The Saline Reporter
A Heritage Newspaper
Weekly Publication
2007's Top 5 Saline sports stories
PUBLISHED: January 3, 2008
(Editor's note: The Michigan High School Athletic Association's court-mandated season switch that shifted volleyball to fall and moved several other sports around is omitted from this list as a statewide story, rather than a local one.)
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1. Saline runs to success
How good were the Saline long distance runners in 2007? Good enough to push the Hornets to top-five Division 1 finishes in three different sports.
Alex Leptich, Kate Carter, Meagan Creutz, and Lindsey Cummings won the girls' track team its first Division 1 relay title, taking the 3200-meter relay championship. Along with solid sprint performances from Corrie Castro (sixth in the 200 dash) and others and a number of other scoring runs in distance events, the relay win was the biggest blow for the Hornets on their way to a program-best third-place finish.
The distance runners continued to set benchmarks in cross country season. Led by senior Blake Johnson's fourth-place finish and with Saline's top-five runners all scoring 50 points or fewer, the Saline boys also posted their program's highest finish ever, taking second at the state meet and finishing a narrow 17 points behind champion Pinckney. Led by Leptich, the Saline girls capped their year by taking fifth, running the program's overall fastest time at the state meet yet.
2. Soccer teams make playoff runs
One Saline soccer team advancing to the state quarterfinals might have been expected. But having both take home district titles and a regional semifinal win both made for a big year on the soccer pitch for the Hornets.
Neither came easy. The Saline girls cruised to their district title by an average of four goals a game, but advanced to their third straight regional final by virtue of a thrilling "golden goal" in overtime from Meredith Faas, eliminating Dearborn 2-1.
On paper, the Saline boys weren't expected to get past undefeated and third-ranked Ann Arbor Pioneer in the district final. But a stout Hornet defensive effort wore down the Pioneers and took the game into a penalty shootout at 0-0. Matt Garza would take the clinching penalty and goalkeeper John Conzelmann would make a series of saves to send the Hornets to Regionals, where Saline thumped Grosse Pointe South 3-0 to advance to the finals.
Both teams would fall to favored Northville in the regional championship (the Hornet girls 2-1 in arguably their best showing of the year), but Saline's soccer strength had been proven again.
3. The boys of spring
Girls' soccer wasn't the only Saline team to make serious playoff noise last spring.
Led by the mistake-free up-the-middle defense from senior second baseman Derek Fairchild and senior shortstop Casey Dishman, the Hornet baseball team allowed a staggering two runs over 39 innings of playoff baseball on their way to district and regional titles. The Hornets shut out Adrian 2-0 to win Districts and then downed Garden City 4-1 to take Regionals. Saline then came within a run of advancing to the state final four, losing 1-0 to Brighton in a 13-inning classic.
While that kind of success is nothing new for Saline baseball, the Saline lacrosse team was busy enjoying its best season in its brief history. With senior Grant Phillips and junior Scott Harris up front, seniors Kelly O'Sullivan and Ben Donahue in midfield, and senior Dan Stevens in defense, Saline finished the season a perfect 17-0. The Hornets then won a 9-8 overtime thriller against Ann Arbor Huron and upset Novi 6-5 to advance to their first regional championship.
4. Coaching carousel
2007 proved to be a turbulent year for Saline boys' basketball as the program saw three different coaches hold the head coaching position within the span of a few months.
Terry Breneman ended his successful 13-year tenure at the Hornet helm by resigning at the end of Saline's season in March. Afterward, Saline athletic director Rob White and a search committee turned to Schoolcraft College coach Mike Brown, who accepted the position and would oversee the Hornets' summer scrimmages and practices.
But Brown would resign himself Sept. 11, just a few weeks before official practice was to begin, when he was offered the Director of Basketball Operations position at Kent State University. Despite their precarious position, Saline proved to be, in White's words, "mind-boggling(ly)" lucky when former Grand Rapids Northview coach Jay Plitzuweit became available due to his family moving into the area.
Plitzuweit was hired within a week of Brown's resignation, saving Saline from any last-second scrambles, and has the Hornets 2-4 with a road upset of Chelsea thus far in the 2007-2008 season.
5. Hornets fall a game short
The Saline football team saw its two-year run of postseason berths snapped, but not without coming as close record-wise as the Hornets could come.
After a difficult summer that saw several Hornets injured — including returning starting quarterback Kyle Brown, lost for the season with a knee injury — Saline started the season strong, defeating Flint Carman-Ainsworth, Lincoln, and Pioneer. After a setback at Tecumseh, the Hornets soundly defeated Bedford 27-10 to move to 4-1 and need just two wins in their final four games to advance to the playoffs.
But the Hornets' schedule stiffened and the wins didn't come. Road losses to Chelsea and Adrian meant Saline would have to defeat both Dexter and South Lyon in their final two games to claim the playoff berth. The Hornets edged Dexter 28-21 but fell to the visiting Lions 23-7 in Week 9 to close their season at 5-4.
Honorable Mention: Saline volleyball wins SEC Red title, breaks Bedford stranglehold; Hornet wrestlers win districts, post two top-five individual finishes at state; boys' swim team ninth at state meet, for program's best finish ever; ice hockey team wins just two regular season games but advances to regional final with two playoff victories; girls' water polo shines at Regionals, advances to state meet for first time ever; gymnastics team posts second straight perfect season in conference play, wins league title; field hockey team plays inaugural season; girls' swim team scores at state meet for first time in three seasons; neither girls' golf team nor boys' tennis team gets over state qualification hump in two tries, though Sarah Hoffman twice qualifies for individual play at state meet.
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