Health & Fitness SPORTS/STYLE Position Switch In order to make the lacrosse team, U-M freshman went on the defensive. Steve Stein Special to the Jewish News ordan Kirshner was a high-scor- ing offensive midfielder for three years on the Ann. Arbor Huron High School boys lacrosse team. And he had a blast. "I love offense, and I love scoring goals; said Kirshner, who made second team All-State as a senior and set a school record for points in a game with 11 (eight goals and three assists). Kirshner headed to the University of Michigan after he graduated from Jordan Huron. Kirshner He wanted to play offensive midfield for the U-M men's lacrosse team; but during tryouts, Coach John Paul suggested Kirshner switch to defensive midfield. In other words, if you want to make the team, son, that's what you need to do. Kirshner took his coach's advice, and he made the team. "At first, I wasn't excited about playing defensive midfield; but I got to play in all 18 games of our games as a freshman, and now I really enjoy the position;' Kirshner said. Kirshner helped U-M make history this spring in his sophomore season. The Wolverines finished 20-0, and won their first Men's Collegiate Lacrosse Association national championship. They're the first MCLA team to go undefeated since the MCLA was established in 1997. U-M defeat- ed Chapman 14-11 for the MCLA champi- onship at Texas Stadium in Dallas. Kirshner had five goals and four assists while playing in 19 games this season. One of his goals came against Michigan State in U-M's 21-5 victory over the Spartans in the Central Collegiate Lacrosse Association championship game. Kirshner received two post-season hon- ors. Besides being named second team All-CCLA, he was selected an Academic All- American by the MCLA. A geology major with a biochemistry minor, Kirshner car- ries a 3.3 grade point average. "Lacrosse wasn't my major reason for coming to U-M, but I knew I wanted to get involved in some sort of team activity' Kirshner said. "I'm a big team sports guy. I love the camaraderie. What's great about our lacrosse team is we have players on it from all over the country!' Because it's a club team, the U-M lacrosse squad doesn't receive financial support from the university. Money is generated through dues, fundraisers and summer lacrosse camps. Kirshner doesn't feel slighted because lacrosse isn't an intercollegiate sport at U-M. "Our program is run just like an inter- collegiate sport:' the 6-foot, 175-pounder said. Kirshner's brother, Brent, also an offen- sive midfielder at Huron, will be a freshman at U-M this fall. Jordan says Brent plans to try out for lacrosse, most likely at defensive midfield. Cal's Coming Laura Stern has two bits of very good news to report regarding the Michigan Jewish Sports Foundation's Hank Greenberg Memorial Golf Invitational last month. More than $130,000 was raised at the 18th annual invitational, an increase of more than 20 percent from last year. Part of the proceeds will fund screening for breast and ovarian cancer at the Detroit-based Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute. Thanks to the $130,000-plus intake, the invitational has raised more than $1 million for cancer research and treatment. "Considering the challenging economic times we're in, beating last year's donation total by more than 20 percent is quite an achievement:' said Stern, the new MJSF executive director. Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig received the Hank Greenberg Memorial Award for lifetime achievement at the invi- tational. Next year's recipient has already been selected, and he'll be at Tam O'Shanter Country Club in West Bloomfield on June 15,2009, to receive the award. Cal Ripken Jr. is the 2009 Greenberg Award recipient. The Baseball Hall of Famer will forever be remembered for playing in 2,632 consecutive games from 1982-98, breaking Lou Gehrig's "unbreakable" record of 2,130 games. ❑ Send news to sports@thejewishnews.com . On The Road Hair stylist takes salon to homebound customers. Judith Doner Berne Special to the Jewish News I is increasingly difficult for Rosalie Cole to take her almost 90-year-old mom, Sylvia Apel, out of the house for any- thing, much less to get her hair cut. That's where Marla Straschewski rolls in. Deliberately dressed in bright colors, she helps Cole walk Apel into the kitchen and sit her down in a chair near the sink. "You're going to get your hair cut again:' Straschewski says to Apel, gently easing a plastic cape around her. "Let's put your hands underneath, so we don't get hair on your nice sweater; she tells Apel, a Polish Holocaust survivor who escaped to Russia with her husband and father. As the haircut proceeds, Straschewski constantly asks how she's doing, patting her when she grows anxious. When it's time for the blow dryer, she first blows a little warm air on Apel's arm. "She doesn't like the dryer.," Cole confirms. At session's end, after seeing the results in A34 July 3 • 2008 a hand mirror, Apel hums to herself "She sings when she's happy' Cole says. Straschewski, a Bloomfield Hills resident who grew up in Oak Park, launched Marla's Mobile Miracles about a year ago, bring- ing hair styling and manicures along with massages and pedicures to people in their homes, whether private or assisted living. This includes the elderly, their caregivers, post-op patients, busy professionals, new moms and moms to be. "I've been doing hair for 30 years',' Straschewski says. "I do clients in my home and started my mobile business because there's such a need for it!' In fact, most of Straschewski's go-to clients are fragile, in body and/or mind. "I usually wear bright colors. It makes them Both her certification as a medical assistant as well as the recent illness of her mother, Sara Bakst, have been helpful, she says. Taking care of Bakst, a Troy resident who is now fully recovered from open heart sur- gery and back at work, made Straschewski more fully realize the importance of in- home beauty care, she says. "I lived the life of not being able to stand seeing how my mother looked. So I under- stand. They want their hair done. They can't always convey it to us!" Its important, Straschewski says, for both the homebound person and his or her caretakers. "We're used to seeing our parents look a certain way' Indeed, Cole, a real estate agent who lives in Oak Park, called Beaumont Hospice in Troy seeking a recommendation for a home hair cutter. "I called Marla and she was wonderful;' Cole says. "She took pictures of my mom" "I've heard nothing but rave reviews about Marie says Elaine Landback, a Beaumont Hospice social worker from Royal Oak. "Her heart is really in this!" Everyone — young and old — feels bet- ter when their hair looks nice, Landback says. `And people treat you better!' She even knows of a church that has a special fund for needy people to have their hair done. "She's wonderful. My ladies love her:' says Marla Straschewski of Bloomfield Hills does the hair of Sylvia Apel, 89, in her Oak Park home. Lori Tenney, proprietor of Nannie's Inn, a women's nursing facility in West Bloomfield. "She's friendly and talks to them while she's doing their hair. "No matter their degree of dementia, if they used to have their hair done on a week- ly basis, they stress about their hair," Tenney says. "Most of my seniors are in wheelchairs. Marla brings all her own stuff. It's a great service!" For Straschewski, it's a two-way street. "When I see these people, it brings me peace and serenity;' she says. ❑ You can reach Marla's Mobile Miracles at (248) 303-1228.