Metro Area – In 23 states, ranging from California to Connecticut, some 133 Catholic High School League student-athletes will be competing in the next academic year on the next level – for 71 universities, colleges, junior colleges and community colleges, in 18 sports.

They will arrive on campus without having to worry about the cost of their education. All will have received either athletic scholarships, as in the case of NCAA Division I schools, or, for smaller institutions, a package of financial aid put together from a variety of funding sources at the disposal of the colleges.

Some scholarships are four-year, fully-paid such as the one awarded by Oakland University to Lauren Robak, basketball star at Waterford Our Lady of the Lakes.

Most athletic scholarships are renewable year-by-year. Student-athletes have to earn the succeeding years’ financial assistance. It’s a “challenge” being an athletic scholarship recipient, warns Mike Pricer,  rowing coach at Orchard Lake St. Mary’s Prep and a scholarship graduate at Temple University. “They own you.”

Recruiters pursue the high school stars making headlines. Some students market themselves. “They’ll send in videos and stuff about themselves through the internet. We get a lot of that,” says Tom Kempf, basketball recruiter for Aquinas College.

Scholarships seem to run in the family. Consider the Simon brothers at St. Mary’s: Dave, a 1998 graduate who went to Brown University and, in his junior year, rowed for the U. S. in the 2000 Sydney Olympics; his siblings Christopher (2005),  Tim (2006) and Joe (this year) all accepted rowing scholarships to Pennsylvania University.

Betty Wroubel, athletic director at Pontiac Notre Dame Prep, points out that sisters Destiny and Dalton Tolliver each received volleyball scholarships, but at different schools: Destiny, a year ago, at New Hampshire and Dalton, this year, at Maryland-Baltimore County.

“These two schools are in the same league,” notes Wroubel, “so they will be playing against each other.”

“Scholarships are a great opportunity,” says Dave Feldman, athletic director at Bloomfield Hills Marian High School. He advises students “not to get stuck on the (well-known college) name game.”

Have you ever heard of Ursinus College?  That’s where Mike Neal, of Warren DeLasalle, will be playing lacrosse. Ursinus is located in Collegeville, 25 miles from Philadelphia. It’s also where author J. D. Salinger (“The Catcher in the Rye”) was a student for one semester in 1937-38. It can be assumed he lost his scholarship.

The listing below is accurate as of the end of May. Some seniors have yet to make their decisions.

ALLEN PARK CABRINI: DIVING – Rachael LaCroix, Wayne State.

ANN ARBOR GABRIEL RICHARD: BASEBALL – Donnie Eaton, Michigan; Jonathan Gregg, Washburn (Kan.) College; Chris Ostrowski, Mineral Area Jr. College (Mo.);

Matt Wagner, Butler. BASKETBALL – Luther Page, Alabama; Darren Washington, Robert Morris. DANCE – Jenna  Lanzetta, Western Michigan. SOCCER – Caitlin Brown, Iowa.

BLOOMFIELD HILLS BROTHER RICE: BASEBALL – Jimmy Pickens, Michigan State; Andrew Sohn, Western Michigan. FOOTBALL – Tim Hamilton, Central Michigan; Conor Hart, Vanderbilt; Loran Jaddou, Northern Michigan; Tyler Lendzion, Michigan Tech.

BLOOMFIELD HILLS MARIAN: CROSS COUNTRY & TRACK – Ashley Wile, Loyola (Chicago). HOCKEY – Kelsey Sommers, Yale. SKIING – Stephanie Pieper, St. Olaf. SOCCER – Danielle Mazur, Michigan; Erin Ring, Oakland; Victoria Sollestre, U-D Mercy; Martha Stevens,  Eastern Michigan; Elizabeth Tresnak, Morehead State;  Sara Zawacki, Wisconsin-Milwaukee. SWIMMING – Hayley Johnson, Notre Dame; Molly Schafer, Michigan; Claire Schelske, Tulane. VOLLEYBALL – Alexandra Lovell, Iowa; Alessandra Dietz,  Loyola Maramount; Erin Klosterman,  Notre Dame.

DEARBORN DIVINE CHILD: BASEBALL – Eric Haase, Ohio State; Mack Ivory, Lincoln Trail Community College (Ill.); Hayley Stempien, Madonna. BASKETBALL – Ryan Nadeau, Calvin College. CROSS COUNTRY – Brittany Hayden, Madonna. FOOTBALL – Alex Bretous, Siena Heights University; Tommy DiPonio, Benedictine University (Ill.). TENNIS – Christina Colarossi, Wisconsin-Milwaukee. TRACK – Carolinne Strasser, Lake Superior State.

FARMINGTON HILLS MERCY: BASKETBALL & TRACK – Abbey Lovat, Hillsdale; Janelle McQueen, Texas Southern. SWIMMING – Maria Bagardi, Toledo; Nikki Barczak, North Carolina; Emma Craig, Miami (Ohio); Taylor Steffl, University of  Buffalo.

LIVONIA LADYWOOD: HOCKEY – Rachel Nowaske, Oakland. LACROSSE – Alexandra Burns, Aquinas College; Nicole Jacobs, Grand Valley State. SOCCER – Madeline Reed , Western Michigan. SOFTBALL – Jennifer Rohn, Western Michigan. VOLLEYBALL – Katy Rooney, Lafayette (Pa.) College.

MADISON HEIGHTS BISHOP FOLEY: BASEBALL – Dan Zuchowski, Toledo.

LACROSSE – Patrick O’Neil, Wheeling Jesuit University (W. Va.).

NOVI DETROIT CATHOLIC CENTRAL: BASEBALL – Mitchell Gatt,  Hillsdale;

Albert Green, Albion; Michael Tibbits,  Holy Cross. BOWLING – Scott Kujawa, Lawrence Tech. CROSS COUNTRY – Andrew Garcia-Garrison,  Bucknell. FOOTBALL – Justin D’Agostino,  Hillsdale; Andrew Breaugh, Kalamazoo College; Scott Byrne, Ave Maria University; Andy Erickson, Hope; Nick Holton, Siena Heights; Stone Monarch,  Toledo; Andrew Nelson, Cornell; Matt Schertzer, John Carroll; Brandon Sullivan,  Northwood; Brandon Tammaro, Buffalo; Vaughn Wesley, Heidelberg College; Nathan Wilkins, John Carroll. GOLF – Nico Colucci, Saginaw Valley State. LACROSSE – Mike Birney, U=D Mercy. SOCCER – Alex Lang, Olivet; Jonathan Malecke, Aquinas College; Gino Pulice, Hope; Mike Tolkacz, Albion. SWIMMING – Joe Brinkman, Cumberland. TRACK & FIELD – Jake Spuller, Air Force Academy. WRESTLING – Miles Trealout, Michigan.

ORCHARD LAKE ST. MARY’S: BASEBALL – Blaise Salter, Michigan State.

FOOTBALL – Corey Lucas, Saginaw Valley State; Allen Robinson,  Penn State; Thomas Sellers,  Grand Valley State. LACROSSE – Doug Boyd, Adrian; Sean Dupack, Adrian; P. J. Walters, Adrian. ROWING – Max Montpetit, Northeastern University; Joe Simon, Pennsylvania.

PONTIAC NOTRE DAME PREP: BASEBALL – Thomas Constand, Western Illinois;

Brandon Katta, Spring Arbor; Tom Wyza, Northwood. BASKETBALL – Brooke Borowski,  Hillsdale. LACROSSE – Brandon Beauregard, U-D Mercy; Joseph Gifford, U-D Mercy; Brooke Ingraham , Grand Valley State; Adam Martin, Trine University (Ind.); Joe Silvestri, Albion. SOCCER  – Katrina Stencel, Oakland. SWIMMING – MacKenzie Chesley, Albion.  VOLLEYBALL – Dalton Tolliver, Maryland-Baltimore County.

RIVERVIEW GABRIEL RICHARD: GOLF – Chelsea Collura, Madonna. SOCCER –

Christine Crowell, Sienna Heights; Lauren Hammond, Pennsylvania. SOFTBALL – Lauren Thierry, Saginaw Valley; Taylor Hayes, Siena Heights. VOLLEYBALL – Kelsey Ferla, Saginaw Valley.

ROYAL OAK SHRINE: BASKETBALL – Halle Wangler, Oakland.

WARREN DELASALLE: BASEBALL – Sean Mathews, Lake Erie College; Kyle Suminski, Ohio Dominican; Austin Fleming, Heidelberg University; Brenden Kudla, Alma; Andrew Haubert, Kalamazoo College. BASKETBALL – Vaughn Avecilla, Aquinas College. BASEBALL & BASKETBALL – Bryan Mitzner, Aquinas. FOOTBALL – Mike Keith,  Northwood; Cody Knoll,  Northwood; Lyle Van Fleteren,  Siena Heights. LACROSSE –

Chris Mandel, U-D Mercy; Mike Neal, Ursinus College. SOCCER – John Leutzinger, Olivet;

Liam Switalski, John Carroll; Nicholas Lemanski, John Carroll. TENNIS – Chris Selva, Cornerstone College. TRACK – Tom Mackey, Adrian. WRESTLING – Brennan Kelly, Heidelberg University.

WARREN REGINA: SOFTBALL – Chelsea DeLamielleure, Central Michigan.

WATERFORD OUR LADY OF THE LAKES : BASKETBALL – Lauren Robak,  Oakland. FOOTBALL – Mike Sullivan,  St Joseph College(Ind.). SOCCER – Abbey Troy, U-D Mercy; Meghan Topolewski,  Toledo.