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: 11/11/16
November 11, 2016
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
A total of 32 Regional championships were earned by volleyball teams across our state Thursday as a number of ranked teams faced off and a few of the unranked delivered the night’s biggest stunners.
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.
Volleyball
Class A No. 5 Rockford downed league rival and No. 9 Grand Haven, 3-2 – Grand Rapids Press
Unranked Fenton continued its unexpected run, this time upsetting No. 2 Clarkston in Class A – Flint Journal
Bloomfield Hills Marian downed Sterling Heights Stevenson in Class A in another match of state poll honorable mentions – MLive-Detroit
Class A No. 4 Portage Central edged No. 3 DeWitt after trailing the Panthers 2-1 – Lansing State Journal
Novi continued its dominance of Class A; the top-ranked Wildcats swept No. 7 Farmington Hills Mercy – Oakland Press
Unranked Adrian eliminated reigning Class B champion Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard, which was ranked No. 4 this fall – Ann Arbor News
Corunna, an honorable mention in Class B, won its first Regional title in volleyball with a 3-0 sweep of honorable mention Saginaw Swan Valley – Saginaw News
St. Clair Shores South Lake won its first Regional title, downing Detroit University Prep in four sets in Class B – Macomb Daily
Calumet won its fifth straight Regional title, downing Rudyard in a match of Class C honorable mentions – Houghton Daily Mining Gazette
Reigning champion and No. 2 Bronson got past No. 8 Kalamazoo Christian in Class C – Battle Creek Enquirer
Class C No. 6 Brown City won its second straight Regional title, downing No. 4 New Lothrop – Port Huron Times-Herald
Class C No. 9 Laingsburg reached the Quarterfinals for the second straight season, this time with a sweep of No. 3 Kent City – MLive-Lansing