Irish Celebrate Homecoming Sky High
October 4, 2013
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
You’ve got to see this – from high in the sky – to believe it.
The disappointing news for Pontiac Notre Dame Prep from its Homecoming game last Friday was that the Fighting Irish fell to Detroit Catholic League AA leader Detroit Loyola by seven points.
But the Irish will remember fondly (and probably click on frequently) the video of this sky high view of the game including the team’s entrance to the field.
Thanks to a camera attached to a helicopter-like apparatus flown by local Aerial Imagery Works, Notre Dame was able to capture a rarely-seen view. See more by watching the brief video embedded at the bottom of this post.
SLC-TV Rolls 300
It's fair to assume few television stations in Michigan have been as dedicated to the local football team as South Lyon's SLC-TV, which will celebrate a milestone broadcast Oct. 11 when South Lyon faces South Lyon East.
SLC-TV has followed South Lyon football home and away games for 31 years and will broadcast its 300th game that night. SLC-TV’s games appear on WOW network channel 19 and Comcast Southfield channel 90, which reaches 33 communities in metro Detroit.
Sports director Tedd Wallace will have done play-by-play for 298 of those games, and said he believes no station in America has done TV broadcasts of a team’s home and away games as consistently. Check out more about the network’s weekly work on its Facebook page.
Friendly gesture to opponent in need
One of the most heart-warming parts of following high school sports is experiencing the camaraderie among athletes from opposing teams they likely know nothing about except for what they learn during competition.
Concord’s volleyball team shined especially brightly in this way last week.
Amazingly, Union City junior Marissa Mead played in her team’s match against Concord on Sept. 24 despite her home being destroyed by a fire that morning. As told by the Jackson Citizen-Patriot’s Leanne Smith, Concord’s players had heard about the tragic event and were surprised to then see Mead take her place as defensive specialist that night.
On the bus ride home, the Concord players decided they needed to do something to help Mead and her family. As a team, the players collected $80 – and then pushed the total to $300 with the help of teachers, parents and administrators. They delivered the funds in a card to Mead at Union City’s home match two days later.
It’s a gesture that might seem small, but speaks loudly to the awesome way our athletes relate to each other not just on, but off the court as well. Click to read the entire report.
Official of the Year
Marcy Weston, Central Michigan University’s Executive Associate Director of Athletics/Sports Administration and a longtime contributor to MHSAA officiating initiatives, has been named the Naismith Women’s College Official of the Year.
Weston spoke at the 2001 MHSAA Officials Banquet and has served as part of the association's officials committee and with the National Federation of State High School Associations as a liaison to its Basketball Rules Committee.
She also served as NCAA national coordinator of women’s basketball officiating from 1991-2005 after working as a women’s college basketball official from 1964-84. Click to read more from CMUChippewas.com.
Shamrocks Clinch 7th-Straight Division 1 Title with Familiar Finals Dominance
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
March 8, 2026
PLYMOUTH — In another dominant championship game performance, Detroit Catholic Central made it seven straight Division 1 titles Saturday with a 6-0 win over a Northville team making its first appearance in a Final.
As has been the case often in the championship game, Catholic Central was just too much at USA Hockey Arena.
The Shamrocks outshot the Mustangs, 47-15.
Junior Myles Schlack had a goal and two assists, and juniors Sam Masek and Elian Szerlip each had a goal and an assist to lead the way for DCC (29-1-1).
“It doesn’t get old,” Catholic Central head coach Brandon Kaleniecki said. “I think each one’s special in their own way. We try not to look at the numbers in a row. Each year is its own special team, and that’s what makes it so much fun for us.”
It was even more fun for Schlack, a defenseman who netted three points.
“We didn’t know much about them coming in,” Schlack said. “We just wanted to play our game. We knew we could dominate them that way, and we did.”
Northville ended its longest MHSAA Tournament run at 23-9.
“We have absolutely no regrets,” Northville head coach Ryan Ossenmacher said. “We didn’t lose a minute of time this year to get better. For some of the guys it’s just a start, for some of the guys it was a great finish.”
Catholic Central peppered Northville with shots in the first period but couldn’t get on the scoreboard until there was 2:16 left before the first intermission, when junior Luke Perdue jumped on a rebound in front of the Northville goal and shot it into a half-open net to make it 1-0.
The Shamrocks made it 2-0 with 10:34 remaining in the second period on a goal by Masak, who fired a point shot that went just underneath the crossbar.
Catholic Central then took a 3-0 lead 2:19 later when Schlack scored on a shot near the top of the left face-off circle.
The Shamrocks took a 4-0 lead with 12:53 remaining in the game on a goal by Szerlip, who took a shot that deflected off a Northville defensemen and fluttered underneath the crossbar.
With 9:07 left, Catholic Central went up 5-0 when junior Lucas Szmagaj scored on a wrist shot from the right face-off circle.
Senior Kristian Marchese then got into the act, scoring on a shot from the right face-off circle to give Catholic Central a 6-0 lead with 3:10 left.
“It was not a year where we were going to show up and dominate from the get-go to the end,” Kaleniecki said. “We knew there were going to be some challenges and a building experience as the year went on. The record sounds great whatever it ended up being, but there was a lot of challenges along the way where these guys rose to the occasion and got better at the end. Obviously, I love the way we played down the stretch.”
PHOTOS (Top) Detroit Catholic Central players celebrate during their Division 1 Final win Saturday and USA Hockey Arena. (Middle) Northville’s Jake Jurcisin (12) controls the puck on his team’s end of the ice. (Photos by Adam Sheehan/Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)