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: 6/2/17

June 2, 2017

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Carney-Nadeau senior Hunter Eicchorn achieved what no other male golfer had in MHSAA history before Thursday, topping an excitement-filled afternoon of Upper Peninsula Golf Finals, Lower Peninsula Regionals and Girls Soccer District Semifinals.

Each weekday during the school year, we’ll gather and post media links covering the most significant and intriguing high school events from all over the state.

Boys Golf

Carney-Nadeau’s Hunter Eicchorn capped his career as arguably the state’s most accomplished golfer by leading his team to an Upper Peninsula Division 3 title while becoming the first in MHSAA history to win a fourth individual championship – Second Half

St. Ignace finished a U.P. Division 2 championship run with a 10-stroke Finals win – Second Half

No. 3 Grand Rapids NorthPointe Christian finished 17 strokes better than No. 2 Muskegon Catholic Central to win the LP Division 4 Regional at Hastings Country Club; Lansing Christian also advanced for the first time to next week’s Finals – Muskegon Chronicle

Girls Golf

Munising’s successful senior class added a golf championship to the list with a win at the U.P. Division 2 Final – Second Half

DeTour claimed its first MHSAA golf title since 1999, finishing as champ in U.P. Division 3 – Second Half

Girls Soccer

No. 11 Plymouth downed neighbor and No. 12 Canton 1-0 in a Division 1 District Semifinal and matchup of teams with a combined 30 wins this season – MLive-Detroit

No. 8 Kalamazoo Christian scored with six seconds to play to down rival No. 2 Kalamazoo Hackett 1-0 in a Division 4 District Semifinal – Kalamazoo Gazette

Division 1 No. 19 New Baltimore Anchor Bay needed a shootout to dispatch Macomb L’Anse Creuse North 2-1 in a District Semifinal – Macomb Daily

West Bloomfield advanced to its first District Final since 1993 with a 3-2 overtime win over Walled Lake Central – Oakland Press

No. 15 Spring Lake got past No. 17 Muskegon Reeths-Puffer 2-0 in a Division 2 District Semifinal – Grand Haven Tribune

Division 4 No. 13 St. Joseph Michigan Lutheran scored with seven minutes to play to get past Bridgman in a District Semifinal – St. Joseph Herald-Palladium

Division 1 No. 7 Livonia Stevenson had to convert 14 penalty kicks in its half of a shootout before a miss by Northville to earn a 2-1 win in a District Semifinal – Observer & Eccentric