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: 10/5/20

October 5, 2020

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

With the calendar turned to October, many girls golf and boys tennis teams finished up league competition over the weekend, while Shepherd hosted teams from all over the cross country rankings. 

1. Cross Country: Ten varsity teams won championships at the Shepherd Bluejay Invitational – the Lower Peninsula Division 2 No. 10 Freeland, No. 2 Petoskey, No. 7 Cadillac, Kingsley and LPD4 No. 14 Maple City Glen Lake girls, and the Detroit Catholic Central, LPD1 No. 10 Traverse City Central, LPD2 No. 5 Yale, LPD3 No. 15 New Lothrop and LPD4 No. 10 Unionville-Sebewaing boys – Athletic.net

2. Boys Tennis: Zeeland West won the Ottawa-Kent Conference Green Tournament for the first time in program history, clinching the league title outright – Holland Sentinel

3. Boys Tennis: LPD3 No. 5 Chelsea was first and Grosse Ile second at the 74th Honor and Glory Tournament – Southgate News-Herald

4. Cross County: The St. Joseph girls and Berrien Springs boys won Berrien County Invitational championships – St. Joseph Herald-Palladium

5. Girls Golf: St. Clair Shores Lakeview edged regular-season champion Romeo by five strokes to win the Macomb Area Conference White Tournament – Macomb Daily

6. Girls Swimming & Diving: LPD2 No. 8 Dexter defeated LPD1 No. 10 Ann Arbor Huron 113-73 – Chelsea Sun Times News

7. Volleyball: Anna Smith went over 2,000 career kills as Division 4 No. 1 Mendon swept Battle Creek Pennfield, Athens and Battle Creek Harper Creek – JoeInsider.com

8. Boys Soccer: Holland Christian earned a 2-1 win over Hudsonville Unity Christian – Holland Sentinel

9. Cross Country: The LPD3 No. 12 LeRoy Pine River boys and Reed City girls won championships at Pine River’s Cecil Burch Memorial Invitational – Cadillac News

10. Cross Country: Clinton swept its home invitational races – Adrian Daily Telegram