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.
Country Day Bounces Back from Regional Disappointment to Repeat as Finals Champ
June 1, 2025
ANN ARBOR – Advantage Detroit Country Day – at least for now.
That’s the kind of rivalry the Yellowjackets have formed with Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood as they’ve combined to win the last 15 Lower Peninsula Division 3 girls tennis championships.
Just this season, the pair of powerhouses tied in a dual match April 16 before Cranbrook won the Regional by two points two weeks ago – and Country Day took back the lead in the never-ending race by clinching the latest LPD3 Finals title by two points Saturday at University of Michigan.
The Yellowjackets finished the weekend tournament with 34 points to Cranbrook’s 32, losing all four head-to-head flight championship matchups to the Cranes but banking enough points elsewhere to emerge with their second-straight Finals title.
Freshman Karishma Vakhariya’s flight clincher at No. 3 singles and junior Helen Benjamin’s at No. 4 put the finishing touches on the latest triumph.
“It’s always close between us and Cranbrook,” said Benjamin, who repeated as a flight winner after taking the title at No. 3 a year ago. “The cheering gets a little competitive, the matches get competitive. I mean, it’s been a rivalry forever.”
Benjamin was top-seeded at No. 4 and clinched her flight with a 6-3, 6-2, win over Holland Christian sophomore Iyla Holmes.
Vakhariya worked through more of a challenge in her No. 3 decider, defeating Bloomfield Hills Marian senior Anya Nix 6-3 in the first set before falling 6-1 in the second and coming back to win the third set 6-0.
“I just tried to not get upset, at least on the outside, because I know that definitely when your opponent can see that you’re mad it can affect the entire match and make you lose yourself,” Vakhariya said. “(It was matter of) doing what I did in the first set and not the second one, and whatever her weaknesses trying to hit to that instead of just getting upset and hitting wherever.”
Country Day’s other flight championship came at No. 4 doubles, where senior Katherine Chen and freshman Grace Kalkanis pulled out some of the most important points of the weekend. Entering as the fourth seed, they won their championship match 6-1, 6-1, over second-seeded juniors Sage Gabriel-Menegay and Brooklyn Angel of Chelsea. But perhaps more significant was Chen and Kalkanis’ semifinal win over the top-seeded Cranbrook duo of senior Katelyn Dubrowsky and sophomore Brianna Giudici.
“What happened after Regionals, I’d say was a little bit of fuel for us,” Country Day coach Nicholas Fiaschetti said. “The past couple of weeks, we’ve just been on it every single day at our practices. We came out here and handled our nerves, and from there everybody was amazing.”
Cranbrook won four flight championships, let by top-seeded senior Chloe Qin’s 6-0, 6-0, win at No. 1 singles over second-seeded Country Day senior Sophia Grzesiak, last season’s No. 1 champion. Qin hadn’t played high school tennis the last two seasons and had finished as part of a flight runner-up at No. 1 doubles as a freshman.
“I think I played really solid, moving all over, doing my best and figuring things out,” Qin said. “Even though there was a little bit of adversity throughout, I felt like we played a fair match and played super solid, and I think as a senior it was a really good win for me and I’m really glad I could close it out. … It’s feels like a full-circle moment. I’m just proud of myself and happy with how I stuck to my gameplan and got it done as efficiently as possible.”
Cranes freshman Caroline Liu carried her top seed at No. 2 singles through to the championship, with seniors Ava Clogg and Chiara Martella at No. 1 doubles and seniors Sophia Kouza and Madeline Day at No. 2 doubles achieving the same.
Bloomfield Hills Marian sophomores Stella Glorio and Lexa Hindo also carried their top seed to the title at No. 3 doubles.
PHOTOS (Top) Detroit Country Day’s Helen Benjamin returns a volleyball during her No. 4 singles match Saturday. (Middle) Cranbrook’s Caroline Liu follows through on a forehand during her No. 2 singles finale. (Click for more from High School Sports Scene.)