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: 5/17/18

May 17, 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.

1. Softball: Bear Lake clinched its first softball league championship since 1987 in splitting a doubleheader with Custer Mason County Eastern – Manistee News Advocate

2. Girls Soccer: Reagan Wisser scored all three goals as Division 2 No. 2 Richland Gull Lake downed Division 1 No. 5 Portage Central 3-2 in overtime to clinch its fourth Southwestern Michigan Athletic Conference title in five seasons – Kalamazoo Gazette

3. Track & Field: Adrian Madison’s teams finished perfect dual seasons in the Tri-County Conference, the LPD3 No. 3 girls running their league winning streak to 87 and the boys to 35 – Adrian Daily Telegram

4. Boys Golf: Clarkston, No. 4 in Lower Peninsula Division 1, shot a 297 to win the Oakland County Division 1 championship ahead of runner-up and No. 2-ranked Birmingham Seaholm (303) and third-place and No. 3 Lake Orion (305) – C&G Newspapers

5. Boys Lacrosse: Division 1 No. 2 Hartland defeated No. 5 Brighton 15-4 to clinch the Kensington Lakes Activities Association championship – Livingston Daily Press & Argus

6. Girls Soccer: Muskegon Western Michigan Christian created a tie with Division 4 No. 11 Muskegon Catholic Central at the top of the Lakes 8 Conference with a 2-1 win over the Crusaders – Local Sports Journal

7. Baseball: Rochester Hills Stoney Creek finished a three-game sweep of Rochester to earn a shared Oakland Activities Association Red title with Lake Orion – Oakland Press

8. Baseball: Rivals Portage Northern (No. 7 in Division 1) and Portage Central split a doubleheader, both winning in substantial shutouts – Kalamazoo Gazette

9. Softball: Parma Western’s Taylor Nichols went over 1,000 career strikeouts in a 15-9 win over Jackson Lumen Christi – Jackson Citizen-Patriot

10. Baseball: Detroit Osborn will play for a Detroit Public School League title for the second straight year thanks to a 10-0 win over Detroit Central – Detroit News