dabbled a little green with their uniforms on Tuesday. The green ribbons tied onto their shoe laces was a tribute to Brenda Blahnik, the mother of Lakers' junior setter Emily Blahnik.
10:41 AM Sep 7, 2011
Both Spring Lake and Fruitport scored easy wins in their opening Lakes Eight Conference soccer contests of the season on Tuesday. The Lakers, who sit at No. 2 in the inaugural Division 2 state rankings, took on Orchard View and their star forward Zack Sutton and came away with a 4-0 victory. "I'm pretty proud of what we've done defensively, especially with Sutton getting such high praise early in the season,' said Lakers' coach Jeremy Thelen, whose team is now 5-0. "We wanted to set the tone early in the conference season.'
11:07 AM Sep 6, 2011
When Michigan coach Brady Hoke was hired in January, one of his first orders was to install countdown clocks inside Schembechler Hall. The clocks include digital readouts that serve as a daily reminder of the time remaining before the Wolverines face Big Ten foes Ohio State and Michigan State. But just because Michigan's annual nonconference game with Notre Dame isn't represented with a permanent timepiece doesn't take away from the significance of a rivalry that dates to 1887. "This is important as anything,' Hoke said Monday.
11:02 AM Sep 6, 2011
Michigan athletic director Dave Brandon wishes he had 50,000 more tickets to sell for the first game under the lights at the Big House. Brandon says he has never seen anything like the demand for the prime-time game against Notre Dame on Saturday night. Michigan Stadium's official capacity is 109,901. It set an NCAA regular-season attendance record with 113,090 last year against Connecticut. Tickets were available still available Tuesday morning, with an online vendor selling them from $219 to $3,500 each.
5:52 PM Sep 4, 2011
A band of storms throughout the Midwest cancelled the end of one game, postponed another and caused delays in other matchups. Michigan and Western Michigan agreed to end their game Saturday late in the third quarter after a second delay due to lightning, giving Brady Hoke a 34-10 victor in his debut. "It was kind of wild," Hoke said. "Wet and wild." Michigan athletic director Dave Brandon said the lopsided score played a part in ending the game early.
9:01 AM Sep 3, 2011
Thursday night's final scores: Grand Haven beat Traverse City West, 48-21. Spring Lake dominated Ludington, 50-27. Fruitport beat Newaygo, 30-10. And in college football action Thursday night, Grand Valley State shut out Western Oregon, 23-0. For details on the games, click here.
11:30 PM Sep 2, 2011
Western Michigan Christian and host Elk Rapids played to a 1-1 tie after regulation and two overtime periods Friday before the Warriors won 2-1 after winnng a shootout, 5-4. Ryan Briggs - who scored WMC's goal in regulation - along with Alec Breit, Matt Wisen, Tim Schuitema and Tim denDulk all put the ball in the net in the shootout. WMC junior goalie Jacob Berens then made a spectacular stop on the Elk's last shot for the win. To read more of this story, see today's print edition of the Grand Haven Tribune.
11:28 PM Sep 2, 2011
There were plenty of tears shed Thursday night as former Fruitport football coach Larry Rueger was honored prior to the Trojans' victory over Newaygo. Rueger served as the Trojans' defensive coordinator the past 22 years. He passed away on July 28 due to kidney failure. He was 70 years old.
11:27 PM Sep 2, 2011
Howie Bailey was introduced to the sport of skeet shooting during his brief career as a relief pitcher with the Detroit Tigers in the early 1980s. Now, 30 years later, the Grand Haven native and current West Olive resident has been recognized as one of the best in the sport in the state of Michigan. Bailey, 54, was inducted into the Michigan Skeet Shooting Hall of Fame this past Saturday at the Michigan State Shoot at the Detroit Gun Club in Walled Lake.
11:22 AM Sep 2, 2011
There was concern in the off-season that Grand Haven's varsity football team had lost too many offensive playmakers to graduation and some growing pains were in order. If anything, Thursday's 48-21 thumping of Traverse City West at Buccaneer Stadium eased those concerns and proved that seven new starters on that side of the ball have grown up in a hurry.
11:17 AM Sep 2, 2011
On a night that it paid tribute to former defensive coach Larry Rueger, Fruitport's defense would have made its old coach proud with a pivotal fourth-quarter stand, which paved the way for a 30-10 Lakes Eight Conference win over visiting Newaygo.
11:13 AM Sep 2, 2011
Spring Lake's passing game isn't clicking yet, but their run game - led by senior quarterback Keegan Wolter - was dominant against host Ludington on Thursday. Wolters ran for 196 yards and four touchdowns, helping the Lakers score their first victory of the season, 50-27, at Ludington High School. All but one yard of the Lakers' 410 total yards of offense came on the ground. Cody Berkobein added 99 yards on seven carries and two touchdowns, while T.J. Kriger tallied 70 yards on eight carries.
11:11 AM Sep 2, 2011
Grand Haven continued a recent trend on the volleyball court, going 2-1 at a home quad meet. The Buccaneers scored wins over Unity Christian (25-23, 25-14) and Spring Lake (25-19, 25-19) before losing to Forest Hills Northern (15-25, 25-19, 18-16). "We came out strong against Unity and controlled the tempo of that game,' coach Katy Walters said. "Then in Game 1 against Northern we did the same thing. Game 2 and 3, we relaxed too much, made too many errors, and when we finally decided to start playing we were already in a hole.