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: 10/12/15
October 12, 2015
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Some of the most prestigious cross country races of the regular season were run across the state over both peninsulas this weekend as teams continued to gear up for the final month of their 2015 campaigns.
Cross Country
Portage Central hosted what’s annually one of the most competitive invitationals in the state – the girls races by division were won by Division 1 No. 2 Northville, Division 2 No. 2 Grand Rapids Christian, Division 3 No. 5 Lansing Catholic and Division 4 No. 1 Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart – Kalamazoo Gazette
The Portage Central Invitational boys races were won, by division, by Division 1 No. 2 Rockford, Division 2 No. 1 Fremont, Division 3 No. 2 Lansing Catholic and Division 4 No. 1 Saugatuck – Kalamazoo Gazette
The No. 6 Harbor Springs girls and No. 7 boys (both in Lower Peninsula Division 4) swept races at the Sault Ste. Marie Invitational – Petoskey News
The Birmingham Seaholm girls and Novi boys won Oakland County championships Saturday, the Seaholm girls for the fifth straight season – Oakland Press
Boys Soccer
Division 2 No. 11 Coldwater remained undefeated at home this season with a 2-2 draw against No. 2 Mattawan – Coldwater Daily Reporter
Boys Tennis
Charlotte’s Alex Reinbold won his fourth MHSAA Regional title, and this time his team will join him at the Final for the first time in school history – Lansing State Journal
Midland Dow won its Division 2 Regional, and No. 2 singles Michael Szabo added to his MHSAA record for career wins set earlier in the week by also breaking the record for 6-0, 6-0, victories – Midland Daily News
Volleyball
Portage Central won the East Kentwood Invitational over a field that included Class A No. 4 Grand Haven; East Kentwood defeated the Buccaneers in the semifinal after falling to them Thursday – Grand Rapids Press