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: 5/15/18

May 15, 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. Track & Field: The Remus Chippewa Hills girls, No. 4 in Lower Peninsula Division 2, clinched their 16th straight conference championship with a win at the Central State Activities Association Gold meet – Mount Pleasant Morning Sun

2. Track & Field – Zeeland East (No. 1 in LPD2 girls, No. 2 in boys) swept the Ottawa-Kent Conference Green meet championships, both teams followed by neighbor Zeeland West (No. 2 in LPD2 girls, No. 1 in boys) – Holland Sentinel

3. Girls Lacrosse: Division 1 No. 6 Brighton scored the game-winning goal with 13 seconds to play to edge No. 3 Hartland 16-15 – Livingston Daily Press & Argus

4. Girls Tennis: LPD1 No. 6 Holland West Ottawa clinched the outright O-K Red title with a league tournament championship ahead of No. 7 Rockford – Holland Sentinel

5. Girls Tennis: LPD2 No. 10 Zeeland East hung on to claim the O-K Green title by edging LPD3 No. 8 Holland Christian by a point at the league tournament – Holland Sentinel

6. Girls Tennis: LPD4 No. 3 Traverse City St. Francis claimed the Lake Michigan Conference tournament, as expected, but East Jordan’s Keegan Malpass won No. 1 singles despite dropping the first set of the final – Petoskey News-Review

7. Track & Field: Manistee Catholic Central’s boys clinched their first West Michigan D League overall title with a second-place finish at the league meet – Manistee News Advocate

8. Boys Lacrosse: Grand Ledge continued its historic run by clinching the Capital Area Activities Conference tournament title with a 9-4 win over Okemos – Lansing State Journal

9. Track & Field: Lake Orion swept Oakland Activities Association titles, the boys winning for the seventh straight season – Oakland Press

10. Softball: Negaunee clinched a share of the Mid-Peninsula Conference title with a sweep of Gwinn – Marquette Mining Journal

Also of note …

Track & Field: Livonia Ladywood’s current runners and alumni met for a final relay as the school prepares to close after this spring – Observer & Eccentric