Senior Carter Cojei was leader for DCC
The only thing missing from senior Carter Cojei’s golf resume at Novi Detroit Catholic Central was a state championship.
The team was hoping to rectify that this season. But, of course, all spring high school sports in Michigan were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
So no more high school golf for Cojei who will play on the club golf team at the University of Michigan.
Catholic Central assistant coach Brian King didn’t have enough superlatives to describe Cojei.
“When we have an opposing coach come up and talk to us after a round about how great of a kid somebody was, it almost always involves Carter,’’ King said.
Cojei was a junior captain which has been really rare in the program.
“Even as a sophomore he was pushing kids to get better on and off the golf course. He’s a kind of kid who leads by example, he’s always pushing kids to get better, always pushing kids to do the right thing in terms of working out, staying up on school, so he was a leader in our program,’’ King said.
Detroit Catholic Central has won four of the last 10 Division 1 state golf championships (2010, 2015, 2016, 2017).
“We’ve had a pretty good run lately for D1 golf,’’ King said. “This year we were really excited to get him the state championship that he deserves but unfortunately that didn’t quite pan out.’’
King who works with head coach Mike Anderson and two other assistants said they were looking to have a good season this year. They finished fourth in the state as a team in 2019.
Cojei finished 10th individually in the state finals last June.
“We had a good team this year, he was excited to get going, he worked his butt off all offseason to get ready,’’ King said. “As soon as I talked to him about all of this he handled it with class and dignity. He said, ‘What can I do to help the younger guys get through this.
“We’ve had athletic department zoom conferences, he’s been in contact with other players talking about what they can do as a team to get through this. Even in these times he’s helping lead the program which is great.’’
Cojei also was honored with the Bill Hayes Award as a junior. The award is named after a former dean of students and golf coach at Catholic Central. Under his leadership the school won a few state championships.
“The Bill Hayes Award is a leadership award, a service award. You talk to other coaches, look at the players and see who best exemplifies our school motto of goodness, discipline and knowledge,’’ King said.
“Carter won that as a junior and it’s the first time we’ve given out that award in 10 years we’ve given it to a junior.’’
Along with golf, Cojei has a 4.21 grade point average. He was in the Gabriel Richard Club all four years with a GPA above 3.5 every semester.
He had won academic achievement awards in chemistry, algebra, English, and sacramental theology and was in the National Honor Society as a junior and senior.
“We’ve got a great program and the kids all work hard. We always feel like we’re a kind of threat to win, that’s why this year is especially hard because it would have been nice to watch him play his senior year and get a state championship,’’ King said.