Walk through the front door of St. Catherine of Siena Academy in Wixom, and you sense there’s something “different” about this high school for girls on the western edge of Oakland County.

Athletic director Ryan Nardozzi defines the feeling for you: It’s the chapel, situated straight ahead.

“St. Catherine has a unique mission, different from other schools,” he said on my recent first-time visit there. “Our focus is on the sacraments and daily Mass.”

None less than St. John Paul II adds a further distinction: The pope’s reference to “feminine genius” in his 1995 pastoral “Letter to Women” is inscribed on a huge panel to the right of the chapel entrance. The pope calls for a defense of the rights and dignity of women, and sees the feminine genius as the answer to the “culture of death” inherent in today’s society.

Against this backdrop, my mission was to find out about the athletic geniuses behind St. Catherine’s success in the school’s young sports program — the school was established in 2008 — and, particularly, this fall when the Stars won two of three Catholic League sports in which they participated.

The Stars cross country team — trivia: St. Catherine is the only school among the state’s 473 high schools with the nickname “Stars” — won the CHSL Division C-D title for the second year in a row. They also won their first Class C regional and qualified to compete for the fourth straight year in the state cross country finals.

The volleyball team achieved a pair of firsts: the CHSL C-D championship and a Class C regional crown.

St.  Catherine’s field hockey team was runner-up by a goal in the C-D title game.

A plug here is mandatory for the other Stars CHSL champs: the 2014 C-D softball squad and the competitive cheer squad for the last two years in a row.

Also on order here is a context why all of this is such exciting news at St. Catherine: It’s the newest school in the Catholic League. The current enrollment is about 230, and, with 70 freshmen this year, and growing. The first graduating class five years ago had just 10 seniors; 44 are expected to get their diplomas this spring.

It’s not hard to get all enthralled about Stars’ sports when Jennifer Lemieux is your guide. Her enthusiasm rates just a shade behind Dick Vitale’s. Lemieux is in her second year as cross country and track coach, following 11 years at Plymouth Christian Academy. Her peers voted her the regional cross country coach of the year for 2017.

Seniors Clare Brinkman and Ann Borek reflect Lemieux’s passion and commitment.

The Stars’ No. 1 runner for three years, Brinkman came from Our Lady of Refuge School in Orchard Lake to St. Catherine for its “small school and faith-based atmosphere.”

“We have fun together,” she said about her teammates. “Our motto is ‘We run for the glory of God.’” She has won several all-state and all-Catholic honors.

Swimming occupies her after cross country season. She’s hoping her application to the United States Coast Guard will be accepted. “I like their humanitarian mission,” she says.



Borek, an alum of Brighton Holy Spirit School, says “it’s the sisterhood” she enjoys about St. Catherine, along with the company of teammates and the solitude running provides on long practice sessions.

“She can name every bird she sees along the way, too,” Brinkman laughed.

Sums up Lemieux: “It’s important that God is front and center.”

Contact Don Horkey at [email protected].