Don HorkeyThe Catholic League did itself proud in the 2014-15 statewide athletic competition.
Eleven schools from the CHSL and the Archdiocese of Detroit won 22 championships in tournaments hosted by the Michigan High School Athletic Association.
Two schools a mile apart in Warren — De La Salle and Regina — will long remember how they won their state titles.
Coach Paul Verskas’s Pilots started out 3-3, then won eight in a row — including a 25-21 upset of No. 1-ranked Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice — to win the Division 2 football crown, swamping Muskegon Mona Shores 44-8.
After Regina lost its first eight games, coach Diane Laffey’s crew paused for some soul searching, then went on a 27-8 tear the rest of the way for the Division 1 softball title, a 5-0 shutout of Caledonia.
Laffey is the state’s winningest softball coach: 1,118 victories in 53 years that includes 1,066 wins in 45 years at Regina.
In the “What’s new?” department: Coach Ajay Chawla’s Brother Rice lacrosse team won the state trophy for the 11th year in a row. Since 2005, the Warriors are 159-1 against schools from Michigan, the only blemish a one-goal overtime loss to Detroit Country Day a year ago.
GIRLS STATE CHAMPS
Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood — Division 3 tennis (5 in row).
Bloomfield Hills Marian — Class A basketball (2 in row); Division 2 swimming.
Bloomfield Hills Sacred Heart Academy — Division 4 tennis.
Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central — Class C volleyball, Division 3 softball.
Pontiac Notre Dame Prep — Division 3 competitive cheer (2 in row).
Warren Regina — Division 1 softball.
BOYS STATE CHAMPS
Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice — Division 2 hockey, Division 1 lacrosse (11 in row), Division 1 swimming (2 in row).
Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood — Division 3 hockey, Division 2 lacrosse, Division 3 swimming (2 in row).
Detroit Loyola — Division 7 football.
Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central — Division 6 football.
Novi Detroit Catholic Central — Division 1 golf, Division 2 hockey (2 in row).
Orchard Lake St. Mary’s — Division 3 football, Division 2 track, Division 2 baseball.
Warren De La Salle — Division 2 football.
CHSL 2014-15 CHAMPIONS
Lahser Road neighbors, Brother Rice with six and Marian with five, led the way on the road to CHSL championships. Here’s the lineup:
Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice — Div. 1 tennis (4 in row), Div. A-B football, boys skiing (4 in row), swimming (23 in row), Div. A-B baseball (4 in row), Div. A lacrosse (12 in row).
Bloomfield Hills Marian — Div. A-B volleyball, girls skiing (6 in row), Div. A-B basketball, Div. 1 tennis (7 in row), Div. A-B soccer.
Bloomfield Hills Sacred Heart Academy — Girls field hockey, Div. 1 girls lacrosse.
Clarkston Everest Collegiate — Cardinal trophy in competitive cheer, Div. 2 boys golf.
Dearborn Divine Child — Bishop trophy in competitive cheer (12 in row), Bishop trophy in Pom Pon, Div. A-B girls track.
Detroit Loyola — Prep Bowl football (3 in row), Div. C-D track.
Detroit U-D Jesuit — East Division bowling, Div. A-B basketball (3 in row), Div. 1 golf.
Farmington Hills Mercy — Golf (3 in row), swimming (24 in row).
Livonia Ladywood — Ice hockey, Div. 2 lacrosse.
Madison Heights Bishop Foley — Div. C-D baseball (4 in row).
Novi Detroit Catholic Central — Div. 1 soccer, Div. 1-2 cross country (8 in row), wrestling (20 in row), Div. 1 hockey.
Orchard Lake St. Mary’s Prep — Div. C-D soccer, Div. A-B track.
Pontiac Notre Dame Prep — Div. 2 boys tennis, Div. B boys lacrosse.
Riverview Gabriel Richard — West Division boys bowling, West Division girls bowling, Div. 2 boys hockey, Div. C-D girls basketball.
Royal Oak Shrine — Div. 3 boys cross country, Div. 4 girls cross country, Div. C-D girls soccer, Div. C-D girls track, Div. 2 girls tennis.
Warren Regina — Div. 1-2 cross country (3 in row), East Division bowling, Div. A-B softball.
Waterford Our Lady of the Lakes — Div. C-D football (2 in row), Div. C-D volleyball (3 in row), Div. C-D boys basketball (2 in row), Div. C-D softball.
Mercy girls hockey champs: yes and no: Sally McCann, whose daughter plays for the Farmington Hills Mercy girls hockey team, wants to know why the Marlins, who won the Michigan Metro girls hockey title for the second time in three years, aren’t included in a listing of CHSL state champions.
Only sports sanctioned by the MHSAA are counted. For girls hockey to be so recognized, CHSL director Vic Michaels said a sport needs 70 schools participating. The Metro league has 15 schools, also including Livonia Ladywood, Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood and Warren Regina from the CHSL.
Don Horkey may be reached at [email protected].
