July 18 • 2019 21
jn
T
he coach who revived the Frankel
Jewish Academy boys basketball
program almost overnight has
left the West Bloomfield school to take
another coaching job.
Mike Marek is the new coach at
Canton Preparatory High School. He
was one of 31 candidates for the posi-
tion.
Marek went 24-18 in two seasons at
FJA including 14-8 this past season, a far
cry from the 4-16 record the team post-
ed in the season before he arrived.
“I’
m very grateful for the opportunity
to coach at Frankel. The people there are
great, and you won’
t find better players
and parents,
” Marek said.
So why did Marek, 30, leave FJA?
Canton Prep is five minutes from his
home, where he’
ll live with his wife-to-
be after they’
re married in October.
Coaching at Canton Prep will mean
less travel for work. Marek’
s full-time
job is in the patient transportation
department at Beaumont Hospital in
Farmington Hills.
Canton Prep is a bigger school than
FJA, with varsity and junior varsity boys
basketball teams. FJA doesn’
t have a JV
team.
Those facts are Marek’
s overriding
reasons for taking the new job.
There also was the heartbreak of last
season.
FJA qualified for the Catholic League
C-D tournament, but the Jaguars didn’
t
compete because the tournament sched-
ule conflicted with Shabbat.
“It was so hard looking my kids in the
eye and telling them they couldn’
t play
in the tournament because the Catholic
League wouldn’
t accommodate us,
”
Marek said.
“We were good enough to win that
tournament.
”
FJA Athletic Director Rick Dorn said
he received 20 applications for Marek’
s
old job, and he hopes to have someone
in place soon. ■
Two holes-in-one were shot June
3 at the Michigan Jewish Sports
Foundation Hank Greenberg Golf &
Tennis Invitational.
Jeff Cohen, CEO of Rock
Companies, and Kevin Grigg, vice
president of public relations for the
Detroit Pistons, each had an ace.
Cohen’
s hole-in-one came on the
ninth hole. About 15 minutes later,
Grigg aced No. 16, arguably the
toughest hole on the course.
It appears these were the first
holes-in-one shot in the 29-year
history of the Greenberg Invitational.
It’
s also probable this was the first
time more than one hole-in-one
was shot on the same day at Franklin Hills Country Club
in Farmington Hills.
Frankel Jewish
Academy
bowling and
volleyball coach
Joe Bernstein
was named the
2018-2019
Michigan Girls
Coach of the
Year by Positive
Athlete.
A national organization founded
by former Pittsburgh Steelers
star Hines Ward, Positive Athlete
honors high school athletes and
coaches whose infectious positive
attitude makes everyone around
them a better person.
Nathan Cohen hit for the cycle June 23 in an
Inter-Congregational Men’
s Club Summer
Softball League game at Keith Sports Park in
West Bloomfield.
He had a perfect day at the plate, going
4-for-4 with four RBIs to lead Temple Israel No.
6 to a 15-2 victory over Congregation Beth Ahm.
Here’
s how Cohen’
s cycle came together:
First inning: double to left-center; second
inning: triple to right-center; third inning: home
run to left field; and fifth inning: single to center
field.
Through nine games this season, Cohen was
batting .615 with 17 RBI.
Temple Israel No. 6 was 11-1 and in first
place in the league’
s Greenberg Division
through games played July 7. The other division
leaders were Temple Israel No. 3 in the Koufax
Division (8-3) and Temple Israel No. 4 in the
Rosen Division (9-2).
There are six teams from Temple Israel in the
18-team league.
Nathan
Cohen hit
for the cycle
June 23.
CHUCK FREEDMAN
Tough
Decision
FJA boys basketball
coach leaves to take
job in Canton.
STEVE STEIN CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Mike Marek
Josh Nodler Drafted by Calgary Flames
CORRIE COLF STAFF WRITER
W
ith the 150th pick in the
2019 National Hockey
League Draft, the Calgary
Flames selected Oak Park native Josh
Nodler.
Nodler has been playing ice hockey
since he was 5 years old. After 13 years
of hard work and dedication, he finally
achieved his goal of being drafted by a
National Hockey League (NHL) team.
But before he makes his way to
the NHL, Nodler will be heading to
Michigan State University this fall.
“I’
m super excited to start this fall,”
Nodler says. “I chose to continue both
my hockey and academic career at
MSU because their coaching is first
class, they have great facilities, it’
s an
overall great campus and, of course, it’
s
close to home.”
In the 2018-2019 season, Nodler
played for the United States Hockey
League’
s Fargo Force where he earned
42 points throughout 54 games. Nodler
also played for the U.S. Juniors hock-
ey team in 2017 and received a gold
medal.
Nodler credits his love for the game
and the dream of making it to the NHL
as two of the biggest motivators in his
life.
“I always work hard and try to get
better every day,” Nodler says. “You
have to realize it’
s a marathon, not a
sprint. If you stick with the process and
trust your ability, you can accomplish
your goals.” ■
ing temperatures on frozen tundra
alongside penguins, seals, whales and
floating glaciers in 2016.
He ran the Tokyo and Berlin mara-
thons last year.
All for Papa.
Emily Rogalski, associate director
of Northwestern’
s Mesulam Center,
praised Boschan’
s “extraordinary
commitment” to the center.
“Jason’
s fundraising efforts have
been critical in launching new
research initiatives at our center
including a telemedicine-based
speech therapy study for individuals
with primary progressive aphasia,
and new imaging biomarker studies
important for detecting neurodegen-
erative disease,” Rogalski said.
Boschan graduated from the for-
mer Bloomfield Hills Andover High
School in 1997 and the University
of Michigan with a degree in sports
management and communications in
2002.
When he isn’
t running for Papa, he
does marketing work for orthopedic
surgeons. ■
The late Dr. Louis Heyman (“Papa”) and Jason
Boschan, each wearing one of Boschan’
s mara-
thon medals.
COURTESY OF MICHAEL NODLER