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: 9/25/23

By Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor

September 25, 2023

1. CROSS COUNTRY The Lower Peninsula Division 1 No. 3 Romeo, Ann Arbor Father Gabriel Richard and LPD3 No. 2 Jackson Lumen Christi girls and LPD1 No. 9 Ann Arbor Pioneer, LPD2 No. 7 Adrian and LPD4 No. 3 Hillsdale Academy boys won races at the annual Jackson Invitational – Athletic.net

2. CROSS COUNTRY The LPD1 No. 8 Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central and LPD2 No. 1 Grand Rapids Christian girls and Holland West Ottawa and LPD2 No. 2 Grand Rapids Christian boys were among champions at the Grand Rapids South Christian Cougar Falcon Invitational – Athletic.net

3. VOLLEYBALL Cadillac defeated Division 2 No. 8 Three Rivers to win the latter’s invitational, and Division 3 No. 7 Lake City downed Beal City to clinch at Kalkaska – Cadillac News

4. GIRLS SWIMMING & DIVING Wyandotte Roosevelt repeated as Downriver Classic champion – Southgate News-Herald

5. GIRLS SWIMMING & DIVING Midland Dow nearly doubled up the runner-up in winning the Tri Cities Championship – Midland Daily News

6. CROSS COUNTRY Traverse City West swept Gold championships, and the LPD3 No. 3 Elk Rapids girls and No. 5 Clare boys won Blue races at the Cadillac Veterans Serving Veterans Invitational; West’s girls are No. 9 in LPD1 – Traverse City Record-Eagle | Athletic.net

7. BOYS TENNIS LPD4 No. 4 Ludington won six flights in claiming the overall Allegan Invitational title – Ludington Daily News

8. VOLLEYBALL Izzy Whittaker went over 1,000 career kills for Division 1 honorable mention Grand Haven as her team defeated Lake Orion and honorable mention Lowell and fell to No. 9 Bloomfield Hills Marian in five sets – Local Sports Journal

9. CROSS COUNTRY Bay City Western swept championships and the LPD4 No. 9 Breckenridge girls and LPD3 No. 12 St. Louis boys also were victorious at the Kayner Delta Invitational; Western’s boys are an honorable mention in LPD1 – Saginaw News | Athletic.net

10. CROSS COUNTRY The LPD1 No. 2 Brighton, Dearborn Divine Child and Allen Park Cabrini girls and LPD1 No. 4 Canton, AAFGR and Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central boys won Monroe Jefferson Invitational races – Monroe News | Athletic.net