The year 2010 brought forth many great individual and team efforts on the local sports scene for the greater Rochester area. Five athletes won individual state championships, and two teams won state titles. As we get started in the new year, let's take a look at some of the memorable sights and sounds from the year 2010 — a year of champions. Falcons soar: It sounds odd that Oakland County had never produced a Class A/Division 1 team state champion in girls track and field until 2010. The county has produced dozens of top-10 teams through the years and earned several top-five finishes in the …

Keegan McCaffrey is acrobatic, gutsy and a has a bit of daredevil in her. How else could one explain vaulting above a springboard, twisting and turning like a pretzel in the air, pointing feet in all directions then hitting the water? It takes a special brand of athlete. They are traits that serve the Rochester Adams sophomore well as she dives competitively for her school and the rest of the year as a "club" diver. "It's a lot of fun, but it's not easy," said McCaffrey, who finished 10th last month at the Division 2 state meet at Eastern Michigan University. "It takes a lot of work. I'm …

It wasn't that long ago, in relative terms, when Greg Kampe was roaming the basketball court sidelines, with just a couple hundred fans behind him, at the Lepley Arena — that old, quaint field house nestled on the interior hills of Oakland University's campus. It wasn't that long ago that Kampe could look up at the scoreboard and view a white bubble above his head, his voice echoing off the walls (or should we say vinyl?) as scant fans sat and watched a team and a transition. That was in the late 1990s, when Oakland was making the transformation from a Division II college to a Division I …

It's common for athletes to dream. Making any of those dreams a reality is another story. For three Rochester High School student-athletes, the dream of being a Division I college athlete is now closer to fruition. A trio of athletes took the next step on Tuesday and signed with Division I colleges in their respective sports during in the NCAA early signing period — Kelsey Dieters to Ohio State, Erin Leppek to Iowa and Nick Bradley to Western Michigan. Dieters is a nationally-ranked tennis player, Bradley is a three-sport athlete who will play baseball in college and Leppek is an athletic …

Whenever Garth Pleasant heads out to watch one of his son's basketball games, he gets a little nervous. And his son isn't even playing. "I get more worked up for my kids' games," admitted Pleasant, sitting in his cozy office next to the Clinton River Trail on the backside of Rochester College's small but picturesque campus. "It's hard just to watch." Pleasant's son John is the Rochester High School boys basketball coach. Pleasant's other son, Klint, is Garth's assistant coach at Rochester College, where the veteran has roamed the sidelines for nearly four decades. "I told the guys after last …

There's something about the final push of the regular season and the ensuing state tournament that can help elevate a team's level of play.It sure has helped a contingent of Rochester-area volleyball teams in recent times.Rochester, Rochester Adams and Rochester Hills Christian have all posted some noteworthy wins as of late, and that has helped make amends for some rough stretches in the past.Rochester Hills Christian had the longest drought in the area in terms of championships. In fact, the Eagles, until this season, had never won a championship of any kind. It was always bridesmaids, …