Oakland County/Livingston County Roundup
BY DAN STICKRADT
CORRESPONDENT
dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com
Twitter: @LocalSportsFans
DIVISION 1
Oakland County made its presence known throughout the girls’ golf season.
A total of 11 programs from Oakland County participated in the MHSAA Lower Peninsula State Finals in October, plus a 12th school that has a small portion of its district located in southwestern Oakland County also competed.
In Division 1, Rochester, Troy, Novi, Mercy, and Lake Orion all placed in the top eight in the final 15-school standings.
Rochester finished second, losing on a fifth-man tiebreaker to Traverse City West. Troy and Novi followed in fourth and fifth, respectively, while Mercy and Lake Orion claimed seventh and eighth overall. That’s five of the top eight teams all coming from one talent-rich county.
Northville, with part of its school district in southern Oakland County, also inished 13th in the final standings. The high school building currently sits in the northwestern corner of Wayne County, one mile south of the Oakland border and only six miles from Livingston County.
Rochester has now collected three state runner-up trophies and three state championships since 2002 and has participated in the state finals in 16 of 19 seasons. The three years the Falcons did not advance (2011, 2013, 2014) the school finished fourth at the regional and missed by a combined 12 strokes, including two strokes last season.
Rochester will bring back its entire roster next season.
DIVISION 2
Over in Division 2, Birmingham Seaholm, South Lyon and Birmingham Marian wall landed in the top 10, with Seaholm repeating as state champ. South Lyon finished third and Marian placed seventh.
South Lyon East nearly made it four Oakland schools in the top 10. The Cougars shot a two-day total of 750, which was one stroke behind Portage Northern and one stroke from the top 10.
It marked Seaholm’s third straight title and fifth overall since 2006. South Lyon participated in the D-2 state finals for the seventh straight season. The Lions were state runner-up in 2014.
DIVISION 3
In Division 3, Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood and Birmingham Detroit Country Day finished third and fourth, respectively.
Cranbrook had finished second the previous three years and has claimed two state titles overall. Country Day claimed a D-3 state crown in 2013.
BRIGHTON REPRESENTS LIVINGSTON
Since 2000, Brighton has reached the Division 1 state finals 10 times in 17 seasons.
The Bulldogs, Livingston County’s sole rep this season, was ranked in the top 10 most of the season, reaching as high as No. 3. Brighton finished ninth at the finals this season after not making the cut in 2014.
Brighton’s best-ever finish was in the fall 2007 season, where the Bulldogs claimed fourth. The school was also fifth the spring of 2005 and 2006 along with fifth in the fall 2012 season.