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: 11/2/18

November 2, 2018

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Each weekday of the school year, we break down the top headlines courtesy of Michigan’s sports media.

The first of this week’s District titles were awarded Thursday – we found coverage of 31 District championships in all – and below we’ve filled today’s list with 10 of them.

1. Volleyball: Division 3 top-ranked Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central won its 18th straight District title with a sweep of No. 4 Riverview Gabriel Richard – Monroe Evening News

2. Volleyball: Grand Haven clinched its 12th straight District title with a win over Muskegon Reeths-Puffer in Division 1 – Grand Haven Tribune

3. Volleyball: Pellston also earned its 12th straight District title with a win over St. Ignace in Division 4 – Petoskey News-Review

4. Volleyball: No. 8 Northville swept three-time reigning Class A champion and current honorable mention Novi to claim a Division 1 District title – Observer & Eccentric

5. Volleyball: Mount Pleasant claimed its first District title in this sport with a five-set win over Midland Dow in Division 1 – Mount Pleasant Morning Sun

6. Volleyball: No. 6 Unionville-Sebewaing swept honorable mention Harbor Beach to clinch its eighth straight District title, this time in Division 3 – Huron Daily Tribune

7. Volleyball: Waterford Our Lady outlasted honorable mention Auburn Hills Oakland Christian in five sets to finish a Division 4 District title run – Oakland Press

8. Volleyball: No. 8 Traverse City St. Francis swept Grand Traverse Academy to clinch its seventh straight District title, in Division 3 – Traverse City Record-Eagle

9. Volleyball: Sterling Heights Stevenson won its fourth straight District title with a sweep of Warren Cousino in Division 1 – Macomb Daily

10. Volleyball: Bellaire swept Central Lake in Division 4 for its fourth straight District title – Traverse City Record-Eagle