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: 1/25/19
January 25, 2019
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
A number of the Lower Peninsula’s top swimming & diving teams faced off Thursday on a night that also saw a wrestling league title awarded and notable results in girls and boys basketball.
1. Boys Swimming & Diving: No. 2 Birmingham Groves edged No. 4 Midland Dow and No. 5 Rochester Adams in a tri meet of top teams from Lower Peninsula Division 2 – Midland Daily News
2. Wrestling: Onaway finished its North Star League championship run with wins over Mio and Oscoda – WBKB
3. Boys Basketball: Wyoming Potter’s House Christian continued a major surge by handing Marcellus Howardsville Christian its first defeat, 85-69 – Three Rivers Commercial-News
4. Boys Swimming & Diving: LPD3 No. 1 Holland Christian won a tri against No. 6 Grand Rapids Christian and Division 2 No. 10 Holland – Holland Sentinel
5. Wrestling: Division 1 No. 2 Brighton downed No. 6 Westland John Glenn 58-8 in a matchup of Kensington Lakes Activities Association division champs – Livingston Daily Press & Argus
6. Girls Basketball: Carson City-Crystal took over first place alone in the Mid-State Activities Conference with a 31-27 win over Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart – MI Sports Now
7. Boys Basketball: Big Rapids Crossroads avenged its lone loss with a 53-47 win over Manistee Catholic Central that put Crossroads in first alone in the West Michigan D League – Big Rapids News
8. Girls Basketball: Richland Gull Lake broke a three-game losing streak by handing Comstock just its second defeat of the season, 48-39 – Kalamazoo Gazette
9. Boys Swimming & Diving: LPD3 No. 3 Spring Lake earned an impressive 102-84 win over LPD2 honorable mention Grand Rapids Northview – Grand Haven Tribune
10. Girls Basketball: West Bloomfield held on to first place alone in the Oakland Activities Association White with a 63-53 win over Oxford – Oakland Press
Also of note …
Softball: Past Essexville Garber standout Katy Ratajczak was honored for her life-saving work last spring as she and her family traveled home from her final high school softball game – Bay City Times