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: 10/30/17
October 30, 2017
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. Cross Country: Lansing Catholic swept girls and boys Division 2 Regional titles; both teams are ranked No. 1, and the Cougars girls finished just ahead of No. 4 DeWitt – Lansing State Journal
2. Cross Country: Harbor Springs’ boys (No. 15 in LPD3) won their fourth straight Regional title, while No. 5 Traverse City St. Francis won the girls championship – Petoskey News-Review
3. Cross Country: Ann Arbor Pioneer swept a pair of Division 1 Regional titles; Pioneer’s girls are ranked No. 1 and the boys are No. 2 and came in ahead of No. 4 Saline – Saline Post Girls | Boys
4. Cross Country: The No. 5 St. Clair boys continued dominating with a Division 2 Regional title, while the Marysville girls won their first in more than a quarter century – Port Huron Times Herald
5. Cross Country: Northville’s girls (No. 3 in LPD1) won a Regional title ahead of runner-up No. 8 Salem – Observer & Eccentric
6. Cross Country: Pewamo-Westphalia also swept Regional titles in Division 3, the No. 6-ranked girls ahead of runner-up Byron and the No. 5 boys ahead of honorable mention Ithaca – Ionia Sentinel-Standard
7. Volleyball: Manton downed Lake City, McBain Northern Michigan Christian, Leroy Pine River and Beal City to claim the Highland Conference championship for the first time – Cadillac News
8. Boys Soccer: No. 7 Coldwater scored the game’s lone goal to claim a Division 2 Regional title over Stevensville Lakeshore – Coldwater Daily Reporter
9. Cross Country: Milford’s girls (tied for No. 10 in LPD1) edged Waterford Mott by three points to claim a Division 1 Regional title, while No. 5 White Lake Lakeland dominated the boys race – Observer & Eccentric Girls | Boys
10. Volleyball: Class A honorable mention Midland claimed the overall Saginaw Valley League championship by avenging its lone league loss to Davison at the league tournament – Midland Daily News
Also of note …
Cross Country: Sand Creek’s boys (No. 9 in LPD4) edged Hudson’s by five points to win a Regional title, while the No. 5 Hudson girls prevailed as well – Adrian Daily Telegram
Cross Country: The No. 3 Romeo boys and No. 9 Clarkston girls won Division 1 Regional titles at Algonac – Macomb Daily
Cross Country: The Brighton girls (LPD1 honorable mention) made the MHSAA Finals for the 12th straight year and as a Regional champion, and the Okemos boys (also LPD1 honorable mention) won their Regional title in a tie-breaker – Livingston Daily Press & Argus
Boys Soccer: East Lansing downed Petoskey 2-0 to claim a Regional title in Division 2 – Petoskey News-Review
Volleyball: Coldwater added an Interstate 8 Athletic Conference tournament championship to a perfect run through the league this fall – Coldwater Daily Reporter