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.
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: 3/5/20
March 5, 2020
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
A series of hockey Regional championships and a titanic girls basketball District clash headlined a busy Wednesday across Michigan that saw both tournaments continue to advance.
1. Hockey: No. 7 Howell ended at least five seasons of losses to No. 3 Brighton with a 4-2 win in a Division 1 Regional Final – Livingston Daily Press & Argus
2. Hockey: L’Anse Creuse Unified clinched its first Regional championship, downing Rochester in Division 1 3-0 – C&G Newspapers
3. Girls Basketball: Michigan Center finished a fourth-quarter comeback with a 42-41 win over Grass Lake – State Champs Sports Network
4. Hockey: No. 10 Grand Rapids Catholic Central upset No. 8 Forest Hills Central 5-0 to claim a Division 3 Regional title – FOX 17
5. Girls Basketball: Munising finished the regular season 6-13, but defeated Rapid River 44-31 in Division 4 to claim a third-straight District title – Marquette Mining Journal
6. Hockey: No. 6 Traverse City Central downed Muskegon Mona Shores 6-1 in Division 2 to win the sixth Regional title in program history – Traverse City Record-Eagle
7. Girls Basketball: Unbeaten Port Huron came back from a double-digit deficit to beat Macomb L’Anse Creuse North 44-41 in a Division 1 District Semifinal – Detroit News
8. Hockey: No. 9 Midland Dow locked up a Division 3 Regional title with a 2-0 win over Flint Powers Catholic – Midland Daily News
9. Hockey: Muskegon Reeths-Puffer came back to defeat Traverse City West and clinch a Division 1 Regional championship – Local Sports Journal
10. Girls Basketball: Centreville got past White Pigeon 63-57 in a Division 3 District matchup of local rivals that split during the regular season – JoeInsider.com
Also of note …
Girls Basketball: Chelsea coach Todd Blomquist announced his retirement after 20 seasons and more than 300 wins – Chelsea Sun Times News