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From left, St. Ursula President Mary Werner, St. John’s Jesuit President Mike Savona, Vic Michaels of the Catholic High School League, St. Francis de Sales President Rev. Geoff Rose, Notre Dame Academy President Kim Grilliot, and Central Catholic President Kevin Parkins during a news conference announcing that TRAC schools will join the Catholic High School League in Detroit on March 22 at St. John’s Jesuit High School in Toledo.
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5 TRAC schools formally join Detroit area's Catholic High School League

THE BLADE/JEREMY WADSWORTH

5 TRAC schools formally join Detroit area's Catholic High School League

The five Toledo high schools that have officially joined the Catholic High School League will compete on a level playing field in the mega Michigan conference.

Central Catholic, Notre Dame, St. Francis de Sales, St. John's Jesuit, and St. Ursula are the newest members of the CHSL, a conference that has now grown from 27 private high schools located throughout southeast Michigan to 32 with the addition of the Toledo schools. Beginning in the fall of 2023, student-athletes at the Toledo schools will be eligible to compete in CHSL championships in 30 sports.

At a press conference announcing the new alliance at St. John's on Tuesday morning, officials with the Toledo schools said the main benefits are allowing their student-athletes the chance to compete for individual league honors and team titles.

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“That was a big piece of this,” St. Ursula athletic director Mike Donnelly said.

Central Catholic’s Chris Edmonds, left, is brought down by St. Francis de Sales’ Tim Zale, left, and Dominic Coleman.
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Another appealing aspect of the CHSL is the league's flexibility with each sport having competitive balance. After each season ends, the teams are evaluated and ranked to create a more level playing field. The teams are separated by divisions in each sport based on both performance and school size.

Vic Michaels, director of the CHSL, said the league allows for equal competition.

“Some schools are very good in one sport and not very good in another, and we can create a competitive schedule for as many schools as possible,” Michaels said. “One of the advantages of our league is that we have the ability to create schedules for both the good and the not-so-good teams.”

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For one, that appealed to St. Francis athletic director Justin Edgell. 

“For us, we've been very strong at swimming, so we will compete at the top in swimming,” he said. “But maybe some other sports where we are not as competitive in, we have the opportunity to compete in a lower level.”

Nick Kocsis, the athletic director at the University of Detroit Jesuit, said division alignment is voted upon by the board of directors.

“At the end of every season, we meet and then make adjustments to each division,” Kocsis said. “It will be nice to see these Toledo schools in different sports.”

St. Francis de Sales President Rev. Geoff Rose during a press conference announcing that TRAC schools will join the Catholic High School League in Detroit on March 22 at St. John’s Jesuit High School in Toledo.
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Garrett Simpson, the athletic director of Divine Child in Dearborn, said CHSL has four divisions in boys basketball and football.

“We want to keep it competitive,” he said. “If we have a team that can't compete, we move them down. It boosts everyone up. It's better for the kids to have a truer competition.”

The historic move was made necessary when the league that the Toledo schools compete in, the Three Rivers Athletic Conference, was forced to disband. The TRAC will become defunct following the 2022-23 school year after current members Clay, Findlay, Fremont Ross, and Whitmer leave the TRAC to join the Northern Lakes League. Lima Senior subsequently announced that it will join the City League.

The five Toledo Catholic schools will begin competing in the CHSL in the 2023-24 school year. The CHSL, which was founded in 1926, is the largest Catholic sports league in the United States. The league includes 21 Catholic high schools within the Archdiocese of Detroit, as well as several non-Catholic schools throughout southeast Michigan.

Donnelly said the schools are all like-minded, faith-based institutions that emphasize academic success, as well.

“Overall it's a really good fit,” Donnelly said. “Some programs may not be as strong as others and may not be able to compete in the higher divisions. Here we can fit in a better division where we can compete better. And then if that team has success, it can build up and go up to the higher level.”

Michaels said the decision to accept all five Toledo schools followed months of discussion.

“We're glad to give the Toledo schools a new athletic home and grow our community of schools committed to Christ-centered athletics. We are thrilled to welcome these great schools and their dedicated student-athletes,” Michaels said. “We expect this to benefit our member schools, as well.”

The former TRAC Catholic schools faced the daunting prospect of becoming independent, making scheduling a nightmare.

Michaels said some scheduling questions remain. But he said the CHSL and the new Toledo teams will benefit from more options to fill out their schedules.

The Rev. Geoffrey Rose, the president of St. Francis, said the Toledo schools have rivalries, but can also work well together.

“You can speak about what separates us, but what is far more important is what unites us — Christ-centered sports,” he said. “We all came together. Our contribution in joining this league is valued. The more teams you have, the more opportunity you have to match up.”

The Toledo schools will still compete in the the Ohio High School Athletic Association's postseason tournaments.

While the sports of football, volleyball, cross country, boys and girls basketball, wrestling, hockey, baseball, softball, and track and field all take place during the same season in both states, others do not.

“It won't be without many challenges,” Michaels said.

Perhaps the largest area of concern for the Toledo schools was the increase in travel time for competitions.

St. Ursula president Mary Werner said that aspect was thoroughly discussed.

“As we all came together to evaluate the opportunity, we did look at the travel that will be involved,” Werner said. “We will work together on the transportation issues. Our athletes travel all across the state as it is. Now we're just going in the opposite direction, geographically.”

Nearly half of the CHSL’s current membership resides in Oakland County, north of Detroit.

It would be a one-hour and 15-minute drive from Central Catholic on Cherry Street to Royal Oak Shrine in Royal Oak, Mich, It's a one-hour, 20-minute drive from the St. John's campus on Airport Highway to Brother Rice High School in Bloomfield Hills, Mich. And one hour and 25 minutes from St. Francis on Bancroft to Orchard Lake St. Mary’s in West Bloomfield Township, Mich.

Yet Toledo officials pointed out that while competing in the TRAC, the schools traveled at least an hour and a half to Lima Senior.

“Now we're just going the opposite direction geographically,” Notre Dame athletic director Gary Snyder said.

The farthest distance a Toledo school would have to travel would be about an hour and 45 minutes to compete against a CHSL opponent.

“I've been hearing a lot about weeknight games,” Donnelly said. “We will try to minimize travel for those that fall in the week. We don't want these kids getting home at 11:30 at night.”

Edgell said the ADs also had conversations with Catholic schools in the Cincinnati, Columbus, Cleveland, and Dayton areas.

“Those are all two-plus-hour drives,” he said.

Simpson said the addition of the Toledo schools is a major help in scheduling.

“We're always looking for games. Being able to add three boys and two girls schools, will help fill out those schedules,” he said. “We are really not too far away, and we have similar philosophies. We're going to have some fun with it.”

Central Catholic (high school enrollment of 580), Notre Dame (535), St. Francis (593), St. John’s (565), and St. Ursula (450) will join 27 Michigan schools with varying enrollment.

Snyder said the Toledo schools are looking forward to the challenges ahead.

“We want to have competitive seasons,” Snyder said. “It will allow us to have a regular season to get us ready for the OHSAA tournaments.”

First Published March 22, 2022, 8:19 p.m.

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From left, St. Ursula President Mary Werner, St. John’s Jesuit President Mike Savona, Vic Michaels of the Catholic High School League, St. Francis de Sales President Rev. Geoff Rose, Notre Dame Academy President Kim Grilliot, and Central Catholic President Kevin Parkins during a news conference announcing that TRAC schools will join the Catholic High School League in Detroit on March 22 at St. John’s Jesuit High School in Toledo.  (THE BLADE/JEREMY WADSWORTH)  Buy Image
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