SEPTEMBER 15 • 2022 | 33

Groves Sophomore Experiences an 
Emotional Night at Oxford

It was a scene that probably — and hopeful-

ly — will never be repeated in Avery Gach’s 
football career.
The Birmingham Groves High School 
sophomore lineman and his teammates were 
at Oxford on Sept. 2 for an emotion-filled 
Friday night.
It was the first home football game at 
Oxford since the November shooting at the 
school that resulted in four students being 
killed and several more injured.
Several thousand fans were at Oxford for 
the football game. So were media members from about 50 local and 
national news outlets.
A pregame tribute included videos of Oxford football player Tate 
Myre and the other three students who were shot to death.
Oxford beat Groves 17-14. That won’t be all that’s remembered about 
that night by Groves players and coaches.
“We talked during the week leading up to the game that while we 
needed to be respectful, we also had a football game to play and we 
were going there to win,” Gach said.
“Tate (Myre) was the ultimate competitor, and he wouldn’t have want-
ed us to give less than 100%. We knew it was going to be a tough game 
for us to play, but we had to play through it.”
Now 6-foot-5 and 267 pounds, up from the 225 pounds he weighed 
last season and twice as strong as last year thanks to hours in the 
weightroom, Gach has caught the attention of Division I colleges.
He’s looking forward to a productive season.
“I know our playbook inside and out this year, and I’m more confident 
when I’m on the field,” Gach said.
Gach is back at right tackle on offense. He didn’t play defense last 
season, but he’s getting some time at defensive end this season.
Last season, Gach became only the third freshman in Brendan 
Flaherty’s 21 years as the Groves football coach to be a starter.
Before facing Oxford this season in Week 2, Groves opened with a 
34-19 win over North Farmington.
With Gach helping lead the way, the Falcons’ offense rolled up 
more than 350 yards rushing and didn’t give up a sack.
Groves went 2-7 last year, ending a streak of eight consecutive 
playoff appearances. The Falcons scored just 118 points, their lowest 
total since 2007.
Groves is counting on its experienced offensive line to get it back 
on the winning track.

It’s time for the fourth annual
Howard Weingarten Memorial 
Baseball Outing. 
 The Sept. 18 event, a fundraiser 
for the Detroit Police Athletic 
League’s Diamond Sports 
Program, once again will include 
lunch and the opportunity to play 
baseball on the Willie Horton 
Field of Dreams at The Corner 
Ballpark, located in the footprint 
of Tiger Stadium.
The Corner Ballpark is the 
home of the not-for-profit Detroit 
PAL.

Detroit PAL’s Diamond Sports 
Program provides baseball, 
softball, T-ball and coach-pitch 
opportunities for boys and girls.
In addition to lunch and 
baseball, the outing will once 
again feature the presentation of 
the Howard Weingarten Memorial 
Awards to three players in the 
Diamond Sports Program’s Tiny 
Tigers program for youngsters 
age 4-8.
Coaches select the award 
winners based on their leadership, 
teamwork and responsibility.

A West Bloomfield resident who 
loved baseball and the Detroit 
Tigers, Weingarten died in a car 
accident in 2018.
Deby Lebow, Weingarten’s 
longtime significant other, is the 
outing organizer.
The outing will begin with lunch 
at noon. Game time is 1:30 p.m. 
Donation is $125; for those age 16 
and under, the donation is $36.
For information, contact Lebow 
at (248) 505-0199 or dlda@
hotmail.com.

Still Perfect in the Pool After All These 
Years

Swimmer Jim Berk has a perfect 
record in the Michigan Senior 
Olympics.
The 68-year-old West Bloomfield 
resident has swum in 28 events in 
nine years and earned a medal in 
each event: 20 gold, seven silver 
and one bronze.
Berk’s latest haul was a gold 
medal in 200-yard breaststroke 
and silver medals in the 50 and 100 
breaststroke in the men’s 65-69 
age group last month at Oakland 
University.
Each of his times was slower than what he swam in those events in 
May at the National Senior Games in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. But the 
former sportscaster turned personal trainer and exercise coach isn’t 
complaining.
“I’m grateful I was able to do so well,” he said.
That’s because three weeks before the Senior Olympics, he came 
down with a medical condition that kept him out of the water for two 
weeks.
“Once I could swim again, I trained hard for four days then backed 
off on the fifth day,” he said. “Normally that would have been my 
tapering week before I competed.”
Berk said he felt fatigued as he swam the 50 and 100 at the Senior 
Olympics. But the 200, his final event of the day, was a different story.
“I started off slowly, then I exploded in the final 50 yards,” he said. 
“I had stamina.”
His time in the 200 was 3:11.52. He swam 3:10.58 in that event 
while finishing sixth at the National Senior Games three months 
earlier.
Berk swam :38.31 and 1:28.31 in the 50 and 100 at Oakland 
University. He was fourth in the 50 in :37.60 and fifth in the 100 in 
1:25.04 at the National Senior Games.
His performances at the Senior Olympics qualified him for the 2023 
National Senior Games next July in Pittsburgh in all three events.
Shortly after the Senior Olympics, Berk traveled to Nebraska for the 
50-year reunion of his graduating class at Lincoln East High School.
He met up there for the first time in 50 years with Dennis Vokolek, 
his high school swimming coach. The two have kept in touch through 
the years, with Vokolek often offering swim coaching advice.

DEBY LEBOW

Howard Weingarten gets ready to 
swing at a pitch during a Detroit 
Tigers fantasy camp in Lakeland, 
Florida.

LUANN VOKOLEK

Jim Berk (right) and Dennis 
Vokolek, his high school 
swimming coach.

MURRAY GOLDENBERG/CLASSIC 
PHOTOGRAPHY

Avery Gach

Howard Weingarten Memorial Baseball Outing is On Deck

