PHOTO BY DANIEL LIPPITT

Country Day's
Dan Klemptner

Dual Loyalties

Dan Klemptner
has been
a star at
Country Day,
in two
athletic fields
and in the
classroom.

YAACOV D. SCHOLAR

SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS

D

an Klemptner, a 17-year-
old high school senior
at Detroit Country Day
School, has a unique
role. He is co-captain of both the
varsity football and tennis
teams.
Klemptner's football squad
won the 1995 Class B football
state championship and, last
spring, he was part of the Class
B tennis state championship
team.
In the process, he was named
to the All-Area football team by
the Eccentric Newspapers and
to the All-County tennis team by
the Oakland Press.
Klemptner has also been a
winner in the classroom. A

magna cum laude student,

the West Bloomfield resident's
favorite subject is physics.
He takes classes in both Span-
ish and French and speaks
Russian.
"Languages really interest me
and I'm good at them," he says.
The 1995 football season,
when Country Day finished with
a 12 win and 1 loss record, was
quite exciting. But the 1996 sea-
son, where the team finished 4-
4, was more enlightening.
"On the surface, I was disap-
pointed" this year, Klemptner
says. "When I looked at the sit-
uation a little more, I realized
that I learned a lot more through
losing than through winning.

"I learned how to accept de-
feat. Even when you give your
best effort, there may be a bet-
ter team out there. Being able to
accept the loss is important."
Klemptner, at 6 feet tall and
185 pounds, is a two-way line-
man for Country Day, playing
defensive end and offensive right
guard. He has been on the var-
sity football team since his
sophomore year when he was
brought up to the varsity during
the state playoffs.
Klemptner attributes last sea-
son's poor showing by Country
Day to the graduation of 21 se-
niors, including 12 starters.
"We were devastated by los-
ing all of those players," he says.

"Only five starters returned and
we suffered from a lack of expe-
rience."
Prospects for the tennis team
repeating their state champi-
onship triumph seem bright,
says Klemptner, who is a dou-
bles player. "We have a great
chance to repeat, All but one of
the singles players is back this
year, and with a little bit of work
all of the doubles teams should
gel and play well together."
Tennis season begins in the
early spring and the Class B re-
gional tournament for Country
Day is in mid-May at Cranbrook
Kingswood. What kind of train-
ing does Klemptner do to stay fit

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