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: 5/24/21

By Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor

May 24, 2021

1. Track & Field: Northville’s boys won their first Regional title since 1968, topping a 15-team field in Lower Peninsula Division 1 – Observer & Eccentric

2. Girls Tennis: No. 2 Bloomfield Hills Marian was the champ and No. 5 Birmingham Groves runner-up at their Lower Peninsula Division 2 Regional – Oakland Press

3. Track & Field: Carson City Crystal’s No. 3-ranked boys won their first Regional championship, in LPD4 – Mount Pleasant Morning Sun

4. Track & Field: Petoskey’s girls edged Freeland’s by 1.5 points for the Regional win in LPD2 thanks to a seventh place in the final event – Petoskey News-Review

5. Girls Soccer: Division 2 No. 16 Dearborn Divine Child downed Farmington Hills Mercy 3-2 in the Detroit Catholic League Bishop championship game to clinch its first league title in this sport – Southgate News-Herald

6. Track & Field: Oak Park’s girls edged Detroit Renaissance by 20 points to win their LPD1 Regional – Oakland Press

7. Track & Field: Macomb Dakota swept LPD1 Regional titles, with Clinton Township Chippewa Valley freshman Shamar Heard the talk of the meet. Dakota’s girls are ranked No. 5 and the boys are No. 6 – Macomb Daily

8. Girls Soccer: Armada avenged its lone league defeat with a 7-2 win over Division 3 No. 20 Algonac to secure the Blue Water Area Conference title – Macomb Daily

9. Boys Tennis: West Iron County edged Negaunee by a point to win the Kingsford Invitational, which featured the top teams in the Upper Peninsula – Marquette Mining Journal

10. Boys Golf: LPD1 No. 3 Detroit Catholic Central shot a two-round 620 to win the Katke Classic, with LPD3 No. 1 Hanover-Horton placing second – Big Rapids News

Also of note …

Boys Golf: LPD4 No. 4 Charlevoix wrapped up the Lake Michigan Conference title shooting a 312 – Petoskey News-Review

Boys Lacrosse: Ryan Stadelmaier set the MHSAA single-game record with 16 assists as part of Midland/Dow’s 22-1 win over Linden in a Division 1 Regional opener – Midland Daily News

Baseball: Division 4 No. 14 Muskegon Catholic Central clinched a share of the Lakes 8 Conference title with a 6-1 win over Muskegon Orchard View – Local Sports Journal

Girls Soccer: Schoolcraft’s Hannah Thompson set the single-season state goals record this spring. But the most incredible story tells of how she has saved her mother’s life twice – Kalamazoo Gazette