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From the Desk of the Athletic Director: Spring Season 2011 Kicks Off

4/13/2011

S. Graf

CK jumps right into the spring sport season after enjoying our two week spring break!

Coach Fairman and the boys baseball team is excited about their new membership in the Catholic League AA Division. Last year, three teams from the league finished in the top 10 of the state rankings. The team will be playing 3-2 ball (3 balls and 2 strikes) and will be playing all league game double headers. The team is relatively young but Coach Fairman anticipates that the boys will compete hard on a daily basis. The Cranes baseball team returns six seniors and three juniors from last year’s squad that finished .500.

The varsity golf team returns seven players from a team that finished 7^th in the state last year. Coach Gump is hoping to compete for the division title as new members of the Catholic League while improving upon our finish at the state tournament. All of our returning players have worked very hard to improve, and are really looking forward to this golf season.

Coach German will have over 50 athletes (boys and girls) take to the water this spring for CK Crew. The team will once again race at the biggest high school regatta in the region, the Midwest Scholastic Rowing Association Championships in Cincinnati, OH. A core group of seven seniors will lead the young squad in its third varsity season.

The Track and Field program under new Head Coach Chris Rainwater (longtime CK assistant) begins its 81^st season. The team numbers from last season remain high with nearly 80 athletes and a growing girls contingent. We should have enough girls to field multiple competitive relays this year. We also hope to see the return to the state meet of at least one All State sprinter, Karen Blake, who looks to improve on her performances last year, as well as a few other athletes who just missed qualifying for the state meet last year.

Coach O’Kulich and the girls soccer team is enjoying this beautiful Spring and training hard. They worked hard in the off season playing indoor soccer, conditioning, and weight training. The team is led by captains are Rosalia Pembroke, Malia Hain, and Eva Heidingsfelder.

Coach Cullen and the girls tennis team is very excited with the upcoming season. Last year's team missed winning the State Championship by a single point. This year, our varsity team has 5 returning seniors with extensive experience, including last year's top player, Natasha Dombroski. Other seniors include: state champion at number 4 singles Elizabeth Baiardi, Rachael Hubers, Samantha Bowers, and Alexa Armstrong. In addition, we add a top nationally ranked freshman, Alexandria Nigerian. We anticipate a great season with hopes of taking home the State title!

Interim Head Coach John Giampetroni took the boys lacrosse team to the Arizona desert for a week of training and team bonding. The team is excited about the upcoming season. The young team will be led by seniors Mack Gembis and Scott Schlafer and will count 4 sophomores and 4 freshmen on the 2011 roster.

Coach Mathieu’s softball team graduated only one senior last year, and the whole team is very excited about this year’s prospects and playing in the Catholic League. Three of our seniors are going to be four-year “starting line-up” players, and two other seniors and one junior are going to be three year varsity players. Our pitchers have been working hard in the off-season, and the whole team has been working on their batting. The new assistant coach, Kathy O’Connor, who is also the Upper School Varsity Volleyball coach, brings a wealth of experience into the program. Because of the decline in the number of players who have the skills needed to field a junior varsity team, we will not have a junior varsity softball team this year but will increase the number of girls on the varsity squad.

Coach Saylor’s girls Lacrosse team is looking forward to a strong season with many returning players. They have a strong senior class this year that demonstrates wonderful leadership for the team. The last couple of years the Cranbrook Kingswood Girl's Lacrosse Team has won their regional playoffs. This has birthed the team into a state semi final for two years in a row. The team hopes that this playoff experience brings them closer to the State Championship.

There has been some recent accolades and post season honors since our winter wrap up that we wanted to highlight! Senior swimmer Justin Glanda was selected as the Oakland Press Sunkist Male Athlete of the Month for March! The National Interscholastic Swimming Coaches Association of America recognized CK swimmer Alexandra Roman as an Academic All American for 2010-11.Junior Colleen Jacoby was selected as Miss hockey by the Michigan Hockey Coaches Association! Junior Sterling Morrow and senior Matt Vlasic made the Oakland Press All County Boys Basketball Team. Boys Hockey senior Captain Spencer Tamler made 2^nd Team All County while his teammates Jarrett Friedland made the Third Team, Nick Carrothers Fourth Team and Ben Israel, Brendan Kirk and Ryan Murray made Honorable Mention. Tamler and Israel were chosen for the MIHL All-League 1^st Team. Friedland, Murray, Brendan and Justin Kirk all made the All-League second team while Carrothers, Ryan Doucet and Mack Gembis were Honorable Mention.

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