By John Raffel
MaxPreps.com
Novi's No. 1 goal for this spring's girls soccer season in Michigan is obvious: a three-peat state championship.
Coach Brian O'Leary's team defeated another Detroit suburb school, Northville, 3-1 last spring for its second-straight title. In 2005, Novi knocked off Brighton of the Ann Arbor suburbs 3-0 to begin its championship run.
"The key for us last year was having a lot of depth," O'Leary said. "For this season, we graduated three starters and only four players total. Several returning starters are back. We definitely have our chance to contend again for a state title.
"East Kentwood has a very good soccer team. So does Rockford and Northville. Brighton will be in our district for the postseason tournament so they'll be tough."
Novi's freshman goalie from last season, Erin Zerio, who had 16 shutouts, is back for her sophomore season. Also back is senior midfielder Emily Esbrook, who was a runner-up for the state's Miss Soccer honor last year.
Senior forward Stephanie Crawford is headed to the University of Michigan next year.
O'Leary, in his seventh year as head coach at Novi, is looking to maximize the talent of Crawford and the rest of his star-laden squad.
"Our goal is to get the best from every single person," he said. "The key is to stay the same and not have any letdowns."
Girls Golf
While Novi is working on three-straight in soccer, coach Martha Ryan's Grand Blanc team is eyeing a four-peat in Division 1 girls golf.
"This would be the first time in Division 1 that anyone has won four state titles in a row," Ryan said.
Grand Blanc, located near Flint, was slated to open its season last week but snowy weather put those plans on hold. Ryan's team started action this week.
Grand Blanc is led this season by junior Meagan Bauer, a veteran of two varsity seasons, and her sister Shana, a sophomore.
Ryan would also like to see Sara Bolan, another sophomore, emerge as a key contributor.
"(Bolan) has a lot of promise and hits a long golf ball," Ryan said.
Junior Sasha Burao and senior Danielle Boyd round out the five.
"These girls did well on Monday. Again, some horribly cold weather," Ryan said after her team defeated Big 9 Conference foe Flint Kearsley, 185-230.
Can Grand Blanc win a fourth-straight state title?
"It's too early to tell," Ryan replied. "But they'll be very competitive."
Ryan is also excited about the fact that beginning in the 2007-2008 academic year, girls golf switches from the spring to fall season under a federal court order, which ruled that Michigan's sports seasons discriminated against girl athletes.
"The transition will be tough since we finish up in June," Ryan said. "Our girls usually help staff the driving range during the summer at the PGA Buick Open. And then we'll have to get ready for the fall season. But in the fall, the weather is good, although it starts getting tough in late September and October. But in the spring in Michigan, you play in bad weather about all the time."
Girls Softball
Debbie Norman is back for another year of coaching Allen Park's Cabrini High School, the defending Division 4 state champions. But it won't be easy to top last season's 39-0 record.
"The key behind that was we had an all-state pitcher (Katie Osborn) and all-state catcher Amanda Chidester," Norman said. "Both were sophomores and are juniors this year. Last year, we had seven sophomores, three juniors and three seniors on the team. This year we have three seniors, seven juniors, one sophomore and two freshmen on the team."
Norman said there are two key factors behind her team's good fortune.
"They play very solid defense," Norman said. "Also, everyone understands their roles. Everyone needs to make the key plays. Katie and Amanda are strong, but everyone contributes.
"We were very happy to win the state championship last year. Right now, we're trying to win our conference and get to the Catholic League playoffs."
This weekend, Cabrini - located in the Detroit suburbs - will be in a tournament at Beaverton featuring a lineup that includes several ranked schools from Division 3.
Boys Tennis
Seven-straight Division I state championships for Ann Arbor Pioneer?
Boys tennis coach Tom Pullen won't guarantee anything but if his team can extend its state championship streak from the current six in a row to seven this spring, he won't be totally surprised.
Pullen's team enters the season heavily favored to do it again.
"We've had good talent in the program. Once you get the guys to buy into what you're doing, you're all set," Pullen said. "They want to be a part of the success. The competitive edge here is pretty sharp. Our singles and doubles have been equally strong.
"We have a very strong singles lineup and our doubles teams will be excellent. We'll be a pretty good team."
But Pullen isn't saying a seventh-straight title is a cinch.
"We'll get some good competition," Pullen said. "Ann Arbor Huron will be strong again. They've got a good nice young team. We'll be strong in our singles lineup. We should have some competition in doubles."
Andy Gauthier, the No. 1 singles state champ is back this season. David Seiferth at No. 2 was runner-up at No. 2 singles last year. Nate Eddy, the No. 3 state champ, is also back.
Pullen has coached 17 years with the boys team and 16 years with the girls. His girls teams have won six state titles.
The seasons change next year with girls playing in the fall and boys in the spring, under the federal court order. But Pullen doesn't favor the switch.
