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: 9/28/17
September 28, 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. Boys Soccer: Lincoln Alcona goalkeeper Conner McCoy broke the national record for career saves and did it with a shutout of Oscoda, 2-0 (check back Friday for a feature on Second Half) – Alpena News
2. Girls Tennis: The first MHSAA championships of 2017-18 were awarded Wednesday as Negaunee won its fourth straight Division 1 title and Ishpeming Westwood won its eighth in nine seasons in Division 2 – Second Half Division 1 | Division 2
3. Cross Country: Incredibly, three runners from the Battle Creek area are back on course this season after being diagnosed with a rare heart condition last year and undergoing surgery – Battle Creek Enquirer
4. Girls Golf: Three years after starting the program, Shepherd is celebrating its second straight league championship in the sport – Mount Pleasant Morning Sun
5. Cross Country: The top-ranked Ann Arbor Pioneer boys and No. 10 girls edged Saline’s No. 2-ranked boys and No. 5 girls teams in the second Southeastern Conference jamboree and also matchup of contenders in Lower Peninsula Division 1 – Saline Post Boys | Girls
6. Cross Country: The Spring Lake boys, No. 9 in LPD2, and No. 10 Allendale girls won their Ottawa-Kent Conference Blue jamboree, Allendale over Spring Lake’s No. 9-ranked girls team – Grand Haven Tribune
7. Boys Soccer: Division 4 No. 19 Buckley avenged an earlier loss to No. 3 Leland with a 3-0 shutout in the rematch – Cadillac News
8. Girls Golf: LPD2 No. 10 Muskegon Reeths-Puffer won its second straight Greater Muskegon Athletic Association city championship – Local Sports Journal
9. Boys Tennis: LPD4 No. 8 Ludington downed Whitehall 5-3 to clinch a share of the Coastal Conference championship – Ludington Daily News
10. Girls Golf: LPD1 No. 2 Brighton finished its home regular-season schedule with a 23-stroke win over Hartland – Livingston Daily Press & Argus