Linked Up: 10/28/11

December 13, 2011

Each week I'll post links to stories that interest me most during my travels in online sports land. I was going to wait for next week for this first installment, but these seemed worthy of telling you about now.

See something high school sports-related that you think others would find valuable? Send me a link.

Akron-Fairgrove and Owendale-Gagetown eager for long-awaited playoff games in first season of eight-man football bracket (Bay City Times)

These two teams provide multiple reasons why 8-player football has been such a strong addition -- most notably, it is providing our smallest schools with an opportunity to still play football despite fewer players, and succeed. The sport took off in this state in 2009, and this weekend mark the start of the first MHSAA 8-player Tournament. Akron-Fairgrove will play its first postseason game since 1992, while Owendale-Gagetown will play its first since 1979.

Olivet's Peters coaching his heart out (Battle Creek Enquirer)

I covered Olivet and coach Dean Peters for more than a decade, including during last season's first-ever Eagles run to the MHSAA football finals. One of the great people in high school coaching, he needed emergency double-bypass surgery earlier this month but is back in the coaching booth. Olivet faces Lansing Catholic in a Pre-District game.

Megan Hubbard a standout for Hanover-Horton cross country (Jackson Citizen-Patriot)

This is a neat story about a runner who is second-best on her team and has never won a race -- but also is likely the second-best to ever run at her school. Usually, we hear only about who finishes first.

Standley Lake football player Rhett Gutierrez overcomes eye disease (The Denver Post)
 
Almost always, links I post will be Michigan-related. But this story is just incredible. We've seen athletes with different degrees of vision impairment do incredible things in high school athletics. But this is the first time I've heard of someone overcoming that obstacle to play quarterback for his football team.

Today in the MHSAA: 5/12/25

By Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor

May 12, 2025

1. GIRLS TENNIS Holland West Ottawa – No. 8 in Lower Peninsula Division 1 – claimed its ninth-straight Ottawa-Kent Conference Red championship – Holland Sentinel

2. TRACK & FIELD The LPD3 top-ranked Remus Chippewa Hills girls and Big Rapids boys won Central State Activities Association championships, Chippewa Hills’ girls for the 22nd-straight season – Mount Pleasant Morning Sun | Big Rapids Pioneer

3. TRACK & FIELD Grass Lake’s girls claimed their fifth-consecutive Cascades Conference title, and Jonesville and Hanover-Horton’s boys are co-champions after the former won the league meet – Jackson Citizen Patriot Girls | Boys

4. GIRLS TENNIS Hemlock won six tournament flights on the way to claiming a repeat Tri-Valley Conference title – Saginaw News

5. TRACK & FIELD The LPD1 No. 1 East Kentwood, No. 7 Byron Center, No. 9 Middleville Thornapple Kellogg, No. 4 Zeeland East, Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central and Hopkins girls, and LPD1 No. 1 East Kentwood, No. 8 Byron Center, No. 9 Zeeland West, LPD2 No. 7 Wayland, Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern and Hopkins boys all won O-K Conference championship meet titles – Grand Rapids Press Girls | Boys

6. GIRLS SOCCER North Farmington capped an outright championship run in the Oakland Activities Association Blue with a 7-1 win over West Bloomfield – Oakland Press

7. GIRLS LACROSSE Detroit Country Day edged East Grand Rapids 11-10 in a matchup of Division 2 favorites – Detroit Free Press

8. TRACK & FIELD The Sturgis girls and LPD2 No. 3 Three Rivers boys won Wolverine Conference meet championships – Sturgis Journal

9. TRACK & FIELD The Bay City Western girls and Midland boys won in the Saginaw Valley League – Bay City Times | Athletic.net

10. TRACK & FIELD The Belleville girls and Northville boys won Kensington Lakes Activities Association titles – Hometown Life

Also of note …

GIRLS TENNIS Edwardsburg finished as overall champion in the Wolverine Conference – Sturgis Journal

TRACK & FIELD The Shepherd boys and LPD2 No. 3 Gladwin girls earned Jack Pine Conference meet titles – Mount Pleasant Morning Sun | Athletic.net

TRACK & FIELD The LPD3 No. 6 Adrian Madison boys and No. 4 Blissfield girls won Lenawee County Athletic Association meets – Adrian Daily Telegram | Athletic.net