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: 11/16/22

By Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor

November 16, 2022

1. VOLLEYBALL No. 3 Athens swept top-ranked Adrian Lenawee Christian in Division 4 to reach the Semifinals for the first time – Battle Creek Enquirer

2. VOLLEYBALL No. 2 Pewamo-Westphalia downed No. 1 Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central 3-1 in a Division 3 Quarterfinal – Lansing State Journal

3. VOLLEYBALL No. 4 Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart defeated No. 2 Leland in four sets in Division 4 to also reach the Semifinals for the first time – Mount Pleasant Morning Sun

4. VOLLEYBALL Playing its first Quarterfinal since 1977, No. 8 Cass City swept Royal Oak Shrine Catholic in Division 3 – Huron Daily Tribune

5. VOLLEYBALL Top-ranked Bloomfield Hills Marian outlasted No. 4 Clarkston in five sets to advance in Division 1 – Oakland Press

6. VOLLEYBALL Honorable mention Saline advanced to the Semifinals for the first time since 1984 with a 3-1 win over Richland Gull Lake in Division 1 – Ann Arbor News

7. VOLLEYBALL No. 5 Grand Rapids South Christian got past No. 4 Lake Odessa Lakewood in five sets in Division 2 – FOX 17

8. VOLLEYBALL No. 4 Kalamazoo Christian earned a Division 3 Semifinal berth with a five-set win over No. 9 Shelby – WWMT

9. VOLLEYBALL Cadillac will return to the Semifinals in Division 2 after its win over Grand Rapids West Catholic in a matchup of state poll honorable mentions – Cadillac News

10. VOLLEYBALL No. 3 Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern advanced in Division 1 with a sweep of No. 9 Rockford – Grand Rapids Press

Also of note …

VOLLEYBALL Honorable mention Calumet in Division 3 and Crystal Falls Forest Park in Division 4 clinched Semifinal berths – Upper Michigan Source

VOLLEYBALL No. 2 Northville swept Berkley to advance to a Division 1 Semifinal – Hometown Life

VOLLEYBALL No. 2 North Branch swept Mt. Morris to advance in Division 2 – Flint Journal

VOLLEYBALL Dearborn Divine Child reached the Division 2 Semifinals with a win over Livonia Clarenceville – Dearborn Press & Guide

VOLLEYBALL No. 8 Lansing Christian swept Portland St. Patrick to reach the Division 4 Semifinals – State Champs!