Ferndale Alum Herb Goliday Named New Basketball Coach

Goliday takes over the Eagles varsity basketball team for former coach Tom Staton, who resigned from the position in June.

From one former player to another. The Ferndale High School varsity basketball program has a new coach, but it will be a very familiar face. Eagles athletic director Shaun Butler announced this week that Herb Goliday is taking over the school’s basketball team for Tom Staton, who resigned from the position in June. Like Staton, Goliday is a Ferndale alum who found success on the hard court as a student-athlete. Goliday played for the Eagles in the early ‘90s and went on to play college basketball at Central Michigan and Wayne State University. Staton made Goliday his assistant coach when he was hired in 2010. Goliday, who is a physical education teacher in the district, went on to coach junior varsity before taking last year off from …

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Lexie Brisson-Fast is Ferndale's Athlete of the Spring Season

The Eagles senior soccer player, and leading goal scorer, wins the Ferndale poll after a really strong spring.

Thousands of votes were cast to celebrate the region’s top athletes from the spring season and in Ferndale, Lexie Brisson-Fast was voted the Patch Athlete of the Spring Season. Fans found creative ways to support their athletes, from sending out email blasts to posting on Facebook walls and Tweeting. All the nominees deserve recognition for their accomplishments. The following athletes earned the most votes from their respective Patch communities and are the winners of the Athlete of the Spring Season polls. Please lend your own congratulations in the comments at the end of this story. Lexie Brisson-Fast is leaving Ferndale High School with all sorts of records for the varsity soccer team and now she is taking the Ferndale Athlete of the …

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Legendary Ferndale Football Coach Frank Joranko Donates Award to School

Joranko gives school his 1972 Coach of the Year award from the Eagles' undefeated championship season.

Herb Ivory couldn’t think of a more fitting last day. The longtime principal at Ferndale High School was on hand Friday afternoon when former Ferndale football coach Frank Joranko, for whom Ivory played in the mid-60s, donated his 1972 Coach of the Year award to the school. “This is a real honor,” said Ivory, who is retiring after 40 years in the district. “For Joranko to even consider to donate something like this, his Coach of the Year award, people don’t give these up. I know I wouldn’t. It’s the highest honor and there’s no better way to go out.” Joranko coached the Eagles football team from 1961-73. He played football for Albion College and was the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association’s MVP in 1951. After serving in the Army…

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Vote Now: Ferndale Athlete of the Spring Season

Choose from a list of deserving candidates to determine who should be named the Patch Athlete of the Season for Ferndale.

Ferndale High School had plenty of outstanding athletic performances this season. Now we want to hear from our readers which one they thought was the best. Be sure to vote by 9 p.m. Wednesday, June 27. Final results will be posted on June 29. Here are the candidates: Lexie Brisson-Fast – Senior, Ferndale High School, Soccer: Lexie Brisson-Fast helped put the Eagles’ soccer program on the map this season. She scored more than 40 goals to give Ferndale a division title and the school’s first district title. She scored two goals in a 5-0 win over Hazel Park in the district finals to bring home the championship. For her career, she scored a school-record 100-plus goals. Danielle Hawthorne - Junior, Ferndale High School, Track and Field: …

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Exclusive: Ferndale Boys Basketball Coach Tom Staton Steps Down

After three successful seasons, the Eagles alum resigned, citing financial reasons.

Ferndale High School varsity basketball coach Tom Staton stepped down from his position Monday, citing financial reasons after three successful seasons with the program. Staton, an Eagles alum, recently accepted a position with Crime Stoppers of Michigan as the company’s campus program manager. The job wouldn’t allow him to commit the time needed to coach at the high school level. “It actually has been kind of surfacing because of some economic challenges,” Staton said. “We don’t get paid a lot to coach. I’m not part of the school system and I wanted to be, but because of the budget cuts they weren’t able to bring me into the building.” Principal Herb Ivory said Wednesday that the news was not a total surprise because he knew Staton was …

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Ferndale’s Lexie Brisson-Fast: May 28-June 2 Patch Athlete of the Week

The Eagles varsity girls soccer team’s leading scorer captures the crown!

Ferndale’s Lexie Brisson-Fast wins the Patch Athlete of the Week title for May 28-June 2 to give the Eagles their first winner of the spring season. After a week of unscientific polling among Patch readers in Oakland County, Brisson-Fast had 92 votes or 46 percent of the total votes cast (200). She beat Athens shortstop Melissa Palmer, who had 78 votes (39 percent), in a close vote. Brisson-Fast helped Ferndale capture a district crown Saturday with three goals in a 5-0 win over Hazel Park. After the Vikings held her team scoreless for 20 minutes, the senior scored twice to the Eagles an advantage and help pave the way for the school’s first district title. Other athletes in the poll included: Taylor Morrissey – Berkley High School (…

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Vote Now: Patch Athlete of the Week, May 28-June 2

Vote for your favorite prep sports athlete in Oakland County or write in an athlete you think deserves recognition. You have until Friday at 9 a.m. to register your vote!

Vote here to help choose the Patch Athlete of the Week of Oakland County for the week ending June 2. Last week, Lahser starting pitcher Neal Krentz won the Athlete of the Week poll to give the school its second straight winner. Vote for one of the following or write in your own candidate in the comments: Erin Finn – West Bloomfield High School (track and field): Erin Finn set a new all division record Saturday at the Division 1 state finals in the 3,200 meter run. She won an individual title with a time of 10:17.86. Finn broke Rochester’s Megan Goethal’s 2010 record by nearly five seconds (10:22.75). Haley Zemmer – Troy Athens High School (softball): The pitcher helped Athens capture the school’s first district title since 1997. Zemmer hit…

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Timothy Rath

9:02 am on Tuesday, June 5, 2012

SEP: Thanks for the heads' up. The poll has been added.   more ›

High School Sports Highlights

Saturday Highlights: Soccer, Baseball, Softball District Results

Ferndale soccer beats Hazel Park to win championship; Athens softball beats Troy and Adams on its way to district title; Adams baseball beat Avondale 7-3 to win district; OLSM baseball beats Andover in district finals.

* home team in all CAPS Andover over NOTRE DAME PREP 7-2  Orchard Lake St. Mary’s over Andover, 5-1 (at Notre Dame Prep) Andover (28-6) beat Notre Dame Prep 7-2 in the district semifinals, but ended up losing in the finals to Orchard Lake St. Mary’s 5-1. Marlin Pruitt pitched a complete game in the win over Notre Dame. He struck out seven and scattered three hits. The Barons put together 11 hits including a big 4-for-4 performance from Ryan Kavanagh. Todd Weiss and Alec Mares each had two hits. Mares had an RBI. In the second game, starter Gabe Berman was the victim of some poor defense behind him. The Eaglets reached base seven times on Andover infield errors despite Berman giving up only four hits in the loss. St. Mary’s advances to the …

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Vote Now: Patch Athlete of the Week, May 21-26

Vote for your favorite prep sports athlete in Oakland County or write in an athlete you think deserves recognition. You have until Friday at 9 p.m. to register your vote!

Vote here to help choose the Patch Athlete of the Week of Oakland County for the week ending May 26. Last week, Lahser tennis player Mollie Fox won the Athlete of the Week poll to give Bloomfield Hills its second straight winner. Will there be a third this week? Vote for one of the following or write in your own candidate in the comments: Neal Krentz – Lahser High School (baseball): No pitcher was hotter the last week of the season than Bloomfield Hills Lahser’s Neal Krentz. In three appearances on the mound, he went 15 innings, striking out 17 batters, only allowing three walks and had an ERA of only 0.40. He did it against some strong competition; all three had 20 or more wins. At the plate he reached base with hits in all three games. …

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