24 June 20 • 2019 jn N ate Emery is a rock star. Or, more accurately, a rock-climbing star. At age 10. The Farmington Hills resident has competed indoors in six states and climbed recreationally outdoors in two states. He’ s one of the best in the country in his age group in two USA Climbing competitive disciplines — bouldering and sport climbing. Nate works hard so he can stay ahead of his competition. He spends 12-15 hours a week climbing and training. He’ s been a member of the Madison Heights-based Planet Rock climbing team since 2016. “I’ m not nervous when I climb in competitions, ” he said. “Climbing is too much fun. ” He climbs with a purpose and with special inspiration. He wears a black-and-blue anklet when he competes to support law enforcement. Before each competition, he lis- tens to the sound of his own heart on his late grandfather Dr. Allan Emery’ s stethoscope. “We tell him the heartbeat is the sound of papa cheering him on, ” said Jerrold Emery, Nate’ s father. Nate is only 4-foot-7, but he’ s going through a growth spurt, and he weighs 75 pounds. He’ s all mus- cle. His body fat is 8 percent. His signature long hair — he hasn’ t had a haircut in three years — won’ t be around for much lon- ger. It’ s going to be cut next month before he heads to Camp Tamarack. About 9 inches of Nate’ s locks will be trimmed off and donated to Children With Hair Loss, a not-for- profit organization based in South Rockwood that provides free hair replacement for children and young adults who have lost their hair because of an illness. “It’ s time to get my hair cut, ” Nate said. Why donate it? “It’ s a nice thing to do, ” he said. Nate will be a fifth-grader this fall at Hillside Elementary School in Farmington Hills, where he’ s somewhat of a celebrity. He says he’ s a good student, and he gives some credit to rock climbing. “You have to map your route when you climb and solve prob- lems. That’ s just like school, ” he said. Nate’ s latest accomplishment took place Sunday. He finished third in his age group in a two-day divi- sional sport climbing competition in Bloomington, Minn., and quali- fied for the nationals July 11-14 in Bridgeport, Pa. Twenty climbers from 12 states competed in the age group in Minnesota. Forty-eight climbers from across the country will com- pete in the age group at nationals. “I climbed with all my heart, ” Nate said. Earlier this year, Nate finished 27th in his age group in the boul- dering national championships in Redmond, Ore. The following week, he fractured a growth plate in his right arm and doctors told him not to have any physical activity for four weeks. While Nate rested his arm, according to his father, he ate foods rich in vitamin D, drank lots of milk and ate plenty of salmon. Seven weeks after the fracture, with little conditioning and limited strength, Nate won a sport climbing competition in Columbus, Ohio. He went on to win three more Drake Lubin made the most of his final two sea- sons of college baseball. Playing at Maryville University outside St. Louis after transferring from Eastern Michigan University following his sophomore season, the outfielder started all 104 games while he was at Maryville and batted .315 with 134 hits, 18 doubles, five triples, three home runs and 58 RBI. He scored 106 runs, struck out only 35 times in 425 at-bats, drew 48 walks and stole 41 bases. He made just three errors in the field and had 11 assists and a .986 fielding percentage. Lubin went to Eastern Michigan after an outstanding career at Walled Lake Northern High School. He decided to leave Eastern after two seasons because of a coaching change. He transferred to Maryville primarily because he wouldn’ t have to sit out a season under NCAA rules. Eastern is a Division I program and Maryville is a Division II program. Maryville went 29-22 this season, the best in program history. 10-year-old Nate Emery is one of the top rock climbers in the country in his age group quick hits Hockey player Josh Nodler verbally committed to Michigan State University two years ago when he was a sophomore at Berkley High School. Nodler made his decision official in April, signing with MSU. The Oak Park resident played last season for the Fargo (N.D.) Force in the United States Hockey League, a top U.S. junior league. The center had 17 goals and 25 assists in 54 games. Nodler is eligible to be selected in this month’ s NHL draft. He’ s ranked the No. 75 North American skater by NHL Central Scouting. Coach Barry Brodsky’ s Birmingham Marian High School girls soccer team was a win away from another state championship last week. Marian defeated Flint Powers 3-1 on June 11 in a Division 2 semifinal game that pitted a pair of two-time defending state champions against each other. How was that possible? Powers was moved up to Division 2 this season after winning the Division 3 state title the last two seasons. Marian (17-1) met Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern for the state championship for the third straight time. BY STEVE STEIN sports STEVE STEIN CONTRIBUTING WRITER He Rocks Nate Emery climbs a wall during a sport climbing competi- tion last weekend in Bloomington, Minn. TOP RIGHT: Nate Emery and his parents, Carolyn and Jerrold Emery. PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE EMERY FAMILY