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: 5/26/21

By Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor

May 26, 2021

1. Baseball: Division 4 top-ranked Beal City clinched its 17th-straight league title by splitting with Evart in the Highland Conference – Mount Pleasant Morning Sun

2. Girls Soccer: Division 1 No. 18 Muskegon Mona Shores downed Division 2 No. 18 Zeeland East 4-1 to lock up fourth-straight league tournament and overall championships, this time in the Ottawa-Kent Conference Green – Local Sports Journal

3. Track & Field: Clare’s sweep of Jack Pine Conference championship meets gave the girls an outright league title and the boys a shared championship with Shepherd; both Clare teams are ranked No. 1 in Lower Peninsula Division 3, and Shepherd’s boys are No. 7 – Mount Pleasant Morning Sun

4. Softball: Division 1 No. 6 Farmington Hills Mercy and Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett earned Detroit Catholic League championships – Detroit News

5. Softball: Division 2 No. 5 Gaylord’s sweep of Traverse City Central locked up a shared Big North Conference championship between the Blue Devils and Traverse City West, which swept Cadillac – Petoskey News-Review | Traverse City Record-Eagle

6. Softball: Essexville Garber came back to defeat Alma in extra innings and earn a share of the Tri-Valley Conference East championship – Bay City Times

7. Track & Field: New Lothrop clinched a sweep of Mid-Michigan Activities Conference titles with wins in the third league jamboree – Owosso Argus-Press

8. Track & Field: Centreville swept the Southwest 10 Conference championship meets to clinch both the girls and boys overall league titles – Three Rivers Commercial-News

9. Baseball: Hillman swept Posen to finish its North Star League Little Dipper championship run – Alpena News

10. Softball: Evart and McBain tied for the Highland Conference title with Evart’s sweep of Beal City – Big Rapids News

Also of note …

Baseball: Troy Athens clinched the Oakland Activities Association Blue title with a win over Auburn Hills Avondale – Oakland Press