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: 5/9/18
May 9, 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. Girls Soccer: No. 3 Brighton won a matchup of two of the top-ranked teams in Division 1, downing No. 2 Novi 2-1 – Livingston Daily Press & Argus
2. Softball: For the first time in Rapid River history, the Division 4 honorable mention Rockets swept Division 3 No. 5 Gladstone – Escanaba Daily Press
3. Track & Field: Midland swept Saginaw Heritage, the boys team by a point to stay undefeated in the Saginaw Valley League ahead of the LPD1 No. 9 Hawks; the Midland girls are unranked as well and upset the No. 7 Heritage team – Midland Daily News
4. Track & Field: Engadine swept the Mid Peninsula Small School Invitational titles, the boys winning by a point and the girls by two to repeat – Escanaba Daily Press
5. Girls Tennis: Unranked Saline tied Lower Peninsula Division 1 No. 5 Ann Arbor Huron – Saline Post
6. Girls Soccer: Nora Uldrys scored with five minutes to play to give Division 1 No. 14 Saline a 1-0 win over Ann Arbor Skyline after her team tied Skyline earlier this spring – Saline Post
7. Baseball: Division 3 No. 11 Reed City swept Remus Chippewa Hills in a matchup of teams that both entered undefeated in league play – Big Rapids News
8. Girls Tennis: Traverse City Central No. 1 doubles player Bailey Swanson became the second on her team this season to go over 100 career wins, doing so in the LPD2 No. 7 Trojans’ 6-2 victory over Petoskey – Traverse City Record-Eagle
9. Softball: Trenton made a run at handing Allen Park its first Downriver League loss, but the Jaguars held on for a 7-6 win – Southgate News Herald
10. Football: Salem coach Kurt Britnell resigned coming off leading the Rocks to their first playoff appearance since 1991 – Observer & Eccentric
Also of note …
Baseball: From Saturday, longtime Livonia Stevenson coach Rick Berryman reached 500 career wins with his team’s victory over Livonia Clarenceville; Stevenson is No. 14 in Division 1 – Observer & Eccentric