BY DAN STICKRADT
CORRESPONDENT
dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com
Twitter: @LocalSportsFans
The boys and girls bowling season will not heat up until after the holiday break. But several local teams have already found themselves listed in the state rankings.
In boys Division 1, Davison (No. 5), Novi Detroit Catholic Central (No. 7) and Swartz Creek (No. 10) all made the cut. Over in D-2, Bay City Central (third), South Lyon (fourth), Flint Kearsley (sixth), Bay City Western (seventh), Flushing (eighth), Holly (ninth) and Bay City John Glenn (No. 10) are all sled for big years.
The D-3 rankings bolster Birch Run (No. 2), Corunna (No. 3), Durand (No. 6) and Essexville Garber (No. 7), while Division 4 sees Burton Bendle (second), St. Charles (sixth), St. Louis (eighth) and Breckenridge (ninth) all holding down spots in top-10 land.
In the girls state rankings, Davison (second), Swartz Creek (fifth) and White Lake Lakeland (eighth) all find themselves in the D-1 top 10.
Over in Division 2, Flint Kearsley and Bay City Western lock down the top two slots, while Bay City Central (No. 4), Charlotte (No. 6), Flushing (No. 7), Bay City John Glenn (No. 8) and Holly (No. 9) all debut in the top 10.
Corunna is the top-ranked squad in Division 3, while Birch Run (No. 4) Saginaw Swan Valley (No. 6), Durand (No. 7) and ran Mt. Morris (No. 8) are also slated for big seasons. Finally in D-4, Ithaca (fourth), Burton Bendle (Seventh) and St. Louis (eighth) also begin the season ranked in the state.
Kearsley is the defending state champion in boys Division 2, while
St. Louis captured the girls D-4 crown last season.
CHEERS
Hartland’s competitive cheer team is coming off one of its best seasons to date. The Eagles finished sixth in Division 1 last season after collecting 773.14 points at the state finals last March.
Hartland was less than three-tenths of a point behind fifth-place finisher Livonia Stevenson last season.
Hartland has an experienced team that should crack the season after a couple of competitions under its belt.
Over in D-4, Breckenridge finished with 754.26 points to emerge victorious at last year’s finals with Pewamo-Westphalia taking second (730.40).
After one week of competitions — and not every school competed on the opening weekend (Dec. 12) — Breckenridge has the top score in D-4 so far this season.
In D-3, Ovid-Elsie (second), Portland (fourth), Chesaning (fifth) and Lake Odessa Lakewood (seventh) are all off to fast starts.
DeWitt (third) and Mason (sixth) open in the top 10 in Division 2, while Brighton is ranked seventh in Division 1.
DROP THE PUCK
Three weeks into the boys hockey season and Novi Detroit Catholic Central is back in a familiar slot as the top-ranked squad in Division 1.
The top-ranked Shamrocks posted a perfect 6-0-0 mark in the opening span of the season.
Brighton (third), Howell (fourth), Rockford (sixth) and Northville (seventh) are also ranked in D-1, while Hartland (fifth in D-2) and Flint Powers Catholic (fourth in D-3) are also off to fast starts.
Senior-laden Catholic Central already owns wins over five other schools ranked in the top five in one of the three divisions. The unbeaten Shamrocks booster 15 seniors and new head coach Brandon Kaleniecki has quite a loaded cupboard to work with this season.
JoJo Mancinelli, Nick Macari, Brian Kearns, Kyle Mulka, Sheldon Wasik and J.P. Lafferty give this team six quality forwards who are not bashful to pull the trigger.
Alec Calvaruso is a top-notch goaltender, while Brendan Cleary, Luc Krasicky and Alex Kreutzer are anchors of the defensive side.
Sophomore forward Brendan West and sophomore defensemen Jared Lee are the top newcomers trying to gain substantial minutes on a crowded depth chart.
WALLED LAKE NORTHERN RISING
Tim McGraw guided Walled Lake Northern to a very respectable 18-8-2 ledger last winter, believed to be the best mark in the school’s 13-year history. The Knights advanced to the Division 1 regional finals before falling to state-ranked Hartland.
There are eight seniors who return this season and hope to lead WL Northern to its first regional title.
Jeremy Makkonen and Nathan Everest give the Knights two capable goaltenders to keep the opposition at bay.
Senior Brady Dorner is the top returning goal scorer and the sniper leads a pack of scoring threats that includes fellow seniors Cameron Tomyn, Ben Grudzien and Josh Mueller.
Junior Joe Jackson is the top defenseman, senior center Joe Jackson is a quality set-up man, and junior Jacob Frelech moves over from travel hockey and is quickly becoming quite a pest in front of the goal in leading the Knights in scoring during the opening weeks of the season.