By Megan Kelley
Review Writer
LAKE ORION — With the end of the school year comes the end of the spring sports season. In what has become a standard practice, Lake Orion Athletic Director Chris Bell joined the LOCS Board of Education to provide an overview of the spring sport season, sharing highlights and achievements from teams, coaches and individual student athletes.
LOCS had 859 student-athletes participate with 21 high school teams including varsity, junior varsity and freshman, as well as three middle school track teams this spring.
Lake Orion is well known in the MHSAA (Michigan High School Athletic Association) for its facilities and is often asked to host several events, Bell said. This spring, Lake Orion hosted the first round of both the boys and girls lacrosse regional tournament, as well as the district softball tournament.
Baseball
The Lake Orion High School baseball team went 24-17-11 this year and 11-7 in the OAA Red division, good for a second place finish.
Andy Schramek completed his 24th season as head coach and is approaching 600 career victories, making him one of the winningest coaches in the state, Bell said.
Highlights of the season include the team winning districts by upsetting the number one ranked Orchard Lake St. Mary’s, delivering Orchard Lake their fourth loss in three years, and junior pitcher Kael Gahan making second team All-State
Five players were voted All-District and four were named All-Region.
Of the seniors, six are moving on to play baseball in college.
Additionally, coaches Eric Jennings and Dennis Recknagle and players Connor McCartan, Casey Robertson and Joey Bruno were selected to play in the Oakland vs. Macomb All Star game at Jimmy John’s Field, with Oakland defeating Macomb.
Boys Golf
The boys golf team finished 12th in the state finals and 2nd in both the MHSAA Regional tournament and OAA Red division.
Connor Fox was named first team All-State. Throughout the season, his low round was 66, which he shot at Ferris State, and his average was 71, a school record.
The two JV teams had a combined record of 15-5-1.
Girls Soccer
The varsity girls soccer team had an impressive season going 14-5-5 and taking 2nd place in the OAA White division. The ladies beat Rochester Adams in the beginning of district play but lost to Rochester High School in the district semi-finals.
Additionally, junior Brook Blackstock was named second team All-State.
The JV girls soccer team went 6-6-3.
Girls Lacrosse
Lake Orion’s varsity girls lacrosse team also had a great season finishing 13-3 overall and 3-2 in the OAA Red, good for 2nd place.
The season ended after the team lost by just one point in the regional semi-finals to White Lake.
The team was named an Academic All-State team with 13 players achieving Academic All-State honors.
Four players were named All-League: Quinn McElroy, Kate Shifferd, Amelia Guccione and Morgan Vasquez.
McElroy was named first team All-State as well as first team All-America. Vasquez was awarded All-State Honorable Mention.
Girls Water Polo
The girls water polo team finished 6th place in the league with a 4-12 record.
The young team spent the season rebuilding and improving on technique and game play.
Ella Terenzi was named an Honorable Mention to the East Region Team.
Boys Lacrosse
The varsity boys lacrosse team had an outstanding season, going 17-4 overall and finishing in 2nd place in the OAA Red.
The team also won their fourth consecutive Regional Championship.
Head coach Ron Hebert became the all time leader in career victories in the state and was selected as the Lacrosse Coaches Association “Man of the Year.”
Andrew Parker, Sam Haynes, Jackson Vasquez, Joseph DiJanni, Brady Garettson and AJ Leitz all received All-State recognition.
Boys Track and Field
The boys track and field team finished 2nd in the OAA Red division with a 3-1 record.
The team also won the Oxford invite against 28 teams and had top four finishes in the Oakland County and Regional meets.
Eight boys qualified for the MHSAA finals in the 4×100 relay, 4×200 relay and 4×800 relay.
Girls Track and Field
The LOHS girls track and field team finished in 3rd place in the OAA Red. The team also took 2nd place at both the Lincoln Indoor Classic and Allen Park Classic.
Individually, freshmen Grace Carlson and Layla Thomas were MHSAA State Qualifiers for the pole vault and long jump, respectively.
The freshman team finished in 3rd place in the County and had three freshmen named as County Champions.
Girls Tennis
The varsity girls tennis team finished 2-8 in dual meets and finished in 5th place in the OAA White. The young team expects to return 12 of 16 players next year.
Academically, the ladies all carried a 3.5 grade point average, or higher.
The JV girls team finished 6-4-1 and finished in second place in the Eisenhower Championship Tournament.
Softball
Lake Orion’s softball team continued to be a dominating force, finishing 33-7 overall and taking 2nd in the OAA Red with a 10-2 record.
The team won the district and regional tournaments and were a state semi-finalist for the fist time in school history.
Ellie Britt, Rylee Limberger and Sydney Bell were all named All-State Honorable Mention.
LOHS Spring Season Coach of the Year
Softball head coach Joe Woityra was named the LOHS Spring Season Coach of the Year.
“Coach Joe sets the standard for how he takes care of his program. Coaching at the high school level, what a lot of people don’t see, they see the season, but what they don’t see is the seven to eight months where we’re not in season. Whether it’s taking care of uniforms, ordering equipment, running all of your off season stuff, traveling around to see your players play in different tournaments, whatever it might be, we don’t have a coach who is a better caretaker of a program than coach Woityra. If all of my coaches were like coach Joe, my job would be a piece of cake because he anticipates problems, takes care of things and has a solution before he even comes to see me and I truly appreciate that about him,” Bell said.
Woityra has been the head of the softball program at Lake Orion for 14 years and has more than 370 career wins.
Before taking over as head coach, he coached wrestling at the middle school level and was the assistant softball coach at the high school. He is an LOHS graduate and has multiple league, district and regional championships.
Woityra thanked his coaches and other LOHS staff for helping him build such a strong and successful program.
“I don’t get here without my coaches and they don’t get enough credit. I learned long ago that you surround yourself with good people, smart people, usually smarter than myself, and then I just sit back and let them do what they do and that’s what gets us here,” Woityra said.