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.

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: 4/26/19

April 26, 2019

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

A legendary performance from a Saginaw High long jumper topped our list of Thursday’s best performances stretching across five sports.

1. Track & Field: Saginaw High’s Tony Martin continued an incredible long jumping season Thursday by going 26-6, which would break the MHSAA all-Finals record by more than two feet – Saginaw News

2. Boys Lacrosse: Rockford held on for a 10-7 win over East Grand Rapids; Rockford was No. 4 in Division 1 and East Grand Rapids No. 3 in Division 2 entering the week – FOX 17

3. Boys Golf: Plymouth, No. 10 in Lower Peninsula Division 1, shot a 294 and No. 7 Hartland a 298 to set the pace at the Kensington Lakes Activities Association preseason tournament – Livingston Daily Press & Argus

4. Track & Field: Annual contenders and neighbors Zeeland East and West met with East winning the girls meet and West the boys by identical scores of 82-55; East’s girls are No. 5 in LPD2 – Holland Sentinel

5. Baseball: Division 1 No. 15 Richland Gull Lake took an impressive sweep of No. 10 Mattawan, 8-5 and 7-0 – Kalamazoo Gazette

6. Baseball: Division 1 No. 11 Garden City continued its strong start with a 1-0 win over Division 2 No. 17 Detroit Country Day – State Champs Sports Network

7. Boys Lacrosse: Clarkston locked down Bloomfield Hills for a 12-7 win; Bloomfield Hills was No. 7 in Division 1 entering the week – Oakland Press

8. Softball: Grand Haven moved to 11-0 with a five-winning win over Division 1 honorable mention Rockford – Grand Haven Tribune

9. Boys Lacrosse: Traverse City United edged Traverse City St. Francis 6-5 – WPBN

10. Baseball: Division 1 No. 19 Bay City Western swept Mount Pleasant 4-0 and 7-2 – Midland Daily News

Also of note …

Track & Field: From Wednesday, the Ishpeming boys and St. Ignace girls won the Division 2 Superior Dome Invitational, the Hematites for the fifth straight season – Marquette Mining Journal