On March 20, St. Patrick student athletes, their parents, and the winter sports coaching staff gathered at the Knights of Columbus Hall for our annual Winter Sports Awards banquet. The purpose was to celebrate a successful winter sports season. This event is graciously hosted by our Athletic Association every year. I personally believe a school’s sports programs and the students involved in those programs should represent the goals and values being taught in the school’s curriculum. With that as the standard, our student athletes accomplished all that could be expected of them and more during the winter sports campaign. They exemplify the third part of our mission statement: We Achieve!

There were many highlights during the winter sports season. Individual and team accomplishments for the season include:

The girl’s bowling team finished 2^nd in their league, 3^rd in the regional and 11^th overall in the state. The boys team finished 2^nd in their league, 2^nd in the regional and advanced to the elite eight before getting ousted by the number one seeded team. This is the first time in school history that both our boys and girls teams advanced to the state level of competition in the same season. Congratulations to both teams on an outstanding season! Individual honors include:

• Marian Pearson finished 15^th in the state in individuals.
• Stephen Wernet was named as the Brandon Vanderbrook scholarship winner which is awarded to the bowler which exemplifies the characteristics displayed by Brandon when he was a bowler in high school.

The JV boys basketball team started out slowly but improved as the season went on picking up momentum and finishing with a three-game winning streak.

The varsity boys basketball team finished with a 9 – 9 overall record and beat every team in the league at least one time except one. Individual awards include:

• Brandon Scheurer: 1^st team CMAC, Academic All-State, Honorable Mention All-State, and he scored his 1,000th career point during the season.
• Nathaniel Leahy: 2^nd team CMAC and Academic All-State
• Graham Wohlscheid: Academic All-State
• Nathan Lehnert: Basketball Coaches Association of Michigan (BCAM) Team Award

The JV girls basketball team had an outstanding season only losing to one other school all season and finishing with a record of 16-2.

The varsity girls basketball team finished 3^rd in a tough CMAC which saw four teams win a district title, with two advancing to the final weekend including one state champion. They won their 5^th district title in six years and lost in the regional finals for the second year in a row to the eventual state champion and finished with an overall record of 18-7. Individual honors include:

• Lydia Meredith: 2nd team CMAC
• Mara Schrauben: 2^nd team CMAC
• Annie Gunderman: Honorable Mention CMAC
• Lexi Hass: Honorable Mention CMAC

Most importantly, our student athletes worked hard to maintain their grades and demonstrated good sportsmanship throughout the season. All in all, I am very proud of the way our student athletes represented our school both on and off the court and lanes throughout the season. Their strong work ethic, commitment to success, positive attitude, and teamwork propelled our teams to a successful winter sports season of which they can be very proud. Our student athletes have been exemplary examples of what we expect at St. Patrick School. Congratulations, teams for a job well done!