Lots of Fight in Pontiac Notre Dame Irish
June 7, 2012
Last week was the busiest on the MHSAA school schedule. And it was a great one for Pontiac Notre Dame Prep.
Over three days, the Fighting Irish won three District and one Regional championship, plus two more track and field individual Finals titles.
Successes were celebrated across six sports.
Thursday: Notre Dame’s boys golf team won its District, led by individual medalist Aaron Knutson; the senior shot a 71.
Friday: The boys lacrosse team won its third straight Regional title with an 11-2 win over Warren DeLaSalle in Division 2. (The Irish since have lost to Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central in a Semifinal.)
Saturday: Senior Sara Barron finished an outstanding track career by winning the 1,600-meter run with a Division 2 Finals record time of 4:51.67. She also won the 800 in 2:15.83 and teamed with Taylor Timko, Sarah LewAllen and Candice Mark to finish third in the 1,600 relay.
Timko also scored the game-winning goal as Notre Dame’s girls soccer team beat Detroit Country Day 1-0 in a Division 3 District championship game.
The Irish’s softball team beat Bloomfield Hills Lahser and Detroit Country Day by a combined score of 25-1 to win its sixth straight District title. Notre Dame had only one error on the day and didn’t give up a hit in the five-inning win over Lahser.
Finally, the girls tennis team posted its best MHSAA Finals finish to cap its best season ever. Notre Dame placed seventh in Division 4, keyed by runner-up finishes by Erin Moncrief (No. 4 singles) and Maddie Riley and Gabby Bering (No. 4 doubles). Notre Dame ended with a 10-1 dual record, losing only to eventual Division 4 champion Bloomfield Hills Academy of Sacred Heart.
PHOTO: Pontiac Notre Dame Prep’s softball team won its sixth-straight District championship Saturday. (Photo courtesy of Lynn Wroubel).
Hanover-Horton Caps Rapid Rise with Season-Best Score to Clinch 1st Title
By
Tom Kendra
Special for MHSAA.com
February 28, 2025
MOUNT PLEASANT – Alexyn DuBois started preparing to be a competitive cheer state champion before she was born.
“My mom has been a coach for 25 years, so in the womb I was literally cheering,” said DuBois, a senior all-stater for Hanover-Horton.
“It’s been a part of my whole life, so to go out as a state champion, with my mom as my coach, is a dream come true.”
The DuBois mother-daughter combination was a key part of a truly amazing turnaround story, as Hanover-Horton – which never made it to the Competitive Cheer Finals before last season (when it finished sixth) – broke through with a decisive victory in the Division 4 Final on Friday at Central Michigan University’s McGuirk Arena.
Hanover-Horton, which finished second behind Pewamo-Westphalia at their Regional, flipped the script, taking the lead after Round 1 and continuing to build the lead over the next two rounds.
The Comets posted a season-best score of 772.68 – 4.28 points better than their previous-best score – to hold off P-W (765.62).
Sanford Meridian (757.96) took third, and Hudson (752.66) placed fourth – ending the Tigers’ streak of five consecutive D4 titles.
“We needed to set the tone early, and we did that,” said Hanover-Horton coach Sarah DuBois, who is in her fourth year as the Comets’ coach after a successful 21-year run at nearby Vandercook Lake. “Starting strong gave our girls the feeling that this could be our day.”
Hanover-Horton, which had eight seniors on its 21-athlete roster, held a one-tenth of a point lead over P-W after Round 1, but Coach DuBois said it was the team’s emphasis all last week on Round 2 which proved to be the difference.
The Comets extended the lead to more than five full points with a powerhouse Round 2 performance.
“Round 2 was what cost us last week at Regionals, so we had to pull that up,” said DuBois, who brought in some of her former athletes from her days at Vandercook Lake last week to work with the team. “We really fine-tuned Round 2, and that was huge.”
Alexyn DuBois, also a standout pitcher on the Comets’ softball team who has committed to pitch at Spring Arbor next year, is the team’s leader and only returning first-team all-stater. Senior Maddy Sauber was second-team all-state, and senior Reyna Collins was honorable mention in 2024.
DuBois was a team captain, along with fellow seniors Delainey Cottrell and Sophie Schuette.
The seniors really helped the Comets elevate their game to a championship level this winter. After posting a top score of 739.86 last year, they finished this season topping 760 points in all of their final four competitions, including going over the 770 plateau on Friday.
“We knew we had to come out today and breathe fire,” explained Cottrell. “That’s what our team motto was. That’s what we needed to do to beat all of these other good teams.”
Other seniors for Hanover-Horton were Lexi VanGelder, Trinity Jones and Madison Gillett.
Pewamo-Westphalia, which came in as the favorite after a dominating victory at Regionals, couldn’t produce the same magic at CMU.
The Pirates placed second for the fourth time over the past six years, since their last title won in 2019.
“The girls are disappointed, but they put in three amazing rounds, so I’m not disappointed at all,” said P-W coach Staci Myers.
The other storyline coming into Friday was Hudson’s attempt to tie a state record with six consecutive Finals titles. The Tigers couldn’t overcome a slow start, ensuring Gibraltar Carlson’s place atop the MHSAA record book with six consecutive titles won from 2011 to 2016.
On this day, in a sport which is traditionally dominated by powerhouse programs, it was time for Cascades Conference champion Hanover-Horton to rule the state as well and join that elite group.
“Taking second at Regionals was a driving force for us to get better,” explained Alexyn DuBois. “During our cheer, we say ‘etched in stone.’ Today it was our turn to etch our school’s name in stone.”
PHOTOS (Top) Hanover-Horton raises its championship trophy Saturday at McGuirk Arena. (Middle) Pewamo-Westphalia competes during the Division 4 Final.