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: 9/3/20

September 3, 2020

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Some of the best statewide met in local competition Wednesday with cross country and golf headlining a full day of headline-grabbing results.

1. Cross Country: Romeo’s boys defeated reigning Lower Peninsula Division 1 champion Brighton, and Brighton’s girls won on a tie-breaker in a race between two more top-10 finishers from the 2019 Finals – Livingston Daily

2. Girls Golf: Olivia Hemmila fired a school-record round to lead Troy Athens to the Oakland County Division 2 championship – Oakland Press

3. Girls Golf: LPD1 No. 4 Grand Blanc finished first at the Saginaw Valley League 9-hole tournament, topping a field featuring multiple team and individual statewide contenders – WJRT

4. Boys Tennis: Battle Creek Lakeview won its fifth-straight All-City championship – Battle Creek Enquirer

5. Volleyball: Charlevoix moved to 9-0 this fall with wins over Kingsley, McBain and Muskegon Western Michigan Christian – Petoskey News-Review

6. Girls Golf: LPD3 No. 3 Big Rapids shot a 363 to finish first, with LPD4 No. 7 Remus Chippewa Hills second, at the latest Central State Activities Association jamboree – Big Rapids News

7. Boys Tennis: LPD4 No. 3 Traverse City St. Francis was first and No. 10 Ludington second in a quad with Elk Rapids and Harbor Springs – Ludington Daily News

8. Boys Tennis: LPD3 No. 8 Holland Christian edged rival Holland 5-3 – Holland Sentinel

9. Boys Soccer: Ogemaw Heights handed Alpena the latter’s first defeat, 1-0 – Alpena News

10. Cross Country: The Midland Dow girls and Midland High boys won quads that also included Sanford Meridian and Bullock Creek – Midland Daily News

Also of note …

Softball: Longtime coach Tom Kaechele, who led his team to the 2018 Division 1 title and a runner-up finish in 2015, has retired after 19 seasons – Grand Rapids Press