Girls Swimming Marian, Seaholm, Groves The top swimmers in the area all competed at Lake Orion on Friday and Saturday in the 2011 Oakland County Girls Swimming and Diving Championships. Farmington Hills Mercy finished in first place in the team standings by a wide margin with over 350 points. Marian finished in second place while Seaholm (fifth) and Groves (eighth) both finished in the top 10. To automatically qualify for the meet, students had to swim better than cut-off times set for each individual event by Sept. 25. There was also a consideration cut-off time for all events. If a race had…

Cross Country Seaholm, Roeper Cross country coaches at Seaholm and Roeper both had things to be happy about with after the 2011 Old Skool Classic at Wolcott Farm on Saturday. The tournament featured more than 30 schools from around the state and hundreds of runners. During the race, runners ran against students in their own grade, making the meet unique from other cross country meets. Seaholm had more than 60 runners at the race and scored eight top ten finishes. Tess Wilberding was the top finisher for the Maples. The junior won her year’s group with a 5,000 meter time of 20:08. Junior …

Are you ready for some football? Groves and Seaholm are looking to pick up some big wins on the gridiron this week, while tennis and cross country also have big matches in the lineup. Here's a look at the big games ahead: Football Groves The Groves High School varsity football team will head to Andover this week for a game at 7 p.m. Friday. The Falcons will try to keep the longest winning streak the school has had in seven years going against a Barons team still searching for their first win.  Groves running back Keon Collier has scored four touchdowns in each of the past two games — can he …

Here's what's going on for local high school teams this week: Seaholm and Groves varsity volleyball The cross-town rivals don’t have to wait long this year for the Birmingham high schools’ annual game. The Maples will visit the Falcons' home court at 7 p.m. Thursday. Last year, Seaholm beat Groves in the regular season 3-1 and then eliminated it from the playoffs with a three-game sweep. The Maples return 11 starters from a team that finished 37-14 last year and reached the district finals. Neither team has any other games scheduled for the week. Seaholm and Groves varsity boys tennis The …

The fall sports season kicks into high gear after Labor Day weekend, but there was still some great action last week. Highlights included the Groves football home opener, a perfect week for the Seaholm swim team, and some of the state’s tennis heavyweights battling it out for an early win. Varsity Tennis Various The Brother Rice varsity tennis team had a solid first week of the season, picking up a win and a tie against two of the top teams in the state. On Wednesday, the Warriors beat Detroit Country Day 6-2. They were a perfect 4-0 in doubles actions and combined wins by Gunnar Peery in No…

Brother Rice, Country Day tennis It will be a battle of two of the top teams in the state at 4 p.m. Wednesday when the Brother Rice tennis team hosts Detroit Country Day in a face-off on the tennis courts. Brother Rice finished in third place in Division 1 last season while Country Day finished in second place in Division 3. Both teams are loaded with talent again this year. The Yellowjackets have nine returning players including their top two singles players, Sven Kranz and Rishi Patel, as well as their top doubles pairing, Alex Gruskin and Abay Hukku. The Warriors bring back a similar …

Country Day and Groves softball The two Birmingham-area teams face off at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Falcons' home field for a big out-of-conference showdown. Groves is currently undefeated (6-0) in the Oakland Activities Association (OAA) Blue division and could lock up the division with a strong week. After facing Country Day, the girls have doubleheaders against divisional foes Royal Oak at 4:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. Wednesday and Seaholm at 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. Friday. But first, they’ll have to deal with one of the top softball players in the state. Country Day shortstop Jessica Collins, who’s …

It was a busy week in high school sports in and around Birmingham. Here are this week's top four moments: Groves baseball closes in on 10 straight wins:  “At one point we were 1-3 and last place in the division,” Groves coach Jim Crosby said, laughing.Not anymore. The Falcons' 7-3 win on the road at Seaholm in extra innings Thursday completed Groves' worst-to-first run in the Oakland Activites Association Blue Division in just two weeks.Groves won all three of its games this week and extended its winning streak to nine games. The Falcons started off the week with a 9-1 win over Andover on the…

The baseball season continues in full force this week, with the Groves Falcons scheduled for several games this week. Meanwhile, top girls tennis teams from Seaholm and Marian face off in a repeat of their matches from last year's Division 2 state finals. Here's what going on this week in sports: Marian and Seaholm Girls Tennis Two of the top tennis teams in the state face off at 4 p.m. Tuesday at Seaholm High School. These teams clashed in the Division 2 state finals last year in three separate brackets, with the Mustangs winning all three matches en route to a state championship. Seaholm …

It was another rainy week in high school sports, but teams at Brother Rice, Groves, Marian and Seaholm still managed to rack up big wins in a variety of spring sports. Brother Rice baseball kept their winning streak alive during a conference rivalry match against Divine Child Friday, while the girls from the Marian and Birmingham Unified lacrosse teams kept things interesting Thursday. Here are this week's top five moments in Birmingham sports: Brother Rice baseball piling up wins: The Catholic League isn’t easy, but the Warriors are making it look that way. They pushed their win streak to 11…

Brother Rice baseball The Warriors are playing some pretty good baseball this season. While most teams in the area haven’t even played 10 games, Brother Rice already has 13 wins. On Friday, they play Catholic League rival Divine Child in a doubleheader at home, at 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. Back on April 6, Brother Rice split a doubleheader at Divine Child (5-4, 5-7) and the loss in the second game is the only blemish on the Warriors' 13-1 record. In the Catholic League, Brother Rice has dominated the Central Division so far and will look to extend their lead against a Divine Child team that has won …

It was a cold and wet week, decimating many school sports schedules. With games canceled because of snow, rain and cold temperatures Monday through Wednesday, followed by Friday's holiday, very few games went on as scheduled. But that doesn't mean nothing happened. This week, we're bringing readers three highlights from this week's sports action. Seaholm moves to 4-0: The Seaholm Maples maintained their perfect record on a cold Wednesday afternoon with a 4-0 win over Groves. While many baseball games in the area were canceled, the intercity rivals battled it out despite the weather and by the…

Snow in spring? Hopefully the bad weather won’t ruin the exciting schedule of games this week. Midweek rivalry games in both baseball and lacrosse are sure to bring the Birmingham area sports fans out no matter what the conditions.  Seaholm and Groves baseball The Maples beat North Farmington 11-3 on Wednesday and West Bloomfield 7-5 on Friday last week, improving to 3-0 on the year. The Falcons also have a winning record after a busy last week, with wins over Troy (9-2) and Farmington (14-8), as well as a loss to Andover (6-1).  The two Birmingham teams collide in an Oakland Athletics …

Country Day baseball pulls out a close one:  Frank Orlando's Yellowjackets opened the season on a positive note Thursday, beating Warren Woods Tower 7-6. The game was highlighted by three RBIs from Michael Azzopardi. Marian girls varsity soccer wins another:  The Catholic League isn’t easy, but the Marian girls make it look like it is. The Mustangs are going for a third straight championship this season, beating Bishop Foley 2-0 on Thursday with goals from Alexa Finger and Elizabeth Tresnak. Goalkeeper Makenize Larson was strong in the net and made sure the close game went Marian’s way. Check…

It's going to be a busy week in high school sports. The girls from the Marian varsity soccer team have little time to rest this week with three games, including a match-up against Bishop-Foley, who reached the Division 4 semifinals last year. Meanwhile, the boys from the Brother Rice varsity lacrosse team will be traveling to Illinois for a grudge match against New Trier, the only team to defeat the Warriors during last year's almost undefeated season. Seaholm baseball The Seaholm Maples opened the Oakland Activities Association (OAA) Blue Division on March 30 with a 3-2 win over Harrison. …