Sports
The Salem Rocks athletic department has confirmed the school’s girls basketball head coach Lindsay Klemmer has been relieved of her duties. This news comes after losing in the first round of the state tournament to park rival Canton. Kim Villarosa, Salem’s principal and Brian Samulski, Salem’s Athletic Director, confirmed the news last week. The administration wanted a “change in direction” for the girls basketball program, according to Samulski.
Klemmer was hired by Salem after former coach Fred Thomann passed away in 2013. Salem’s girls basketball team has since taken off under Klemmer, a Salem alumnus, as they finished her first full season in 2014-15 with 20 straight wins before losing to Hartland in the Regional finals. This year, the Rocks had less luck with the departure of their senior six, and only made the first round of the state tournament before losing to Canton. Klemmer finishes with a 32-13 record, good enough for 71.1% in her two full seasons with the team.
When asked about the change, Villarosa said, “I can confirm that Lindsay Klemmer is no longer a Salem High School coach. I am sure you understand that it is unethical for me to share matters related to an individual's employment beyond that. Please also know that decisions related to coaches are not based only on wins and losses.”
The respect that Klemmer had from players, as well as other coaches is well noted. Ryan Ballard, the Plymouth Girls Basketball head coach said, “I have an enormous amount of respect for Coach Klemmer as a coach and person. I have admired her tireless work ethic from afar over the last two seasons. I'm confident she will find success at whatever school hires her next.”
According to Samulski, Salem will let the new head coach determine the fate of assistant coaches James Head and Nancy Blaylock, as well as junior varsity and freshman coaches Kayla Bridges and Anna Brittnell. “There’s an evaluation process that we go through, and there’s standards that we look at. We will go through an interview process (for the next head coach),” said Samulski. The replacement hire will be decided by a core group that consists of Samulski, Villarosa, another administrator, a player on the team, and potentially a parent.
A document was obtained from Samulski that explains what Salem is looking for predominantly throughout its athletic department. These four goals include providing academic support, developing competitive athletes in the hopes of winning games, leadership and dignity, and promoting school spirit.
Via an article published by the Detroit Free Press, Fred Thomann (31 year coach prior to Klemmer) told her, “I've been waiting to bring somebody in that I feel comfortable handing over this program to. I want a young female like yourself to run this program." For the first time in 35 years, Salem might have someone heading the girls basketball team not directly associated with the school legend.
Tuesday, April 26, 2016
Salem Girls Basketball Coach Relieved of Duties
By: Chris Robbins
Sports Editor
The Salem Rocks Boys Basketball season came to an end in the opening round of the Class A District Tournament. This year, the district tournament was hosted by Salem. In the first round of the tournament, the Rocks were matched up with division rival Novi. During the regular season the division foes faced off twice, each winning one game. They first played in early January, where the Rocks were able to gut out a close win with the final score of 55-52. They later faced off that same month, however, this time the outcome was different. Novi was able to bounce back and defeat the Rocks by a score of 67-53. The Cats would prevail once again against the Rocks in the district opener. The final score was 59-56.
Senior center Kenny Topolovec, said, “Although we didn’t make it deep into the playoffs, this season has been one to remember.”
The Rocks had a solid season overall. They started out slow by losing their first two games. First they loss to Ann Arbor Skyline at home, the final score was 63-56. The Rocks would then lose again a week later to cross division rival Livonia Churchill by the score of 62-49. The Rocks would then impressively bounce back by winning their next five games before losing a heartbreaker to rival Northville by one point.
Seniors Calin Crawford, Freddie Mcgee, Matt White and Kenny Topolovec guided the Rocks to a winning season. The Rocks finished with a division record of 6-4, and an overall record of 12-9. Although the Rocks are losing four seniors, the 2016-17 basketball season looks bright for the Salem Rocks. Key returners for the 2016-17 season include Cam Barden, Cameron Grace, Jeremy Armstead and Kyle Winfrey.
Senior forward Matt White, said, “These past four years have been great. I couldn’t have asked for better teammates or coaches.”
Thursday, April 14, 2016
Salem Basketball Recap
By: Hamoudy Turfe
Staff Writer
Thursday, April 28, 2016
Park Rivalries: What Makes them so Special?
By: Michael Adzima
Sports Editor
P-CEP is definitely unique in many ways. Having three high schools on one campus affects student life in so many ways, but one of the biggest impacts this model has is on the local sports world. No matter the sport, whenever these teams meet up, it brings out the competitiveness and passion that makes sports great.
The Cross Creek Rivalry between Canton and Salem has been alive since the 1970s, when the two schools were the original Park. Having multiple schools on the same campus was sure to create heated athletic competition from the start.
To this day the Cross Creek Rivalry between the Rocks and Chiefs has delivered memories that players and fans will carry with them forever. Salem senior and baseball player Shane Prevo said his favorite memory of the rivalry was beating Canton when the Rocks’ pitcher threw a no-hitter. Beau Hoffman, Canton senior soccer player, said that he will always remember defeating Salem in district playoffs this year, “It was really emotional for all our seniors. It was Salem’s last game together and it was kind of our payback, but it was one of our best games...It was sad to see them home because they are still our friends.”
Friendship plays a large part in the Park rivalries. The fact that players are competing against friends and classmates makes for heated competition, but with the addition of effort and sportsmanship. “The opponents could be someone that is in one of your classes, so the fact you see these guys every day heightens the intensity of the game,” said Canton senior Alex Aresco. Walking into a rivalry game like these radiates an atmosphere that is unmatched.
The sights and sounds of the fans from the schools makes these games truly special. Not only are the players friends and classmates, but so are the fans. The passion on and off the court that comes with a PCEP rivalry makes these games truly exhibitions of great sport. “These games have fierce competition, high energy, and high emotions. It’s a championship atmosphere,” said Cassidy Lewis, Plymouth senior basketball player.
Of course, with any rivalry, bragging rights are on the line. Everyone loves to win and be able to walk around P-CEP the next day knowing you trumped your rivals. Hoffman added, “You don’t want to be losing and hear your peers talk about how you lost or how they won.”
At the end of the day, these rivalries do bring P-CEP closer. When the Wildcats take on the Rocks or the Chiefs, or Canton faces off against Salem. Fans of the schools unite together in order to root for school pride, but in all, nobody can deny that good competition like this is what makes high school sports great.
Thursday, April 28, 2016
Park Rivals Face Off at City Meet
By: Kylie Cardenas
Staff Writer
Plymouth, Canton and Salem track teams came together at the city-wide meet on April 22 to race to be declared the Park’s team to beat. In the end, the Plymouth girls and Salem boys earned that title. Canton is set to race against Plymouth again May 5, giving them two weeks to improve.
This is Plymouth girls’ first time winning the city meet in four years and it was well deserved. The top spot in 11 of the 17 varsity events was taken by a Plymouth girl. Plymouth junior Erin Bradley broke two six-year old school records in the 60m and 100m hurdles with a time of 9.37 and 15.33 seconds, respectively. Sisters Ryen Draper, junior, and Reghan Draper, freshman, now respectively have the top two records for the 60m dash and the 400m relay split.
The team held a pretty strong lead over their Park peers but performing better than Canton and Salem isn’t the only thing on the Plymouth girls’ team mind.
Chaz Jeffres (Salem), Zachary Clark (Canton) and Ethan Byrnes (Plymouth) compete in the 1600 meter.
“Goal number one is by the end of the season we want girls running faster times than they were at the beginning of the season,” said Coach Styes of the Plymouth girls’ team, “Whether they are varsity, JV - it doesn’t matter.”
Salem boys also took a far lead ahead of Canton and Plymouth on the score sheet, setting some school records in field events in the process. Senior Jannik Schmitt now holds the school record for both shot put and discus. Scoring big points on the track were senior Chaz Jeffres and sophomore Andrew Davis. This is the team’s third city meet win in a row.
Salem girls only fell ten points behind Plymouth and have been placing in the top two for all of their meets this season, making them a team to keep an eye on. New records in the books include sophomore Haven Essien’s 100m hurdle time of 15.6 seconds and all of the top five records for 400m and 800m relay splits are new 2016 records.
Canton girls came in third and the boys came in second, but there were some new school records achieved. Freshman Jada Sabir broke the 60m dash record and Senior Jessica Krone broke the 200m record. Freshmen Jade Sabir, Donae Adams and Anna Nagelhout all made top five records showing that although the girls’ team is young, they are full of determination.
“The girls are prepped and prepared, and they’re easy to coach because they just want to do this,” said Coach Peregoy.
As for the Canton boys, new records have been set by junior Zachary Clark in the two mile race and by junior Jemal Vaunado in the 60m hurdles.
The boys’ team has won both of their one-on-one meets so far and placed fourth out of 14 teams in the Belleville Tiger Relays, proving that there is still a lot of potential for this team.
Photo by Janet Nava