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: 1/22/20
January 22, 2020
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Tuesday was milestone day as four more of the state’s top girls basketball players went over 1,000 points for their careers, headlining an evening that also saw a number of upsets in multiple sports.
1. Girls Basketball: Ellie Droste joined Pewamo-Westphalia teammate Hannah Spitzley in going over 1,000 career points this season, reaching the milestone in a big win over Bath – Lansing State Journal
2. Girls Basketball: AJ Ediger went over 1,000 career points with 21 in Hamilton’s 41-29 win over Zeeland West – Holland Sentinel
3. Girls Basketball: Joanna Larsen went over 1,000 career points with 19 in Centreville’s 66-26 win over Mendon – Sturgis Journal
4. Girls Basketball: Gabi Saxman scored 29 points in Schoolcraft’s 57-30 win over Constantine to go over 1,000 for her career – JoeInsider.com
5. Boys Basketball: Thomas Kurowski tied a school record with 43 points, including four big ones over the final seconds, to lead Sturgis past Battle Creek Central 62-58 – Sturgis Journal
6. Boys Swimming & Diving: Pinckney – an honorable mention in Lower Peninsula Division 3 – got past LPD1 No. 10 Brighton for the first time in a long time, 96-90 – Livingston Daily Press & Argus
7. Girls Basketball: Kent City dealt the first loss this season to Morley Stanwood, 75-33, thanks in part to 16 3-pointers – Muskegon Chronicle
8. Boys Basketball: Gaylord St. Mary defeated previously-unbeaten Pellston 59-54 to move up in the Ski Valley Conference – Gaylord Herald Times
9. Girls Basketball: Richland Gull Lake handed Three Rivers its first loss, 73-49 – Kalamazoo Gazette
10. Girls Basketball: Ubly moved into first place alone in the Greater Thumb Conference East with a 31-17 win over Sandusky – Huron Daily Tribune
Also of note …
Football: Recently retired pro Zach Line will take over Oxford from longtime coach Bud Rowley, who retired after this past season – State Champs Sports Network