Title IX at 50: Wroubel Has Championed Girls School Sports from Their Start
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
November 16, 2021
Betty Wroubel began coaching as a middle schooler during the mid-1960s, when she organized, found a sponsor for and coached with a summer softball team that competed against surrounding cities.
She’s coached something every year since – and a whole lot more.
This week she’s leading Pontiac Notre Dame Prep’s volleyball team as it chases what would be a fourth MHSAA Finals championship – the Fighting Irish take on Detroit Country Day tonight in a Division 2 Quarterfinal. She’s the third-winningest coach in MHSAA volleyball history, with a record of 1,634-327-132 since beginning her varsity coaching career at alma mater Clawson during the 1978-79 winter season.
But that’s just the start, and Wroubel has been part of Michigan’s girls sports rise and growth since the beginning.
She played basketball, volleyball, softball, tennis and ran track at Clawson before graduating in 1971, a year before Title IX was enacted. She then played volleyball, tennis and field hockey all for multiple seasons at Central Michigan University, graduating in 1975.
Wroubel returned to Clawson and coached basketball, volleyball and softball, then moved on to what was then Pontiac Catholic and later Oakland Catholic, and then Pontiac Notre Dame Prep when that school was formed beginning with the 1994-95 school year.
She’s led Notre Dame Prep’s volleyball team to Finals championships in 2007, 2013 and 2017 and coached Pontiac Catholic to the Class C softball championship in 1983 – the same year she earned her master’s degree from Michigan State University. Wroubel has led teams to a 908-310-41 record on the diamond, ranking among the state’s all-time winningest softball coaches as well.
But again, her coaching contributions – which are incredible – are only part of what Wroubel has given to athletics.
After previously serving as athletic director at Pontiac Catholic, she has served as athletic director at Notre Dame Prep since Fall 1994 and over the years has filled roles as assistant principal and co-chairperson of the health and physical education department, and taught sports medicine and leadership classes. She was named the state’s Athletic Director of the Year in 2020 by the Michigan Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association. She also received the MHSAA’s Women In Sports Leadership Award in 2016 and an MHSAA Allen W. Bush Award in 2010 for her behind-the-scenes work in school sports.
Wroubel has received various national Coach of the Year honors, including from the American Volleyball Coaches Association in 2007 and National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) Coaches Association in 2019. She is a member of various Halls of Fame – she’s been inducted by the Detroit Catholic League, Michigan High School Softball Coaches Association, Michigan High School Coaches Association, Michigan Interscholastic Volleyball Coaches Association and the Michigan chapter of the United States Specialty Sports Association.
Second Half's weekly Title IX Celebration posts are sponsored by Michigan Army National Guard.
Previous Title IX at 50 Spotlights
Nov. 9: Pioneer's Joyce Legendary in Michigan, National Swim History - Read
Nov. 2: Royal Oak's Finch Leading Way on Football Field - Read
Oct. 26: Coach Clegg Sets Championship Standard at Grand Blanc - Read
Oct. 19: Rockford Girls Set Pace, Hundreds After Have Continued to Chase - Read
Oct. 12: Bedford Volleyball Pioneer Continues Blazing Record-Setting Trail - Read
Oct. 5: Warner Paved Way to Legend Status with Record Rounds - Read
Sept. 28: Taylor Kennedy Gymnasts Earn Fame as 1st Champions - Read
Sept. 21: Portage Northern Star Byington Becomes Play-by-Play Pioneer - Read
Sept. 14: Guerra/Groat Legacy Continues to Serve St. Philip Well - Read
Sept. 7: Best-Ever Conversation Must Include Leland's Glass - Read
Aug. 31: We Will Celebrate Many Who Paved the Way - Read
PHOTOS Betty Wroubel confers with her team during the 2017 Class B Volleyball Finals weekend at Kellogg Arena. (MHSAA File Photo.)
Ace Pitching, Extra-Base Hitting Send Hartland, Woodhaven to Saturday
By
Tom Kendra
Special for MHSAA.com
June 15, 2023
EAST LANSING – Riley Phillips is one of the smallest girls on Hartland’s softball team and she bats way down in the No. 8 spot in the order.
But Thursday, she delivered her team’s biggest hit.
Phillips smacked a triple to deep left-center field in the fourth inning, scoring two runs to help the Eagles soar to a 4-0 victory over Lake Orion in the second Division 1 Semifinal at Michigan State University’s Secchia Stadium.
“I can’t believe I got ahold of it like that,” said Phillips, a converted outfielder who is playing second base for the first time this season.
“It was an amazing feeling to slide into third base and have everyone cheering for me. My senior year couldn’t be any better.”
It actually has a chance to get a little better Saturday, when Hartland will play for its first softball championship since 1996 when it faces Brownstown Woodhaven in the Division 1 Final at 12:30 p.m.
Woodhaven also posted a shutout, blanking Grand Blanc, 3-0, to advance to its first softball championship game.
Based on Thursday’s results, Saturday’s Final could be a pitching duel between Woodhaven’s Grace Usher and Hartland’s Kylie Swierkos.
Swierkos held Lake Orion’s previously hot bats to just four hits, all singles, with no walks and seven strikeouts. The senior did not allow a baserunner and was perfect after the third inning.
“I had a lot of nerves at first, but I guess that’s to be expected playing here,” said Swierkos, who improved her season record to 22-1. “To go this far with this team is just so special. I’m glad I get to share it with these people.”
Her dominant performance came as no surprise to fifth-year Hartland coach Taylor Wagner.
“Kylie has worked her whole life for this moment,” said Wagner, who has led the Eagles to two Regional titles out of four attempts as head coach. “She was built for this.”
Swierkos not only delivered on the mound, but with the bat as well. In fact, all four of Hartland’s runs were knocked in by the three seniors at the bottom of the batting order – one by Faith DeLanoy in the seventh spot, two by Phillips at No. 8 and one by Swierkos at No. 9.
That type of balance throughout the lineup has allowed Hartland to get back to the Finals and in position to win the school’s second softball state championship.
“They make it easy for me as a coach because, from top to bottom, they are getting the job done,” said Wagner, who is assisted by Lindsay Brandon. “This is one of the toughest sports to win a championship in. You have to win seven games, and you have to be perfect.”
Lake Orion, 33-7, came into the postseason unranked and made an impressive run to the Semifinals, including a 2-1 upset of top-ranked Macomb Dakota in the Regional Final. The Dragons had scored double-digit runs in their first three postseason games, but their bats went cold Thursday against Swierkos.
Lake Orion sophomore pitcher Rylee Limberger did her part to keep her team in the game, allowing eight hits and four earned runs in six innings of work.
Brownstown Woodhaven 3, Grand Blanc 0
Grace Usher was dominant on the mound, using her changeup and impeccable control to keep Grand Blanc off-balance.
Usher went the full seven innings in the win, allowing just two hits and striking out nine.
“I was nervous at first; I was shaking,” said Usher, a junior who upped her season record to 19-3. “Once we scored those two runs, it settled me right down.”
The Warriors scored two runs in the first inning and added another in the third – with both of those rallies started by doubles from sophomore shortstop Ariel Krueger, who scored two runs. Lindsay Marlewitz also had two hits for the Warriors.
That was more than enough runs for Usher, who said the strategy coming into the game was pitching the Bobcats down and away, and throwing plenty of changeups.
“When Grace is on her game, I would put her up against anyone in the state,” said second-year Woodhaven coach Ken Kroll, before adding a little caveat before Saturday’s Final. “But we have three pitchers we can go to, and they all have different stuff.”
Usher’s performance overshadowed a strong outing from Grand Blanc senior Sydney Long, who allowed five hits and struck out eight in six innings.
Brownstown Woodhaven, 35-4 and ranked No. 10 entering the postseason, is making school history with every game this postseason, winning its first softball Regional title last weekend, and now adding Quarterfinal and Semifinal wins.
“We are playing care-free,” explained Kroll. “The girls are feeling it right now. I would say we are very confident, but not cocky.”
PHOTOS (Top) Hartland catcher Sadie Malik shows Semifinals-level intensity Thursday. (Middle) Eagles ace Kylie Swierkos makes her move toward the plate during her team’s victory. (Below) A Woodhaven hitter connects during her team’s Semifinal win. (Photos by John Castine/Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)