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: 2/14/18

February 14, 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.

Today's Top 10 

1. Skiing: Brighton became the first school in a decade of KLAA championships to claim both the boys and girls titles in skiing in the same season – Livingston Daily Press & Argus

2. Hockey: Division 3 top-ranked Hancock downed Division 2 No. 7 Marquette 5-2 to clinch the Great Lakes Hockey Conference regular-season championship – Houghton Daily Mining Gazette

3. Girls Basketball: Howell got Brighton 51-45 to claim the Kensington Lakes Activities Association Gold title – Livingston Daily Press & Argus

4. Boys Basketball: Hillman clinched its fifth straight North Star League title with a 63-50 win over Oscoda in the Big Dipper division – Alpena News

5. Girls Basketball: Erie Mason’s Mary Liedel scored 22 points against Sand Creek to become the leading scorer in Monroe County Region history with 1,679 total – Monroe News

6. Girls Basketball: Clare senior Natalee Kunse went over 1,000 points for her career in a win over Leroy Pine River – Mount Pleasant Morning Sun

7. Girls Basketball: Fruitport Calvary Christian sophomore Kelsey Richards scored 29 in a win over Hart to go over 1,000 for her career – Grand Haven Tribune

8. Boys Basketball: East Kentwood’s Ja’Moni Jones got a steal and made a halfcourt shot at the buzzer to send Holland West Ottawa to 14-2 with a 56-53 upset – Holland Sentinel

9. Girls Basketball: Midland Dow continued to shake up the Saginaw Valley League standings with a 54-42 win over Bay City Western – Midland Daily News

10. Hockey: In a rivalry game featuring state-ranked teams, Division 3 No. 2 Calumet got past No. 3 Houghton 3-0 – Houghton Daily Mining Gazette

Also of note …

Boys Basketball: East Lansing avenged its early-season loss to Grand Ledge with a 74-67 overtime comeback victory – Lansing State Journal

Girls Basketball: In a matchup of teams that have both been state-ranked this season, Coldwater got past Battle Creek Pennfield 53-50 in overtime to stay tied for first in the Interstate 8 Athletic Conference – Battle Creek Enquirer

Boys Basketball: Detroit Pershing earned a spot in the Detroit Public School League championship game with a 60-49 win over Martin Luther King – Detroit News