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: 3/11/21

By Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor

March 11, 2021

The regular seasons for Winter indoor sports quickly are drawing to a close, and that means nightly league championship celebrations with the latest in girls and boys basketball, girls bowling, hockey and wrestling.

1. Hockey: Division 2 No. 2 Hartland finished a Kensington Lakes Activities Association championship run with a win over No. 5 Novi – Livingston Daily Press & Argus

2. Girls Bowling: Brownstown Woodhaven downed reigning Downriver League champ Wyandotte Roosevelt 22-8 to clinch this season’s title – Southgate News-Herald

3. Boys Basketball: Linden downed Holly 56-21 to lock up a third-straight Flint Metro League Stripes championship – Flint Journal

4. Boys Basketball: Brethren downed Manistee Catholic Central 54-49 to clinch a share of a second-straight West Michigan D League championship – Manistee News Advocate

5. Girls Bowling: Whitehall completed a perfect run through the West Michigan Conference with a win at the league tournament – Local Sports Journal

6. Hockey: L’Anse Creuse Unified clinched the Macomb Area Conference Red title with a 7-0 win over Romeo – Macomb Daily

7. Boys Basketball: South Lyon East downed South Lyon 62-57 to clinch the Lakes Valley Conference championship – Oakland Press

8. Girls Basketball: South Lyon East also defeated South Lyon, 43-25, to clinch a share of the LVC girls championship – Observer & Eccentric

9. Wrestling: Midland swept Lapeer, Saginaw Heritage and Saginaw Arthur Hill to clinch the Saginaw Valley League championship – Midland Daily News

10. Wrestling: White Pigeon clinched the Southwest 10 Conference championship with wins over Bloomingdale and Cassopolis – Sturgis Journal

Also of note …

Boys Basketball: Mancelona and Gaylord St. Mary will share the Ski Valley Conference title – Traverse City Record-Eagle

Wrestling: Bloomfield Hills downed Birmingham Seaholm to close out the Oakland Activities Association White title – Oakland Press

Wrestling: Division 3 No. 10 Remus Chippewa Hills swept Central Montcalm, Newaygo and Howard City Tri County to complete an outright Central State Activities Association title run – Big Rapids Pioneer