By John Raffel
MaxPreps.com
It's a historic season in Michigan for girls volleyball, which for the first time will play in the fall, rather than the winter, after a court order to move that season along with girls basketball.
Livonia Churchill Coach Mark Grenier is working on having his team repeat as state champions in Michigan's division with the largest enrollments, Division I.
Churchill, located in the Detroit area, is coming off of a 56-4 season for the state title last year.
"I had a team with girls who accepted and knew their roles," Grenier said. "We had three NCAA Division I players."
Grenier enters this season without six seniors that graduated last year.
"To be honest with you, when I look at it position by position, I think we're better," Grenier said. "We have kids who want to do well. I think they'll be just fine."
Kendra Abron, a 6-3 former middle hitter, leads the way. Abron will be playing collegiately for Michigan State.
Jackie Gribeck, a 5-10 middle hitter is also a standout along with senior defensive specialists Jordan Kerr and Shannon Warner.
In Division I, Grenier expects Jenison to also be a state contender. The coach isn't among those in favor of the transition from the winter to the fall
"It hasn't been too hard," Grenier said. "We just have to deal with it. I don't agree with the change. It forces some kids to make hard decisions on what sports to play. But it is what it is."
Football
Jackson Lumen Christi has been a state football power in Michigan in past years with several state championships under its belt. It's almost traditional to see Lumen Christi in the final rounds of the state playoffs.
Coach Herb Brogan would like to think this will be the case again.
"We're pretty young," Brogan said. "We've got five sophomores up who will see a lot of playing time. We have lot of inexperience at quarterback and that's a cause for concern. We do have an experienced offensive line and an experienced secondary which are two critical positions. We feel good about it."
Brogan is the last coach who is planning on predicting if his team can win another state title.
"Quite honestly, we're taking a wait-and-see attitude," he said. "If we can get to the playoffs, we'll be fine. Our challenge is to get to 6-3. Our first three games are tough with Battle Creek Central, Portage Central and Stevensville-Lakeshore."
Scrimmage action this weekend, Brogan said, would be used heavily by his team to get ready for the season which starts in openers Aug. 23-25.
"We don't keep any stats for scrimmages," Brogan said. "We're looking for some individual performances. We want to focus on correcting our weaknesses for the following week."
If Lumen Christi doesn't wind up a state Division 5 power this year, Brogan has an inkling on who it might be instead.
"It would be the usual contenders like Oakridge and Menominee," Brogan said. "You can't keep out Detroit Country Day. We played Hillsdale in summer 7-on-7 pass leagues. They'll be strong again."
Cross Country
Practices officially started this week for cross country teams who hope to be competing the first weekend in November in the state title meet at the Michigan International Speedway.
One of the teams hoping to continue its success of recent years is Grand Rapids Christian, which won a girls divisional state title in 2005 and 2006 and took second the previous two seasons.
"They've done a good job of offseason training in the summer," coach Doug Jager said. "They're a dedicated bunch. God has blessed us with good health. We haven't had many injuries.
"We lost a lot from last year," Jager said. "We gained some good runners. But we had a large senior class."
Grand Rapids Christian will have its No. 1 runner back from last season with junior Alyssa Penning.
The No. 2 runner Jennifer Anderson is a senior.
"She was an all-stater her freshman and sophomore years," Jager said. "But she was injured all of last year and didn't run a race."
Soccer
Dexter celebrated the Division 2 state soccer title last year with a 22-2 record and coach Scott Forrester is hoping one special season will be followed by another.
"I knew that with this squad, special things could happen," Forrester said. "You always strive to win a state championship. To do it when there were a lot of teams in this division with a chance to win it was special. Each of the players were special in their own way. We had some very good players."
Dexter, in its bid for another title, is expecting a big season from senior foward Ross Seagram.
"He has great speed and makes things happen. Peter Jebson, a senor midfielder is a solid player and pretty much a playmaker," Forrest said.
Adam Umstead is a solid backfield player for Dexter, Forrester said.