Interim Director of Athletics and Activities, Brian Gordon, addressed the Royal Oak Schools Board of Education on Thursday March 10, 2022.
He brought with him some select athletes to celebrate their successful season.
The ROHS Boys Basketball Team and the Girls Swim and Dive Team came to the board meeting to be recognized.
"A special thanks to all coaches, administrators, parents, and boosters who put forth all the time and effort to make the student/athlete experience educationally positive," said Gordon.
This past winter season, Royal Oak Athletes (171 male and 157 Female) competed in 363 contests across the State of Michigan both at the Middle School and High School level. While our teams are typically very successful from a wins and losses standpoint, our Student/Athletes continued to excel even more in the classroom. 90 High School aged students received the OAA Scholar Athlete award. This award goes to students that have completed at least 2 semesters at the high school level while maintaining a 3.5 cumulative GPA or higher. Over 47% of our High School aged athletes received this award! Our teams also received recognition as Academic All State in the sports of Men's Swim and Dive, Girls Basketball, and Wrestling. In addition to these accolades, our Wrestling team and Boys Basketball teams won OAA Divisional Titles.
The Royal Oak Athletic Department continues to host many MHSAA and OAA tournament events. This past winter we hosted the following: OAA Cheer, Second Chance Swim meet, MHSAA District Boys Basketball, MHSAA District Team Wrestling, and the MHSAA Hockey Finals at U.S.A. Hockey Arena. In addition to these tournaments, our Unified Basketball team competed at Little Caesars Arena and the Breslin Center on the campus of Michigan State University!
This past fall was also an extremely successful season for many of our teams. We would like to congratulate our Girls Swim and Dive team on finishing 11th in the State!! This is their highest finish since the combination of our two high schools in 2005. Our Girls Golf team also qualified for the State Finals for the first time in school history! The Boys Tennis team won their very first OAA Championship this past fall and continues to grow as a program. The Boys Cross Country team won the MHSAA Regional Championship while our Girls Cross Country team also qualified for the State Finals for the 3rd consecutive time. Boys Soccer, where they were unable to advance out of their District, was a Top 10 team according to the MHSAA ranking all year.
This past February, the Royal Oak Athletic Department hosted its very first Signing Ceremony where 13 of our Senior Student-Athletes will have the opportunity to pursue their goals of competing at the Collegiate level while continuing their education at a school of their choice.
Winter Signings/2022 Winter Ravens Playing at the Next Level
- Maya Ruffles Womens' Soccer Siena Heights Univ.
- Taryn Grobbel Womens' Soccer San Diego State U
- Ben O'Neill Men's Swim and Dive St. Bonaventure
- Matt Kaley Men's Swim and Dive College of Wooster
- Jesse Hoisington Football CMU
- Logan Rice Men's Soccer Olivet College
- Blake Vier Track and Field Northwood U
- Olivia Dunscombe Cross County Adrian
- Mairin Dalziel Women's Swim and Dive John Carroll U
- Colton Champion Baseball Albion
- Ava Cristea Women's Soccer Olivet College
- Sofia Floros Women's Swim and Dive Alma College
- Riley Harris Men's Soccer Olivet College
"In Athletics, we would like to thank each and every one of you for your continued support of Educational Athletics! We are very proud of the fact that our kids continue to achieve both in the classroom and in the Athletic Arena," Gordon said. "Our goal, as it has always been, is to teach life lessons and support ALL kids along the way. Go Ravens! Go Bulldogs!"
The following is a list of the highlights of the 2021-22 winter athletic season, put together by Brian Gordon.
Complimenting Academic Programs
The National Federation of State High School's "Excellence in Education" report acknowledges the value of co-curricular activities in that they complement programs in schools by raising the academic structure of participants. Special Benefits include: Better Attendance, Better Retention Rates, Higher Grade Point Averages, and Fewer Discipline Problems. The same report shows that 94-96% of dropouts did not participate in co-curricular activities.
All OAA Conference Honors
- Boys Basketball:
- Dylan Hoffman, Camden Clark, Dakari Thomas, Eddy Freytag, and Jesse Hoisington
- Girls Basketball:
- Ice Hockey:
- Quinn O'Connor, Ryan Transit, Anderson Brien, Luke Lampman, and Ethan Utych
- Wrestling:
- Liam Pattison, Elijah Solnikowski, Luca Conflitti-Nill, Max Idema, Matt Utter, Gabe Harrison, Kyler Thompson
- Boys' Swim and Dive:
- Brady Curtin, Colin Czarnik, Aden Dowdell, Hayden Forsythe, Matt Kaley, Bailey Needham, Ben O'Neill
- Dance:
- Alexandra Gerwolls, Reese McClelland, Alyssa Poppe, Miranda Solecki, Leah Baharozian, and Maddie Knott
Team Summaries for Winter 2021-22
Boys Basketball
V-13-8 overall
J.V. 12-8
Frosh- 4-10
OAA Gold Champs
Girls Basketball
V-3-18 Overall
J.V. 6-13
Frosh 7-5
Boys Ice Hockey
21-6-0 Overall
3rd OAA Red
Wrestling
6-0 OAA Blue
23-3 Overall
13th Oakland County
Boys Bowling
2-11
6th OAA White
Boys Swim & Dive
3rd White Division
6-4 Overall
State Meet
Competitive Cheer
3rd OAA White
7th MHSAA District
Girls Bowling
2-7
4th OAA White
Middle School Wrestling
Great Success!
Middle School Boys Basketball
7th Grade- Had Fun!
8th Grade- Can't Wait to come to ROHS!
Middle School Swim
Loves Swimming!
All-State Honors for Winter 2021-22
Boys Swim and Dive
- NISCA National Silver Level Academic Team Award
- 13 Academic All Americans
- Academic All-State
Girls Basketball
Ice Hockey
- Ranked as High as #4 by MHSHCA Div. 1
Wrestling
- Academic All-State
- MHSAA/OAA HONORS
Boys Basketball
Wrestling
Unified Basketball
- Champions
- Participated at Breslin Center
- and Little Caesars Arena
Dance
- 10th in Nation
- Universal Dance Association
Kate Meinecke
- MHSAA Scholar-Athlete Award Finalist
STATE QUALIFIERS
- Boys' Swim and Dive: Brady Curtin, Colin Czarnik, Aden Dowdell, Hayden Forsythe, Matt Kaley, Bailey Needham, Ben O'Neill
- Wrestling: Luca Conflitti-Nill and Kyler Thompson
COACHING HONORS
- Aaron Smith-Boys Basketball (OAA Gold Coach of the Year)
- Megan Henry- Girls Golf (Regional Coach of the Year)
- Tracy Kalinowski- Girls Swim and Dive (MISCA Coach of the Year)
- Kevin Friesen- Tennis (State Coach of the Year, MHSTCA Hall of Fame)
- Jason Palazzolo- Wrestling (OAA Coach of the Year)