COLDWATER, MI (WTVB) – In Branch County high school sports, in cross country on Saturday, the Coldwater Cardinals Boys team placed fourth in the MHSAA Division Two State Finals at Michigan International Speedway. It was Coldwater’s best showing at the Finals since running to a 4th place finish in 1993. The Cardinals ended up with 173 points, only two points out of third and eleven points out of the runner-up spot. Fremont High School easily won the Division Two state title with 69 points.
Coldwater placed 3 among the top 30 to earn All-State honors. Shuaib Aljabaly finished 8th, Zack Murphy took 25th , and Ben Fagen was 28th .
The Bronson boys team also qualified for the State Finals and they finished 24th out of 27 Division Three schools. Colin Ransbottom led the Vikings, placing127th in the field in 247 runners.
Quincy had 3 individual qualifiers for the Finals. In the boys race, Brandon Gary finished 101st while on the girls side, Gabby Porter finished in 50th place and Katie Spalding finished 179th in the competition with 250 runners.
The boys soccer season ended on Saturday with the State Finals and there were no repeat winners. In Division Two, which includes Coldwater, the championship match was decided in a shootout with Mason defeating Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern 3-2 for the title. The other winners were Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central in Division One, Grand Rapids South Christian in Division Three, and Genesee Christian in Division Four.
In football, the Coldwater Cardinals are one of 64 teams still in the hunt for a state title with 8 schools remaining in each of the 8 divisions as District titles were decided this past weekend, including Coldwater’s first ever MHSAA District football Championship on Friday night with their 35-14 home victory over Vicksburg. The 11-0 Cardinals will now hit the road to play at 10-1 St. Joseph in a Division 3 Regional Final Friday night at 7 p.m.
While the fall sports season in Michigan continues, the winter season calendar shows that the first girls basketball tryouts and practices tip off today with the boys practices beginning a week from today along with wrestling and bowling. Practices for gymnastics began back on October 26 while boys swimming and diving practice starts November 23.
