Linked Up: 11/22/11
December 20, 2011
Thanksgiving week means a short one for most -- and more time for family, shopping, relaxation, watching the MHSAA Football Finals and hopefully a little additional reading.
Here are some suggestions from the last week and as we get ready to leave the fall and jump into the winter sports season.
Remember, if you find something high school sports-related that you think others would find useful or inspiring, send me a link at [email protected] and I'll check it out.
Okemos girl's cancer battle inspires Spartans (Lansing State Journal)\
We believe high school sports are about community. While not high school-related, this is a story about community and its power to do great things. Joe Rexrode tells us about 11-year-old Paige Duren and her battle against brain cancer – with the support of her community including big assists from the Michigan State football and basketball teams. She’s a two-sport athlete herself – playing soccer and basketball – and an inspiration to those who’ve come to know her. Rexrode makes it easy to understand why.
Sister act: Shaw, Halberg share much in common, despite more than 2,000 miles between them (Petoskey News)
That the Grunch sisters are excellent volleyball coaches isn’t a coincidence, Charlevoix people surely would say. But it’s a neat one that Liz (Grunch) Shaw and Christine (Grunch) Halberg both led their teams to their best finishes since 1989 (Halberg) or ever (Shaw). Shaw coaches their alma mater, while Halberg coaches 2,300 miles away in Washington. Steve Foley fills us in on how this worked out.
Avenall the right choice to lead Clarkston into volleyball history (NorthOaklandSports.com)
Clarkston coach Kelly Avenal was part of some great teams as a player, but until this past weekend Clarkston had never reached an MHSAA Finals weekend. Dan Stickradt tells us how she’s taken the program to the elite level while also giving a brief history lesson on how it got rolling toward that trip to Battle Creek.
Natural fit: Superior Dome was easy choice for 8-man final according to MHSAA (Marquette Mining Journal)
A few of us spent Friday night at Northern Michigan University’s Superior Dome, and count me among those who will look forward to making a return trip. Here’s some of the story behind the MHSAA’s selection of the Superior Dome as home of the inaugural 8-Player Football Final, as well as Semifinals most years.
Lowell's Noel Dean to Receive 2011 Power of Influence Award (AFCA.com)
The Red Arrows are headed back to Ford Field on Friday for the Division 2 Final, but Dean also will be scheduling a January trip to San Antonio, Texas, to receive this prestigious award from the American Football Coaches Association and American Football Coaches Foundation. Dean started his head coaching career at Bendle in 1991 before heading to Lowell in 1996. He's led teams to three MHSAA championships, and also the fundraising of $425,000 for cancer support through the "Pink Arrow Project."
Today in the MHSAA: 5/28/19
May 28, 2019
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
The final weekend of May saw the majority of the final regular-season events for the 2018-19 school year, plus the annual team championship meets in track & field hosted by the Michigan Interscholastic Track Coaches Association.
1. Track & Field: The Clare top-ranked girls and No. 2-ranked boys repeated in sweeping MITCA team championships in Lower Peninsula Division 3 – Mount Pleasant Morning Sun
2. Track & Field: The Pittsford No. 2-ranked girls won their third straight MITCA Division 4 team title, while top-ranked Addison won the boys title – Hillsdale Daily News
3. Track & Field: The top-ranked Zeeland East girls and top-ranked Zeeland West boys won MITCA Division 2 titles – Holland Sentinel Girls | Boys
4. Track & Field: The top-ranked Rockford girls and top-ranked East Kentwood boys won the MITCA Division 1 championships – Athletic.net
5. Baseball: Division 2 No. 3 Orchard Lake St. Mary’s won its first Detroit Catholic League A-B title with a walk-off hit in the 10th inning to get past Division 1 No. 14 Detroit Catholic Central – State Champs Sports Network
6. Baseball: Division 3 No. 4 Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett downed No. 3 Riverview Gabriel Richard to win the Catholic League C-D title – State Champs Sports Network
7. Baseball: Division 1 No. 3 White Lake Lakeland got past No. 9 South Lyon to clinch the Lakes Valley Conference title – Oakland Press
8. Softball: Colon ran its winning streak to 20 straight with a sweep of Burr Oak that clinched a Southern Central Athletic Association title – Sturgis Journal
9. Boys Golf: Austin Fauser and Clinton continued their domination of the Tri-County Conference with league titles – Adrian Daily Telegram
10. Softball: Posen celebrated a North Star League Little Dipper title with a sweep of Hale – Alpena News
Also of note …
Softball: Division 2 honorable mention Chelsea claimed a share of the Southeastern Conference White title with a win over Monroe – Chelsea Sun Times
Softball: Division 1 No. 3 Howell and honorable mention New Baltimore Anchor Bay continued their back-and-forth to finish as the new MHSAA record holder for home runs in a season – State Champs Sports Network
Softball: From Thursday, Division 4 No. 9 Unionville-Sebewaing clinched the outright Greater Thumb Conference West title with a sweep of Bad Axe – Huron Daily Tribune
Track & Field: From Thursday, Brimley claimed both the girls and boys Eastern Upper Peninsula Conference meet championships – Sault Ste. Marie Evening News
Softball: From Thursday, Division 2 top-ranked Escanaba finished a league title run in the Great Northern Conference with a shutout of Marquette – Escanaba Daily Press
Boys Golf: From Thursday, Hanover-Horton – No. 5 in Lower Peninsula Division 3 – won the Cascades Conference tournament to force a shared league title with No. 4 Napoleon – Jackson Citizen-Patriot
Track & Field: From Tuesday, Sault Ste. Marie’s girls and Newberry’s boys won Straits Area Conference meet titles – Sault Ste. Marie Evening News
Softball: From last week, Division 3 honorable mention Stanton Central Montcalm locked up its fifth straight Central State Activities Association Gold title – Greenville Daily News