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: 4/27/18
April 27, 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: Division 3 top-ranked Clinton and unranked Adrian Madison both handed the other its first loss in a doubleheader split – Adrian Daily Telegram
2. Track & Field: Rapid River’s boys and Escanaba’s girls won Delta County Invitational titles, Escanaba for the seventh straight season (not counting last year’s meet being canceled) – Escanaba Daily Press
3. Baseball: Unranked Cass City scored a combined 22 runs in a sweep of Division 4 No. 3 Unionville-Sebewaing – Huron Daily Tribune
4. Track & Field: For the second straight meet, Hamilton’s Trevor Blood broke the school pole vault record, this time going 14-2 in a win over Hudsonville Unity Christian – Holland Sentinel
5. Girls Soccer: Division 1 No. 14 Saline scored with less than two minutes to play to edge Pinckney 1-0 – Saline Post
6. Girls Soccer: Callie Rich and Division 1 No. 4 Novi shut out Plymouth 1-0 to improve to 6-1-1 – Observer & Eccentric
7. Girls Soccer: Division 1 No. 3 Walled Lake Northern improved to 10-0 with a 7-0 win over Waterford Kettering – Detroit News
8. Girls soccer: Maya Dean has had a foot in every Traverse City West goal this season and helped the Titans past Traverse City Central 3-2 on Thursday – Traverse City Record Eagle
9. Softball: Grand Haven earned a 6-1 win over Rockford, last season’s Ottawa-Kent Conference Red champion – Grand Haven Tribune
10. Football: Jerry Diorio, most recently an assistant at Benton Harbor after previously leading Wayland to four playoff appearances, has been hired as Battle Creek Lakeview’s next coach – Battle Creek Enquirer
Also of note …
Hockey: Chelsea coach Don Wright has retired with a 304-146-35 record after 18 seasons and after leading the team to the Division 3 Quarterfinals this winter – Sun Times News