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: 10/28/16
October 28, 2016
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Three quarters of the MHSAA boys soccer semifinalists are set, and we gathered coverage from all 12 Regional Finals from Thursday, plus some key volleyball regular-season finales.
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 Soccer
Division 1 No. 19 East Kentwood got past No. 16 Traverse City West 3-2 – Grand Rapids Press
Unranked Rochester won its first Regional title since 2002 with a 1-0 Division 1 win over No. 15 Grand Blanc – Oakland Press
No. 14 Novi moved on with a 1-0 win over No. 13 Salem in Division 1 – Observer & Eccentric
No. 11 Mattawan upset No. 8 Holland 3-0 in a Division 2 Regional Final – Kalamazoo Gazette
Division 1 No. 1 East Lansing got past No. 6 Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern 1-0 – Grand Rapids Press
Unranked Fenton got past also-unranked Pontiac Notre Dame Prep 1-0 in Division 2 – Flint Journal
Dearborn Divine Child won another matchup of unranked teams in Division 2, 2-0 over Gibraltar Carlson – Dearborn Press & Guide
Top-ranked Grand Rapids Catholic Central edged No. 8 Paw Paw in Division 3 – Grand Rapids Press
Division 3 No. 12 Charlevoix downed Benzonia Benzie Central 4-0 for its first Regional title in boys soccer – Petoskey News-Review
Division 3 No. 4 Flint Powers Catholic returned to the Semifinals with a 2-0 win over No. 7 Clawson – Flint Journal
Unranked Muskegon Catholic Central continued its Division 4 run with a shootout win over No. 9 Grand Rapids Covenant Christian – Grand Rapids Press
Also in Division 4, No. 18 Kalamazoo Hackett downed No. 10 Lansing Christian 2-1 – Kalamazoo Gazette
Volleyball
Class B honorable mention Croswell-Lexington finished a second straight perfect run through the Blue Water Area Conference with a sweep of Armada – Port Huron Times Herald
Kingsford finished an undefeated season in the Great Northern Conference to claim that league’s championship – Iron Mountain Daily News
Unranked Hillsdale Academy dealt Class D honorable mention Camden-Frontier a five-set loss – Hillsdale Daily News