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).
Century of School Sports: Michigan Sends 10 to National Hall of Fame
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
October 1, 2024
The campaign to promote Michigan’s all-time high school greats for National High School Hall of Fame recognition is advancing full-speed ahead.
Just this summer, past Dearborn Heights Robichaud three-sport star Tyrone Wheatley became the Hall of Fame’s 10th inductee from Michigan. With his addition, Michigan’s collection still ranks only 22nd nationally in terms of number of honorees – but his selection makes three over the last nine years as the MHSAA continues to make cases for more recognition from our state’s rich history.
Michigan’s contribution to the Hall of Fame includes five athletes, three coaches and two retired MHSAA executive directors who also had colossal impacts on school sports at the national level. Wheatley joined the MHSAA’s first full-time Executive Director Charles E. Forsythe (inducted 1983), River Rouge boys basketball coach Lofton Greene (1986), Warren Regina athletic director, softball and basketball coach Diane Laffey (2000); Fennville basketball and baseball standout Richie Jordan (2001), Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett boys and girls tennis coach Bob Wood (2005), Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook hockey standout Jim Johnson (2007), Owosso football, basketball and baseball all-stater Brad Van Pelt (2011); Vermontville Maple Valley baseball national record holder Ken Beardslee (2016) and retired MHSAA Executive Director John E. “Jack” Roberts (2022).
In addition to his selection and induction this summer, Wheatley was selected to speak on behalf of the entire 2024 Hall of Fame class during the ceremony in Boston.
The National High School Hall of Fame was started in 1982 by the NFHS. Nominations are made through NFHS member associations, including the MHSAA. Hall of Fame inductees are chosen after a two-level selection process involving a screening committee composed of active high school state association administrators, coaches and officials, and a final selection committee composed of coaches, former athletes, state association officials, media representatives and educational leaders.
Of course, not everyone nominated is eventually selected. Candidates receive a three-year period of consideration, and the MHSAA unsuccessfully campaigned for a nominee as recently as 2017-19, although multiple times that candidate reached the second level of the selection process.
Criteria also must be followed; the MHSAA (like all state associations) is limited to one athletic inductee per year, and the NFHS requires inductees to attend the annual summer ceremony unless, of course, they are deceased.
Obviously, there are several Michigan standouts absent from the list above. But as noted, the work has ramped up to bring their accomplishments to the Hall of Fame stage.
Previous "Century of School Sports" Spotlights
Sept. 25: MHSAA Record Books Filled with 1000s of Achievements - Read
Sept. 18: Why Does the MHSAA Have These Rules? - Read
Sept. 10: Special Medals, Patches to Commemorate Special Year - Read
Sept. 4: Fall to Finish with 50th Football Championships - Read
Aug. 28: Let the Celebration Begin - Read
PHOTOS Clockwise from top left: Bob Wood, Lofton Greene (in suit) with his 1965 team, Diane Laffey, Charles E. Forsythe, Jim Johnson, Brad Van Pelt, Richie Jordan (shooting the basketball), Ken Beardslee, and Jack Roberts, surrounding Tyrone Wheatley (Robichaud) during a race. (MHSAA archives.)