! \ d! 74. 1 AWARDS JACKET This week's achievers in sports BLOWOUT! CAROL R. COHEN SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS PHOTOS BY BILL GEMMELL Senior Division a I4 cly) ° Regular Price Merchandise In Stock Items Only •1-4 4 * 1 Roots 138 West Maple • 810-647-6687 Attention! • Home Owners • Builders • Designers • Architects • Decorators Add Beauty & Dimension... SAVE 30%* on Mirrored Bi-Fold Closet Doors By Our Mirror Design & Installation Specialists For Your Free Estimate or Consultation Call Our Custom Experts at; 810353-57F 70 And Visit Our Southfield Showroom at: GLASS A Clear Reflection of. Quality Since 1964 22223 Telegraph Road (South of 9 Mile Road) for a limited time, with this ad! J EWISH NEWS MAXIE COLLISION INC. Collision Work ■ Theft Repair Unibody Repair ■ Industry Trained ■ Custom Paint & Colors Insurance Work ■ Minor/Major ■ All Makes & Models Mention this ad and get a Free Glaze (with min. $500 bogy work) IVIAXIECollision, Inc. 737-7122 36 Month Paint Performance Guarantee 32581 Northwestern Highway, Farmington Hills I letters for soccer, basketball and tennis. He took up squash at the age NAME: Eugene Perle of 35, when he came to Detroit TEAM: Fifteen-year member of from Pittsburgh. During the the Jewish Community Center 1970s, he played the sport only squash team, which competes in intermittently. the Michigan Squash Racquets The real turning point in Per- Association against teams in le's squash career came when he southeastern Michigan. turned 45. His buddy, Don Eu- DEED: Perle, 59, has been ranked genio, asked him to be his dou- as one of the top three singles bles partner in a Cleveland squash players in the nation for tournament. the past 11 years in his age After this event, Perle told his bracket by the United States wife she was going to be a Squash Racquets Association "squash widow on the week- (USSRA). He resides in West ends." Bloomfield and has been a pro- For the last 15 years, he has fessor of urban planning at become extremely competitive in Wayne State University for 25 squash and played in dozens of years. tournaments. Perle's country- For the past two years, Perle wide exposure began in 1984 when he made it to the semi-finals of a national sin- gles tournament in Cleveland. Over the past five years, Perle has coached indi- vidual players and gives clinics by re- quest in south- eastern Michigan. In squash's off- season, from May through Septem- ber, Perle plays tennis and golf. However, during this time, he does keep up his squash by playing once a week. The competitive season runs from October-April, when Perle plays at least four times a week at the Maple-Drake Jew- ish Community Center. has been the USSRA singles age 55-and-over champion. He has also been the USSRA doubles champion for the last five years. John Fuller from Toronto was Perle's partner for the first four years, and Fred Bracher from Philadelphia was his partner last year. In addition, Perle won last year's national singles and dou- bles championships in his age group in the Canadian Squash Racquets Association. Perle is the third person ever to win all four championships in one season. He has also played for the U.S. squash team during the past three Maccabi Games in Israel. Perle won bronze medals in sin- gles in 1985 and 1993 and is hop- ing to compete in the 1997 games. THE SKINNY: Perle has a wife and three grown children. He has participated in athletics all his life. Perle attended Dartmouth College in New Hampshire, where he received three varsity Perle's first major competition this season will be a doubles tournament in November in Montreal. He plays in at least two national singles and doubles tournaments division each month from November to April. QUOTE: "Squash has become a sig- nificant part of my life. Through participation, I have met an amazing number of nice people throughout North America, some of whom have become good friends," Perle said. "One of the greatest things about the sport is that it is a game one can enjoy for life while staying physically fit and active as well." Junior Division N NAME: Benjamin Gitler TEAM: Berkley High School var- sity football and wrestling DEED: Gitler, 17, is a 6-foot-l-inch, 185-pound senior at Berkley High. He is being recruited by five colleges. Last March, Gitler qualified as an All-State wrestler, placing sixth in the 172-pound weight class at the Class A tournament in Battle Creek. This spring, Gitler will captain Berkley's High School wrestling. He is being scouted by Duke Uni- versity and Swarthmore College. Gitler plays tight end and defensive end for the Berkley football team. He started both ways as a junior and now as a senior. Last year, the Oakland Activities Association voted Gitler to the All-League second team. Berkley's varsity football team had an 8-3 record in 1994. They lost in the Class A regionals to Royal Oak's Kimball after beat- ing Birmingham's Brother Rice in the districts last November. Cornell, Princeton and Cen- tral Michigan Uni- versity are recruiting Gitler for football. THE SKINNY: Gitler started playing football at age 12. He a was corner back and running back for Berkley's Norup Middle School. Gitler began wrestling at age 14. His freshman football coach was also the varsity wrestling coach, and he persuaded Gitler to try out for the team. Gitler admits he enjoys both sports equally well. He says, "Wrestling is more individual and self-motivat- ing. Football is more of a team C: \