Today in the MHSAA: 9/29/16
September 29, 2016
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
The first MHSAA champions of 2016-17 were honored Wednesday as Munising and Ishpeming Westwood earned a shared tennis title.
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.
Cross Country
The Lower Peninsula Division 1 top-ranked Birmingham Seaholm girls and honorable mention Clarkston boys won the second Oakland Activities Association Red jamborees – Oakland Press
Girls Golf
Lapeer shot a school-record 322, but Midland Dow claimed the Saginaw Valley League title with a 319 at the league tournament – Saginaw News
Boys Soccer
Undefeated Grand Ledge downed Holt 3-2 (and East Lansing fell to Okemos) to claim the Capital Area Activities Association Blue championship – MLive-Lansing
Division 1 No. 16 Utica Ford downed Sterling Heights Stevenson 2-1 to remain undefeated in the Macomb Area Conference Red – Macomb Daily
Division 3 No. 7 Grosse Ile and Division 4 No. 4 Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central tied 2-2 to remain tied atop the Downriver League standings – Southgate News-Herald
Girls Tennis
Munising and Ishpeming Westwood shared the Upper Peninsula Division 2 title as the first MHSAA champions of 2016-17 were crowned – Second Half
Volleyball
Class C honorable mention New Lothrop downed No. 7 and nonleague Laingsburg after sweeping Byron in what was a battle of undefeated teams in Genesee Area Conference play – Owosso Argus-Press
Stevensville Lakeshore won a close matchup over rival St. Joseph, 31-29, 25-15 and then 25-23 – St. Joseph Herald-Palladium
Class C No. 2 Bronson dropped its first set against unranked Centreville before winning the next three – Coldwater Daily Reporter
Good Read
Frequently, teams playing each other come together to make their game a fundraiser. But Friday, four Cascades Conference football teams will join together to support the veterans – Jackson Citizen-Patriot
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.