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: 5/15/17
May 15, 2017
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
The last weekend of the track & field regular season featured league and invitational titles galore, and we've highlighted some of the most intriguing as well as the best from the rest of competition including a league title game between the top-ranked boys teams in Division 1.
Each weekday during the school year, we’ll gather and post media links covering the most significant and intriguing high school events from all over the state.
Baseball
Battle Creek Harper Creek downed Division 1 No. 12 Lakeview 3-1 to win the Battle Creek All-City championship – Battle Creek Enquirer
A bases-loaded walk in the seventh inning gave Division 2 No. 9 Fowlerville a 6-5 win over Lansing Catholic as the Gladiators clinched the Capital Area Activities Conference White title – Livingston Daily Press & Argus
Division 1 No. 8 Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett downed Division 3 No. 2 Schoolcraft 3-2 to win its invitational – Detroit News
Boys Golf
James Staab won medalist for the second straight season to lead Lakeview to its 14th straight Battle Creek All-City title – Battle Creek Enquirer
Lower Peninsula Division 2 No. 10 Grosse Ile shot a 295 to win the Marauder Invitational by 13 strokes, led by medalist Mitch Daly’s 69 – Southgate News Herald
Girls Lacrosse
Okemos, No. 4 in Division 2, won its 10th straight Capital Area Activities Conference title with a 17-9 win over Haslett/Williamston in the tournament final – Lansing State Journal
Boys Lacrosse
Division 1 top-ranked Birmingham Brother Rice locked down the Detroit Catholic League title with a 15-10 win over No. 2 Detroit Catholic Central – Oakland Press
Softball
Battle Creek Pennfield hung on to down Harper Creek in the Battle Creek All-City softball final – Battle Creek Enquirer
Warren Regina split with Farmington Hills Mercy, getting the one necessary win to clinch the Detroit Catholic League Central title – Macomb Daily
Girls Tennis
Niles Brandywine won its fifth straight league title and 10th over the last 13 seasons, this time by only a point over Comstock – Niles Daily Star
Track & Field
Bay City Western swept the Bay County titles, the boys for the ninth straight season; the girls are ranked No. 7 in Lower Peninsula Division 1 and the boys are No. 10 – Bay City Times
The Houghton boys and Lake Linden-Hubbell girls won Houghton County Invitational titles, the boys led by a record-setting performance by Clayton Sayen as he bested a school mark from 1991 and a meet record from 1995 – Houghton Daily Mining Gazette
Manton swept the titles at its invitational, defending the girls' No. 1 ranking and boys' No. 3 in LP Division 4 – Cadillac News
Unranked Novi finished 23.5 points ahead of LP Division 1 No. 3 Salem to claim the boys Kensington Lakes Activities Association Kensington title – Observer & Eccentric
Good Read
Comstock Park retired its first girls soccer number last week – the No. 3 of Kristin Stowie, who died in a snowmobile crash in 2010 – Grand Rapids Press