ADRIAN — The fall sports season is now underway in Adrian Public Schools, and Adrian student-athletes have had some successes and accomplishments during the season.
With 221 student-athletes participating in fall sports this year, athletics participation at APS continues to be strong and stable, Athletic Director Chad O’Brien recently told the Adrian School Board. I told him.
Maples finished the fall with accolades including two Southeastern Conference White Division Coaches of the Year, two Lenawee County individual champions, multiple SEC student-athletes and multiple All-State student-athletes.
For the winter athletic season, Adrian expects as many as 275 students to participate in sports offered by the district, O’Brien said.
Men’s basketball, wrestling and powerlifting all began Nov. 13. Gymnastics and bowling began his first full week in November. Both women’s basketball and men’s swimming began practicing last week.
Increasing fall and winter participation is a continued success for the APS recreational sports program. At the Adrian School Board’s Nov. 13 meeting, O’Brien said recreation numbers are “much better than they were before.”
For example, 50 children participated in flag football last year, and this year 22 children have been added to the program. “It’s amazing that it lasted more than a year,” he said. Another example, tackle football, back then he was 36 and now he is 49.
This fall’s recreational volleyball was hosted by 3rd and 4th grade students, and 5th and 6th grade students, with the exception of two events. O’Brien said eight volleyball courts were used for games during these tournaments: four at Adrian High School and four at Springbrook Middle School.
“The record numbers are very good and that feeds the rest of the program,” he said. “We have a lot of people trying out things like volleyball and basketball because they have the opportunity to play here.”
Here’s a breakdown of O’Brien’s highlights from the fall sports season:
- This fall, 71 students participated in soccer, about 20 more than last year. O’Brien said he expects this to continue. It was also the second year in a row that the high school football team qualified for the Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA) state playoffs.
- The men’s soccer team finished the year winning the Maple Invite and earning multiple SEC honors. Longtime football coach Ted Hanosh has retired from coaching and is not expected to return for the 2024 season. “This requires significant hiring within the department,” O’Brien said. “It’s been 33 years since we’ve had to hire a soccer coach.”
- Cross country numbers are stable for both the boys and girls teams. In cross country, the top six runners earn points for their team. The boys team won the district championship, and the girls team finished runner-up by one point. Both teams made it to the state tournament for the second year in a row, and both teams earned All-Academic state status.
- The women’s swim had 21 participants and the season continued through the weekend of Nov. 18, when the state meet was held at Oakland University. O’Brien said this year’s team broke multiple swimming records, with a total of 19 All-SEC athletes and seven swimmers qualifying for the state meet.
- According to O’Brien, sideline cheer, which does not compete in games or jamborees like competitive cheer, had 19 participants, an increase from last year. “The girls had so much fun,” he said. “They’re very organized and we get a lot of praise this year for that organization.”
- With 14 students participating in boys tennis this fall, O’Brien said it is becoming a solid program at Adrian. AHS tennis matches are held on the Adrian College campus. Todd Barras was in his first year coaching the Maples tennis team.
- The women’s golf team had 13 golfers and finished second to Pinckney in the league standings. Adrian had an individual county champion, an individual county runner-up, and a county team champion golfer. O’Brien said this is the first time in at least 10 years that the girls golf team has qualified for the state tournament.
- Equestrian is still new to Adrian, but this year the number of participants has doubled from one to two. This surge in numbers allowed Adrian to participate in equestrian team activities. The team won the district and regional championships.
- Of all the fall sports O’Brien is most concerned about is volleyball, whose numbers are on the decline. This year, we had nine students on the freshman team, seven on the junior varsity team, and nine on the varsity team. Still, the recreational program continues to produce a significant number of volleyball players, he said. In varsity volleyball, we had four SEC players, one honorable mention player, and one state player selected to the first team. The volleyball team advanced to the regional finals in the postseason and finished the season with a record of 30 wins, 15 losses, and 4 draws. Overall his GPA on the team allowed him to earn All-State Academic status with a 3.92.
The academic highlights that O’Brien provided through his fall sports recap were praised by the school board, especially President Beth Ferguson, who noted that schoolwork and athletics both require a great deal of effort and attention. He said it’s important for student-athletes to remember that. dedication.
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“It’s incredible to hear that there are some teams with (academic GPAs) of 3.92,” she said.
“Our kids are going to meet the standards. They’re going to do what it takes to play and participate,” O’Brien said.
— Contact reporter Brad Heineman at bheineman@lenconnect.com or follow him on X (formerly Twitter). twitter.com/Lenawiheinemann.