[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 20]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 27978]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



TRIBUTE TO THE CARNEY-NADEAU WOLVES, MICHIGAN HIGH SCHOOL CLASS D GIRLS 
                          BASKETBALL CHAMPIONS

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. BART STUPAK

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, December 19, 2001

  Mr. STUPAK. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to the girls' 
basketball team of Carney-Nadeau High School, a Class D school in the 
Upper Peninsula of Michigan in my congressional district. With only 86 
students, Carney-Nadeau is one of the smallest schools in its division, 
but the Carney-Nadeau Wolves proved once again on December 1 that it 
only takes a big heart, not a big school, to win a state division 
championship. I say ``once again,'' Mr. Speaker, because the Wolves won 
State titles under their same coach, Paul Polfus, in 1989 and 1990.
  A team championship can be analyzed in numbers, and any sports fan 
will plenty of exciting statistics associated with this gusty team, 
such as their season record of 26-1 and their coach's 410-115 career 
record. In the 54-32 championship game against McBain Northern Michigan 
Christian, starter Tara Benson, a senior, led the Wolves with 16 points 
and snagged six rebounds and six steals, while her sister Carly, a 
freshman, went seven of eight in her shooting. Starter Brittany Pipkorn 
hit four 3-pointers.
  Peel away those numbers, however, and you will find enough stories of 
real people to make a movie equal to any classic ``underdog'' story. 
You will learn that Coach Paul Polfus, who has worked at Carney-Nadeau 
for 26 years, was once a basketball player at this same school, coached 
by the current superintendent Ron Solberg. Inducted into the U.P. 
Sports Hall of Fame in 1996, Paul celebrates his third girls' 
championship with his wife Colleen and their sons Jacob, Michael and 
Matt.
  In our own version of ``Rocky,'' look behind the numbers to find 5-
foot, 1-inch starter Tracy Hernandez, who vowed after the team's loss 
in the finals last year that the team would win the title this year. 
Tracy kept her vow by reporting to the gym every morning at 5:30 to 
lift weights and work toward that goal.
  The story of this championship season is also revealed in the story 
of the Benson sisters, daughters of Nancy (Janofski) Pugh, a member of 
the first All-U.P. girls team picked in 1975, and Ed Benson, All-U.P. 
in 1971 and 1972. Tara credits both parents for their help in shaping 
her game, but perhaps her greatest accomplishment is a personal one--
Tara returned to top-form play this year after sitting out the 2000 
season recovering from ACL surgery.
  The sacrifice and the hurdles met and overcome by each player are 
part of the story, as well as the home community itself, Carney. This 
is a community that has faced great economic adversity, Mr. Speaker, 
but, like the rest of the Upper Peninsula, hope and optimism are 
characteristics of its people. And the school proving that education 
and sports go hand in hand, was honored this week in the Michigan 
Golden Apple Awards program as one of the state's most improved schools 
in performance on Michigan Educational Assessment Program tests.
  In light of the great challenges facing this team, the championship 
run of the Carney- Nadeau Wolves caught the attention and fueled the 
enthusiasm of sports writers in the nearby large communities of 
Menominee and Escanaba. Tom Kaeser, assistant sports editor for the 
Menominee, Mich.-Marinette, Wis. EagleHerald, has followed Carney-
Nadeau for a decade. He described the 2001 Class D champs as ``a team 
that came together, loved each other and worked hard together for its 
bright, shining moment.'' Dennis Grall, Escanaba Daily Press sports 
editor, summed up the team's season in a Dec. 3 story. ``For 11 months 
the Carney-Nadeau Wolves lived under unbelievably immense expectations 
and pressure,'' ``Dennis wrote. He was on hand--and described the 
celebration--when the state champs returned home at the head of a two-
mile-long motorcade and were given a police escort and a fireworks 
display along the final leg of their trip from Escanaba to Carney.
  Mr. Speaker, basketball is a team sport, and, as such, every member 
of the team deserves credit for her contribution during this 
championship season. I am pleased to share with you the full roster of 
the 2001 Michigan Class D girls basketball state champion Carney-Nadeau 
Wolves: Tara and Carly Benson, Cindy Charlier, Rachael Folcik, Trisha 
Hernandez, Rachel Kuntze, Leslie Linder, Emily Marsicek, Jenna Mellen, 
Trisha Otradovec, Brittany Pipkorn, Cassandra Relken, Shawn Retaskie, 
Erin Schetter, and Roseann Schetter.
  I ask you, Mr. Speaker, to join me and our House colleagues in 
recognizing the skill, determination, hard work, optimism, hope, love, 
and teamwork of the Carney-Nadeau Wolves, Michigan Class D basketball 
champions.

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