PHOTOS BY B ILL GEMMEL L
Far left:
It'll take a few games for Simon Galed to get
his timing at the plate.
Left:
Besides playing first base, Galed
(17) expects to pitch and catch this spring.
Below:
Gated was the MVP of the Berkley
boys swimming team.
;`,-`01VVittA\
Simon Says
I
ime flies when you're having
fun. Just ask Berkley High
School senior Simon Galed.
In less than two months,
Galed's prep sports career will
be over. He's been on the
Berkley boys swimming team
for four years and he's been in the base-
ball program since he was a freshman.
Swimming and baseball have kept the
lifetime Huntington Woods resident busy
during the winter and spring. While he
hasn't competed for Berkley during the
fall, Galed has swam with the Penguins
of Royal Oak club team.
Baseball and swimming have occupied
Galed's summers.
Away from athletics, Galed plays the
drums. He was in the Berkley jazz band
from his freshman through junior years
(a scheduling problem prevented him from
being in the band this year) and he was in
the Metropolitan Youth Symphony from
seventh through 10th grade.
"I just can't picture what high school
would have been like if I didn't have some-
thing to do after school," Galed said. "I
would have gone crazy."
These days, Galed has baseball practice
from 3:30-5:30 p.m. each weekday and he
swims with the Penguins from 7-9 p.m. at
Royal Oak Dondero High School. That's
when he doesn't have baseball games, of
course.
During the winter, Berkley's morning
Berkley High School swimming star Simon Galed now
hopes to sparkle on the baseball diamond.
STEVE STEIN STAFF WRITER
swim practices started at 5:30 a.m., so he
got an early start on his day.
Galed had a super senior season on the
Berkley swimming squad. The tri-captain
was named the team MVP and he was All-
Division II in the new Oakland Activities
Association, All-Oakland County and All-
State.
A fifth-place finish in the Class A state
meet as a member of Berkley's 200 med-
ley relay team earned Galed his All-State
honor. That quartet is up for All-Ameri-
can consideration.
Also at the state meet, held at Michi-
gan State University, Galed was eighth
in the 100 freestyle and ninth in the 50
freestyle.
In the inaugural OAA Division II meet
held at West Bloomfield High School, Galed
won the 50 and 100 freestyle and he was
on the winning 200 medley relay team.
"I like the competition and challenge of
swimming and I want to continue with
that sport in college," said Galed, who is
considering Miami (Ohio) and Columbia.
"If I can play baseball, too, as a walk-on,
that would be great."
Galed has a 3.21 grade-point average,
but he scored an impressive 27 and 1220
on his ACT and SAT tests.
A lanky 6-foot-2, 174-pounder, Galed is
beginning his second season on the
Berkley varsity baseball team. He previ-
ously played on the freshman and junior
varsity squads.
Last year, Galed was a backup catcher
and pitcher on Berkley's 16-9 squad. He'll
continue in those roles this spring, plus
see action at first base.
"Catcher is my favorite position, but I'm
happy to play anywhere," Galed said. "I
like catcher because you're always in the
game and you have the responsibility of
running the team. I like that kind of
pressure."
Berkley's starting catcher is Ryan
Cameron, who is considered one of the
best high school backstops in the state.
Galed expects to see plenty of action
this spring, however, because Cameron
sometimes is slowed by back problems.
"I think I throw as well as Ryan
does, but he blocks the ball better than
I do," Galed said.
Being a swimmer and baseball play-
er in high school is an unusual com-
bination. It seems most baseball
players come off the football and bas-
ketball teams. Because of the back-to-
back swimming and baseball seasons,
Galed says it takes some time for him
to catch up to his baseball teammates.
"People think you get arm strength
for baseball because of swimming, but
it's a different motion," he said. "It's also
going to take me a while to get my tim-
ing at the plate this season because I
missed three weeks of baseball practice."
The Berkley baseball team will take
a 1-2 record into doubleheaders today
and Saturday against Southfield-Lathrop
and Birmingham Groves.
Galed is the son of Asher and Claire
Galed. His sister, Tamar, 20, is a Berkley
grad who also swam for the Bears. She's
now a student at the University of Michi-
gan. ❑
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