Eight teams from the Catholic High School League can rightfully proclaim “We are Number One!” at the conclusion of the fall season’s sports calendar across the state.

Here they are in an historical (and numerical) context:

Number One – It’s hard to believe that in the storied history of Novi Detroit Catholic Central – 53 state champions in 11 sports going back to 1969 – that the Shamrocks finally won in soccer. It was their first time in the finals, a 1-0 victory over Walled Lake Central for the Division 1 trophy. Ryan Pierson converted a penalty kick with a little more than six minutes to play for Coach Gene Pulice’s squad.

Number One – In its fourth Division 4 final, Ann Arbor Greenhills won its first boys soccer championship, slipping past Kalamazoo Hackett CC 1-0.

Number Two – Warren De La Salle scored in the game’s opening 16 seconds and never let up, overpowering Livonia Franklin, 41-6, for the Pilots second Division 2 football title (the first in 2014). It was a magical year for De La Salle (12-2), ending the regular season by beating Catholic Central on back-to-back weekends for the Central Division and the CHSL titles before going on its successful foray into the state playoffs.

Number Two – The girls golfers from Macomb Lutheran North won the Division 4 title last year, but had to defend it in Division 3 this autumn – and they did it for the school’s second golf championship, by three strokes over Grand Rapids South Christian.

Number Three – This may have been just the third Division 3 swim and dive crown for Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood in its history, but it won’t be the last. Four freshmen, a sophomore and three juniors led the young Cranes to a comfortable 85-point win over runner-up Bloomfield Hills Marian. Marian’s senior Lauren Biglin won the 500 freestyle for the second year in a row.

Number Nine – Farmington Hills Mercy won the school’s ninth swimming and dive championship in a most unusual way – by not winning a first place in any of the meet’s 12 events, and only two second-places, but with a host of other top ten finishes for a 29-point victory over Saline. Heartbreaking: senior Katie Minnich, vying for a four-year sweep of the 100 backstroke, lost by half of a second.

Number 20 – Cranbrook Kingswood won its third straight Division 3 boys tennis championship, the 20th in the school’s history.

Number 35 – Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett’s trophy case for boys tennis championships dates all the way back to the Great Depression era,  – a total of 35 wins, including this year’s successful defense of its Division 4 title.

Noteworthy: Junior Danielle Staskowski, of Pontiac Notre Dame Prep, and Marian’s freshman Shannon Kennedy were individual winners in golf: Danielle for the second year in a row in Division 3, Kennedy in Division 2. I’ll have more about these talented young ladies in the Dec. 15 issue.

Spectacular! – Former CHSL member, Notre Dame Prep’s volleyball squad had a spectacular year, climaxed by claiming the Class B championship, the third in ND Prep’s history.

The Fighting Irish, with their record of 64-2-2, set a new school season record for wins, surpassing the previous record of 62 in 2013, including 53 straight wins since August.



Betty Wroubel has coached 1,422 wins (990 at ND Prep) in her 33-year career, third best in the state.

But none of this was a surprise, right? Back on Oct. 6, I told you the Fighting Irish would win it all.

Contact Don Horkey at [email protected].