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Successful Shamrocks Shine Once More

June 10, 2017

By Keith Dunlap
Special for Second Half

EAST LANSING – For the past three seasons, the biggest drama with Detroit Catholic Central’s boys golf team hasn’t been whether or not it would win tournaments it competed in.

Instead, it was a matter of how much the Shamrocks would win by and which player in its loaded lineup would be the medalist.

It’s been a constant battle of bragging rights for a Catholic Central team which entered this weekend’s Lower Peninsula Division 1 Final at Michigan State University’s Forest Akers West having won all of its tournaments the past two years and with each starter finishing as medalist at least once during the run.

“That’s what we strive for,” senior Sean Niles said.

On Saturday, Niles ended up getting the final bragging rights at the finale for a senior class that couldn’t have been much more decorated.

Niles won the individual Division 1 title, shooting a two-day score of 139 to prevail by one shot over Plymouth senior Justin Kapke (70-70).

Grosse Pointe South sophomore Coalter Smith was third with a 144 (71-73).

Catholic Central had two more golfers finish among the top five individually – seniors James Piot and Ben Smith.

Piot was fourth at 146 (72-74), and Smith was fifth at 148 (71-77).

Needless to say, all that firepower helped Catholic Central do what was expected all season, which was win a third straight team championship.

The Shamrocks finished with a total of 581 strokes, ahead of runner-up Grosse Pointe South’s 597.

Plymouth took third with a 610, Clarkston was fourth with a 619 while Rockford rounded out the top five with a 622.

It was the definition of a bittersweet moment for Catholic Central coach Mike Anderson, who while celebrating another Finals title with his players also had to come to grips that it was the last time he got to coach a senior class that graduated with three MHSAA championships and a runner-up finish.

Catholic Central will send three of those golfers to Division I college programs with Piot going to Michigan State, Smith to Georgia Tech and Niles to Oakland University.

Senior Sean Sooch will play at Grand Valley State.  

“They are my friends and my family, and we will be in touch with them for the rest of their lives,” Anderson said. “It’s a special group.”

Anderson said it was actually the finish three years ago when these seniors were freshmen that proved to be the driving force behind their success.

In 2014, Catholic Central finished one shot behind champion Swartz Creek, a painful memory the Shamrocks didn’t forget.

“That was a tough pill to swallow, and they responded,” Anderson said. “They looked toward that as something they didn’t want to happen again, and it didn’t.”

Niles led the charge for the Shamrocks this weekend, following up a 2-under par 70 on Friday with a 3-under par 69 at a difficult Forest Akers West course.

“It is a strategy course,” Niles said. “You are basically doing all you can to keep it in the fairway. It’s a placement course. That is all it is.”

Kapke had a chance to tie Niles on the final hole and force a playoff, but couldn’t connect on what was roughly a 20-foot putt.

Click for full results.

PHOTOS: (Top) Detroit Catholic Central, including medalist Sean Niles holding the trophy, stands together a final time after winning a Division 1 title. (Middle) Birmingham Brother Rice’s Brendan O’Rourke punches out of a bunker. (Click to see more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)

High 5s - 5/1/12

May 1, 2012

Each week, Second Half gives "High 5s" to multiple athletes and a team that have performed exceptionally on the field or made a notable impact off of it.

Please offer your suggestions by e-mail to editor Geoff Kimmerly at [email protected]. Below are this week's honorees:

Sarita Dotson

Battle Creek Lakeview junior

Girls Track and Field

For the second straight season, Dotson was named the Most Valuable Female Athlete at the Eldon Draime/Al Geisler Memorial All-City Meet held at Battle Creek Harper Creek (she shared the award in 2011). Dotson won the 100-meter dash (12.5 seconds), the 200 (25.5) and the long jump (16 feet, 3.5 inches) and was on the winning 800 relay (1:48.11) as Lakeview scored 250 points as a team to win the meet by 102.83. Dotson qualified for the MHSAA Division 1 Final last spring as a sophomore, but just missed making the championship races in the 100 and 200. She focuses solely on track, but was a cheerleader as both a freshman and a sophomore.

100 is my No. 1: "It's just so much fun. It's really exciting. You've got it or you don't. After a while, everyone is at the same level. Whoever is on her game that day, prepared the hardest, it's going to show in the 100 meters."

I learned the most about track from: Dotson said a number of coaches, and that her first youth coaches -- including Larry Caper -- could tell right away what she should be running. "Immediately, the first day of practice, one of them said, 'She's a sprinter.' I didn't know what a sprinter was."

A few words to run by: "I always start off with a prayer, or at least try, to remember why I do this and to get my mind straight. My pastor was my coach when I started in third grade, and the first thing he taught us to do when we get on the track is pray."

Favorite formula: Dotson's favorite school subject is chemistry -- and she is considering a career in cosmetic science with a focus on the engineering and creation of make-up.

Cullen Prena

Walled Lake Central junior

Boys Track and Field

Prena has blasted onto the throwing scene this spring and especially the last few weeks after twice throwing the discus more than 180 feet -- and according to an Oakland Press report, broke both school and Oakland County records that had each stood for at least 29 seasons. He threw the discus 187 feet, seven inches, to win the event at Saturday's Oxford Invitational, and he also won the shot put with a toss of 52-1. Prena's best discus throw last season was 159 feet -- and his toss Saturday would've won every MHSAA Final dating back to 2003. Prena finished fifth in discus at last season's Division 1 championship meet. He's not the only thrower in his family -- older sisters Kari (University of Michigan) and Kelsey (Michigan State) throw in the Big Ten.

I learned the most about throwing from: "Definitely Coach (Nebojsa Stojkovic). And it helps to have my sisters now in college. They can give me advice all the time."

Be like Ryan (Crouser): The University of Texas freshman owns the national high school discus record of 237-6, and "is definitely a model (for me). That's quite a mark."

My dream scenario: "... after this would be college, then to train for the Olympics after that, and win gold in the Olympics. Realistically, I don't know if that's out there or not. But it's a great place to aim."

Major decision: Prena hasn't picked his college or what he'll study some day, but "I'm thinking some kind of marketing or business, or something in the communications field. I do like working with people, and I also like talking. Potentially a sports broadcaster or a marketing engineer."

Muskegon Mona Shores boys golf

Mona Shores didn't finish first during either round of this weekend's Traverse City Central Invitational. But the Sailors, ranked No. 2 in the Division 1 state poll, finished second both at Spruce Run (309) and the Wolverine (297) for a combined score of 606 -- good for a one-stroke win over top-ranked Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central and two strokes ahead of then No. 5 Traverse City West. Three more teams from that field have since joined the Division 1 top 10.

Reed Hrynewich shot a 69 to finish second at the Wolverine and a 75 to finish fifth at Spruce Run, while teammate Andrew Van Aels finished eight overall at both courses. Those two, Joel Maire and Eric Kastelic also were among the team's top five when it finished fifth at last season's MHSAA Division 1 Final.

This spring's previous honorees