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The CK Spring Sport Season is in Full Swing!

4/18/2012

steve graf

Let the CK spring sport season begin!

The winter weather has been kind to our spring sports teams! The athletes and coaches were able to get a jump on their preparation the week before and during spring break. With competitions beginning immediately upon the return of our students from break, the early on the field work should make a difference in our readiness to compete. Participation numbers look to be fantastic!

The Girls Soccer Team is led by senior captains Madison Romney and Lexi Higbee. Coach O’Kulich returns six starters from last year’s 11-5-2 team and looks to be competitive in the Catholic League. Participation looks promising this season with forty girls out for varsity and JV. The girls look forward to growing as a TEAM both on and off the field.

The Boys Golf Team is really looking forward to the season! Coach Gump returns defending Div. II State Champion Griffin Smith, along with four year varsity standouts Gary Short, and Michael Ray. After last year’s State runner up finish, the Cranes hope to make a run at a State championship this spring.

The spring ’12 Crew Team is a very young squad. Coach German will look for success in the junior (11^th grade and younger) and lightweight (under 160 for boys, under 130 for girls) categories. Leadership will be provided by the three seniors, Captain Lindsey Stolzenfeld, captain Colin Turner, and coxswain Arsh Shah, and two junior captains, Jack Coleman and Haley Harper. The team will compete in three Michigan regattas before the season culminates in the Midwest Scholastic Rowing Association Championships in Cincinnati, OH, which will feature over 50 schools from throughout the region.

Last year was certainly exciting for the Girls’ Varsity Tennis Team winning the State Tournament by one point and the team is equally excited about the upcoming season. Coach Cullen returns sophomore Alexandria Nagarian as the top player in the state. Kendra Sweet (Jr.) and Sarah Lipworth (Jr.) also return as number 2 and 3 singles players (both reached the semi-finals at state last year). Rounding out the singles line-up will be Junior Alissa Rowens who won the states at #2 doubles last year.

Coaches are still establishing the doubles line-up. Leading the doubles charge will be Senior Captain Megan Simmons. It looks like she will play with incoming freshman Meg Phyle. Brianna Letica, Holly Meers, and Lauren Lanzon should complete the doubles line up.

Coach Fairman and the CK Baseball Team will look to compete for the CHSL title this year with 5 experienced seniors leading the way. The team returns 7 starters and all but one pitcher off of last year’s staff. Our experience and off season work should allow us to compete for both the league and District Championships. With depth at every position and a solid pitching staff, leadership will be key. Captains Elliot Rosenfeld, Jake Rosen and Jacob Chapman bring three years of Varsity experience to the team. The baseball program is in a great position to compete at a high level for many years.

The Boys Lacrosse program embarks on it’s exciting new journey under the leadership of our new Head Coach Mat Wilson. The team returns the core of its offense from last season including sophomore’s Matthew Giampetroni, Taylor Ghesquiere and Christopher Brown. This offensive group will benefit from the balanced play of Stefan Withrow and Alex Cha. These two seniors set the pace of the game for the Cranes on the offensive half of the field with their very unselfish play. Jeff Martin will be the team’s X-factor, playing attack and taking face-offs. Jordan Miller has shown a great deal of development during preseason and will help add depth to the midfield. The Cranes offensive unit is rounded out by Freshman Bennett Faliski, Peter Augier and Sophomore John Luciani.

On the Defensive side of the ball the Cranes return starting Goalie Ryan Clair. Clair, who is headed to Wheaton next year to play in college, is a great stopper with the ability to spark the transition game with his clearing passes. The Senior trio of Captain Alex Hogan, Blake Manginell, Connor Boyle and Zack Pollack will anchor the Crane’s defense unit. Juniors Webster Burton, Danny Ryan, Sophomore Ben Sullivan and Freshman Michael Langdon will also play key roles in the 2012 CK defense.

Coach Saylor’s Girls Lacrosse Team is anxiously looking forward to the start of the 2012 season. Participation in the sport continues to be healthy across the varsity and junior varsity. This year the team includes 19 freshmen that have come out to play all with tremendous talent and athleticism. After going nearly undefeated and finishing 2^nd in the Catholic League last season, the girls have their sights set on a state playoff game.

The graduation of six seniors from last year’s Softball Team leaves CK with only three new seniors to lead the team this year, but the four-year veterans and this year’s captains, Karlee Goodwin and Claire Giampetroni, have done a wonderful job pulling everybody together. Coach Mathieu’s work last year at developing the younger players and the team’s off season efforts work have produced a very solid and athletic infield. Softball returns two starting seniors, three starting juniors, and two starting sophomores, of which all but one will be in the infield. The new batting cage provided by the Booster Club has had a positive impact on the team batting skills. The team is looking to improve upon last year’s 14-17 record. Coach has added former Alabama State University player Mikail Knox (Mikey) to his staff.

Coach Rainwater is excited about his young team. The Girls Track Team looks to return a significant number of athletes that set new team records or recorded top-20 times last year. Karen Blake will make a push for the state meet in at least two different events again and we may find success on both our distance and sprint relays. The Boys Track Team returns a small group of four year runners who will help to shepherd a competitive, young team that should gain valuable racing experience in the distance events. There is an outside chance we may even qualify a select group of boys for the state meet if they can remain healthy throughout the season.

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