Athletes fight rain, cold and snow in tough week of spring sports
Rain Tuesday-Friday, and often accompanying lightning, caused many game high school game cancellations and postponements.
Melanie Maxwell | AnnArbor.com file photo
Even though the rain stopped falling, many tournaments and games were cancelled on Saturday because of flooded fields. Those who did get to play were greeted with spotty snow and 30 degree temperatures in Ann Arbor, a record low for April 20.
Participants and volunteers had to scrape ice off the tennis courts at Chelsea High School on Saturday before a quad meet.
Monday was the only dry day day during the week and Skyline and Pioneer took advantage with a dual meet in which Jojo Otchere, pictured above, competed in long jump.
Andrew Kuhn | AnnArbor.com file photo
The Father Gabriel Richard girls tennis team had much better fortunes over the weekend with the Lansing Catholic Quad getting moved to the comfortable indoor confines of the Michigan State University Tennis Center.
Boys golfers weren’t so fortunate at the Pinckney Invitational at Rush Lake Hills Golf Course.
“The weather today was not golfing weather,” said Pinckney coach Bruce Rabbitt, whose team took second place in the tournament. “It was windy with some snow showers and the temperature was around 36 degrees by the time we were done. I commend all the guys for playing through the weather and doing well.”
Perhaps impacted by the poor weather the Father Gabriel Richard and Chelsea teams finished 12th and 14th respectively.
Winning in Stile
The Manchester High School baseball team got plenty out of its leadoff hitter, Ryan Stiles in a 7-4 win over Vandercook Lake on Tuesday. Stiles reached base each of the four times he came to the plate and had three hits, two RBIs and stolen base.
Athletes of the week:
Sam Zwolan
Connor Lang and Josh Bourque, Skyline High School boys golf: Tied for round lows at the Monroe Invitational at Green Meadows Golf Course on Friday after each shooting six-over, 76. Skyline took first as a team, beating second place Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central by 15 strokes. Lang beat Bourque for medalist in a scorecard playoff which awards the golfer with the lowest scores on the most difficult holes by handicap.
By the numbers:
3: Goals given up by the Dexter High School girls soccer team in a loss to Livonia Ladywood on Saturday, as many as the Dreadnaughts had given up combined during its 4-0 start ot the season. Ladywood is ranked No. 2 in Division 2 and Dexter No. 8.
7: Goal scorers for the Dexter High School girls water polo team in its 8-0 win over Saline on Thursday.
Goalie Brynn Rohloff, pictured above, and the Saline girls water polo team fared well in a 12-2 win over Grand Haven on Friday, but were beat 8-0 earlier in the week by Dexter.
Daniel Brenner | AnnArbor.com file photo
14: Points (nine goals, five assists) by Pioneer girls lacrosse player Sam Zwolan in two games on Saturday against Cleveland St. Ignatius and Hinsdale. Pioneer went 1-1 on the day beating Ignatius 14-7 and losing to Hinsdale 13-5.
30: Low temperature in Ann Arbor on Saturday, a record.
76: Score of Skyline golfers Josh Bourque and Connor Lang who tied for round lows at the Monroe Invitational on Friday as Skyline won the team title.
Potent quotables:
"We finished in the top five in the state last year, and our goals are to finish in the top three in the region and be top 10 in the state, I could care less about the league meets, they are just practice for us."
-- Ypsilanti High School boys track and field coach Torin Moore after losing to Chelsea 111-23 on Tuesday.
Pete Cunningham covers sports for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at petercunningham@annarbor.com. Follow him on Twitter @petcunningham.
Comments
daytona084
Fri, Apr 26, 2013 : 12:03 a.m.
I believe the St. Ignatius girls Lacrosse team is from Chicago, not Cleveland. See http://www.ignatius.org/calendar.aspx#today .... Cleveland St. Ignatius is an all-boys school.
chapmaja
Tue, Apr 23, 2013 : 3:41 a.m.
Torin's comment can be taken another way. We have nothing that can compete in dual meets this season. We lack the depth to be competitive in events where a total team effort is needed to be successful. When we get to the point of the season where only the best athletes are competing, we will be just fine. Pete is right and wrong. Ypsi is generally very strong in the sprint events and struggles badly in the field and distance events. Without seeing the actual results I would guess that Chelsea dominated the field events, the distance events, and the middle distance events. Ypsi very well could have gone 1-2-3 in the 100 and 200, plus won the 400 relay, which would add up to 23 points in a dual meet. the only thing that would not make sense is not winning both sprint relays, unless they had baton issues or some sort of DQ. Ypsi reminds me a lot of a team that ran several seasons ago. They went winless in the regular season dual meets, finished 4th of 4 teams in their conference meet, 3rd in their regional meet and finished second at the state finals. Why? They had 3 really fast girls, 1 won both hurdle races, 2 of them placed well in the sprint events, and they combined with another decent runner to win 2 relays. They only had 8 people total on the team, but they had enough talent to place very high at the state meet. This is the aspect of track and field I hate. You are awarding a team championship to a team that may or may not be a great team. In division 1 the last few years the best overall team has generally won the state title on the boys side (EK). If Saline can win it this year it will be because they are great from top to bottom and including field events. Some years a team of 2 or 3 athletes wins a title. Dexter won the DII title several years ago placing in only 2 or 3 events. They placed 3 or 4 guys in the 3200 run, won the 3200 relay, and may have placed guys in the 1600 run. It was enough points to win a title, but they were a so-so team.
dotdash
Mon, Apr 22, 2013 : 11:25 p.m.
How to interpret Torin Moore's quote? Bad sportspersonship? Graceless candor? Pique? Maybe some more context would help because it really sounds bad the way it is stated here...
Pete Cunningham
Tue, Apr 23, 2013 : 3:13 a.m.
My experience with Torin Moore over the years is that he's not a poor sport, so I doubt that's the case here. What he is, however, is very aware of how track and field works, a very positive person and quick with a joke. My interpretation of this quote is that coach Moore is not going to let a very lopsided loss get his team down because, at the end of the day, it doesn't hurt what his team can accomplish at the state level. If Chelsea (or any other team) beats Ypsilanti places 1-3 in 12 of 17 events, but in the five events that Ypsilanti wins, the team is among the best in the state, and Chelsea isn't as good at the the 12 events it won in, Ypsilanti will be better suited for the state meet than in a head-to-head dual. So, as funny as it seems, some teams that don't do so well in duals are sometimes very competitive at the state level.