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Campus
May 22, 2021
Ut Fidem: Creating a new sense of brotherhood Will Carstens ‘23
One major consequence of the pandemic has been a profound loss of connection between CC brothers. Social distancing, masks, and online schooling have kept the school year moving forward but have also dampened the sense of community that defines CC. Here to reinvigorate that sense of community is Ut Fidem. Ut Fidem, which translates to “keep the faith” in Latin, is a club dedicated to the preservation of a community of faith. It promotes the values of Goodness, Discipline, and Knowledge through group discussion. “The club really embodies everything CC is,” noted cofounder freshman David Kibbey. “It takes down the barrier that guys can’t really talk about their problems.”
Through open talk of both matters of faith and issues important to the lives of its members, Ut Fidem aims to create an open and supportive environment wherein people are free to discuss their struggles. A meeting may begin with the study of a prayer or Bible verse, which then prompts discussion of related problems with school or home life. This environment allows members both to grow closer to God and to form bonds with people whom they otherwise would never have spoken to. The current objective of the club is to grow as quickly as possible. “We want to get as many people as possible for next year,” explained Mr. Fras, the moderator. The group is open to all who are looking to join. Meetings are on Tuesday mornings at 7:10 in room 223. Ut Fidem seeks to foster a new sense of faith in its participants.
Wrestling looks forward Dominic Aiello ‘23
by planning to workout through the summer. When asked what the most rewardOn Tuesday, March 30, the CC Wres- ing moment during the wrestling seatling fell just short of winning their fifth son was, Mr. Hancock answered, “Seestate title in a row, losing to Davison 29-24. ing the gratification and enjoyment on The loss ended a remarkable streak of the faces of the wrestlers . . . and seeing four state championships in a row, while them overcome challenges. As a coach, an ever-larger target grew on their backs. that’s the most rewarding thing for me.” When asked how the team was able Of course, our wrestling team doesn’t to retain their title year after year, Coach just learn the best ways to pin their oppoHancock annent. “Our goal swered, “They is to get the embraced the most out of our challenge, they guys, to control embraced beour effort, to ing the target, perform hard, and it motiand to honor vated them to Jesus Christ in work harder.” the way that we Even through perform,” Mr. the pandemic, Hancock said. the team didn’t Senior Phil Burney with the takedown Photo by Mr. Confer The team stop workisn’t just trying, and it paid ing to earn Catholic Central another state off. Coming back from a 36-9 loss to championship or another day off. For Mr. Davison earlier in the season, they Hancock, the state championship isn’t earned the opportunity for a rematch. the most important thing. It’s the bonds “It’s impressive to be able to put that the wrestlers forge with one another. a streak like that together, but all great things must come to an end, so it’s pretty cyclical,” Coach Hancock said. Even though they had lost, the wrestlers are already preparing for their next season
Rugby transitions from club to team Aedan Branigan-Brown ‘21
With the Guinness Six Nations tournament having concluded, rugby has once again scored in the public eye. This year Wales took home the Championship Trophy, making it their 40th title. Despite this recent rugby news, that isn’t the only major happening for the sport. The season for the Catholic Central Varsity Rugby Team has officially started. For the past four years, rugby at Catholic Central has been a club sport. Despite this, the team has still shown the dedication and hard work of any varsity sport. The training regimen doesn’t just consist of putting in countless hours in the weight room. Running at practice is a necessity, as are drills to strengthen every player on the 15-man team. Scrimmages over the preseason have shown vast improvement in many of the players. Summer conditioning was right on schedule, but practices for the season were late, starting only in early March instead of the regular January due to Covid-19. The first varsity season for the Rugby Team had its inaugural game Friday, April
16. The team faced tough competition in a hard-fought match. The ultimate result was defeat for the Shamrocks. Despite this, the team will bounce back, and has plenty of potential. It’s a young team, with only two seniors on the roster, Thomas Newell and Captain Jack Stephens. Stephens remains confident in the team for the rest of the season. “We have a very young team this year and they are still developing. We just had a lot of guys play their first game, and most of our team is really new to the sport,” he said. “If I had to bet, by the end of this year I would expect all of these guys to be exponentially better..” Over these past four years it’s been seen that the betterment of players is what CC Rugby does best. The primary example of this is Stephens himself. On signing day, he committed to Adrian College for rugby. The rugby program is new at Adrian, and Stephens had the honor of being their first official signing.
Alumnus hired as new baseball coach Owen Kummer ‘22
Spring 2020 was a very turbulent time for students all across Michigan. While many of us were thrilled that our academics had become abbreviated for the remainder of the school year, student athletes that participated in spring sports were unable to get out on their respective fields to show their stuff in-season. Thankfully, the state of Michigan has allowed spring sports to continue this year, much to the delight of students and coaches everywhere. Despite this, no one is nearly as eager to witness the absolute hammer that is CC’s spring athletics as our new Varsity Baseball Head Coach, Mr. Ryan Rogowski. Coach Rogowski started playing baseball at a very young age. He stated that he fell in love with the game while playing catch with his older brother, Casey, in the backyard. “As soon as I was able to pick up a bat, I was ready to start swinging,” he said, a smile on his face as he recalled the memory.
After graduating from CC in 2002, Rogowski attended the University of Illinois, and after earning a degree in kinesiology, he signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2006. As time went on, Rogowski knew his baseball career would not last forever, so he decided to become a coach. “I knew that I ultimately wanted to be some kind of coach after playing baseball,” he said. “Physical education is something that I’m very passionate about.” Rogowski returned to his alma mater to find a team of young, hungry, and talented baseball players. Always energetic and goal-oriented, Coach Rogowski’s ultimate goal is to bring intensity and passion to the Catholic Central Baseball program. With a head coach that heavily subscribes to the mantra “Go big or go home,” we can expect to see a team that is always aiming to improve and focused on the end goal of taking home a baseball state championship in the years to come. Coach Rogowski