Linked Up: 10/28/11
October 28, 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.
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: 10/28/19
October 28, 2019
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
The Finals field for Lower Peninsula cross country and Semifinals field for boys soccer are set after a weekend filled with history-making performances and led off by a pair of big-time upsets.
1. Boys Soccer: Unranked Traverse City West downed No. 1 Okemos 1-0 in a Division 1 Regional Final – Traverse City Record-Eagle
2. Cross Country: Hudson’s No. 12-ranked girls outpaced No. 5 Adrian Lenawee Christian and No. 2 Hillsdale Academy for a Lower Peninsula Division 4 Regional title; No. 7 Concord won the boys race – Adrian Daily Telegram
3. Cross Country: Leland’s girls edged Frankfort’s by a point to win their first Regional championship, in LPD4 – Traverse City Record-Eagle
4. Boys Soccer: No. 3 Novi reversed recent history against No. 7 Detroit Catholic Central with a 2-1 Regional Final win in Division 1 – Observer & Eccentric
5. Cross Country: The top-ranked Petoskey girls and Fremont boys approached perfect scores in winning their LPD2 Regionals – Petoskey News-Review
6. Boys Soccer: No. 5 Dansville took No. 7 Kalamazoo Hackett Catholic Prep to a shootout and emerged as the 1-0 winner in a Division 4 Regional Final – JoeInsider.com
7. Cross Country: Hart swept LPD3 Regional titles for the third straight season; the girls are ranked No. 1 and the boys No. 8 – Ludington Daily News
8. Cross Country: Ann Arbor Pioneer swept LPD1 Regional titles, with Saline finishing second in both races. Pioneer’s girls are ranked No. 1 and its boys are No. 6, while Saline’s teams are No. 4 and No. 5, respectively – We Love Ann Arbor Girls | Boys
9. Boys Soccer: Unranked Ludington won its third straight Regional title, downing No. 15 Elk Rapids 1-0 in Division 3 – Ludington Daily News
10. Cross Country: The top-ranked Breckenridge boys won their first Regional title since 2011, in LPD4 – Mount Pleasant Morning Sun
Also of note …
Volleyball: Oscoda and Hale won their division championships in the North Star League – WBKB
Volleyball: Sault Ste. Marie won the Straits Area Conference tournament – MI Sports Now
Volleyball: Division 3 honorable mention Traverse City St. Francis secured its eighth straight Lake Michigan Conference title – Traverse City Record-Eagle