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: 5/23/16
May 23, 2016
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
It’s been an exciting few days especially for our track & field and girls tennis teams, which competed in Regionals over the weekend – with some of the many highlights among those linked below.
Baseball
Battle Creek Lakeview’s Ethan Eldridge threw a shutout to lead his team over Harper Creek for their all-city championship, 3-0 – Battle Creek Enquirer
Division 1 No. 4 Rockford swept Division 3 No. 1 Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett 4-1 and 4-2 – Detroit Free Press
Girls Soccer
Pontiac Notre Dame Prep won its first Detroit Catholic League A-B championship in this sport, downing Warren Regina in an overtime shootout – Oakland Press
Softball
Sierra Stoepker drilled a walk-off home run in the bottom of the 14th inning to lead Lake Odessa Lakewood to a 10-9 win over DeWitt in the championship game of the Lansing Softball Classic – Lansing State Journal
Napoleon (32-1) outscored its opponents 32-5 to win a second straight Al Glick Tournament championship, beating Parma Western 3-0 in the final – Jackson Citizen-Patriot
Petoskey won the Lansing Waverly Invitational, opening with a 5-4 win over two-loss Grand Ledge – Petoskey News
Division 3 No. 4 Clinton beat Division 2 No. 7 Muskegon Oakridge and later Division 3 No. 9 Reese for the Best of Michigan Tournament title at Byron Center – Adrian Dailey Telegram
Girls Tennis
Bay City All Saints won its first Regional and qualified for the MHSAA Finals for the first time since 1992 – Bay City Times
Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern edged East Grand Rapids by three points to win its 15th straight Regional, in Division 2 – Grand Rapids Press
Edwardsburg claimed its first Regional title as well, dominating the field to finish six points ahead of the rest in Division 3 – Kalamazoo Gazette
Ludington shared its Division 3 Regional title with Whitehall, and in the process No. 1 doubles pair Julia Flewelling and Claire Maltbie won their 100th match to break the school’s doubles record – Muskegon Chronicle
Division 4 No. 3 Kalamazoo Hackett swept singles to finish ahead of No. 5 Kalamazoo Christian in their Regional – Kalamazoo Gazette
Track & Field
Lake Linden-Hubbell swept boys and girls Regionals for the first time since 1998 – Houghton Daily Mining Gazette
The Reese girls edged Frankenmuth 122-121 to win their first Regional title in 22 years – Saginaw News
The Addison boys won their first Regional since 1995, beating Petersburg Summerfield by 12 points, 124-112 – Jackson Citizen-Patriot
The Blanchard Montabella girls won their first Regional title, with the Division 4 victory also the school's first at that level of tournament competition in any sport since 2003 – Mount Pleasant Morning Sun
Good Read
The Grandville Calvin Christian baseball team will take part this week in fundraising for the medical care of Kyle Petrlich, who is awaiting a second heart transplant and in December required CPR from her brother Griffin, a player on the Calvin Christian baseball team – Grand Rapids Press