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: 4/30/18

April 30, 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: Brighton's Chloe Haskins struck out 23 hitters in a 10-inning no-hit 1-0 win over Division 4 No. 9 Onaway – Livingston Daily Press & Argus

2. Boys Lacrosse: Division 2 top-ranked Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central downed Division 1 No. 6 Birmingham Brother Rice 12-5 – WOOD TV

3. Boys Lacrosse: Division 2 No. 7 Battle Creek Lakeview claimed its All-City championship with a 13-2 win over Harper Creek – Battle Creek Enquirer

4. Boys Golf: East Grand Rapids won Division 2 and the overall championship at the Traverse City Tee-Off with a two-day score of 631; Big Rapids’ Pierce Morrissey was the individual medalist with a two-day 145 – Traverse City Record-Eagle

5. Track & Field: Livonia Churchill’s girls repeated as Livonia Public Schools Invitational champions by a mere four points, while the boys repeated by a slightly larger margin – Observer & Eccentric Girls | Boys

6. Track & Field: Host Gibraltar Carlson’s boys won their seventh straight Marauder Invitational while Grosse Ile’s girls also repeated as champions – Southgate News Herald Girls | Boys

7. Track & Field: Pewamo-Westphalia’s girls and boys dominated in claiming Chesaning Invitational championships – Ionia Sentinel-Standard

8. Softball: Division 3 honorable mention Boyne City won its home invitational outscoring its opponents by a combined 35-1 – Petoskey News-Review

9. Baseball: Hillman won its inaugural Tiger Invitational with wins over Brimley and Ogemaw Heights – Alpena News

10. Softball: Division 2 No. 3 Escanaba remained undefeated with a sweep of Bay City Western – Escanaba Daily Press

Also of note …

Conferences: Houghton Lake and Roscommon will be leaving the Jack Pine Conference after 2018-19 for the Highland Conference, while Marion will leave the Highland this summer for the West Michigan D League – MI Sports Now