Source: Hometown Life
Author: Marty Budner
The Bartels sisters made quite an impact at Farmington Hills Mercy this past season.
Amelia, a 17-year-old senior, and Libby, a 16-year-old sophomore, played ice hockey and lacrosse for the Marlins. On each team, Amelia was the shutdown defender and Libby the high-scoring forward.
The sisters from White Lake helped lead Mercy to an ice hockey state championship and a state semifinal appearance in lacrosse. The Marlins captured the ice hockey state title in March with a thrilling come-from-behind overtime victory over Ladywood and earlier this month defeated neighboring Farmington to win the lacrosse regional title before falling to East Grand Rapids in the state semifinal.
During their varsity careers, the girls have combined to lead Mercy to three hockey state championships and three straight lacrosse regional crowns.
Amelia said she enjoyed her experience at Mercy and the fact she was able to share her prep sports career for two years with her younger sister.
"I really loved the sisterhood at Mercy and being able to play two sports was really a neat experience," Amelia said. "Especially because the sports overlap a lot and I got to share both sports with a lot of people.
"And it was really fun being able to play with my sister for hockey and lacrosse. It was really neat. Before being able to play high school sports with her, the way our age groups played out, I didn't really get to play with her.
"So it was a really cool experience to be able to practice with her and share the car rides to and from games," she added. "We used to share practice times together, but sharing the games with her was really, really great."
Libby echoed similar sentiments about playing with Amelia.
"I think it was very cool to have played with my sister. We spent a lot of time in the car together and that was very enjoyable," Libby said. "I enjoyed spending time with her and she really knows how to motivate me to be better. She is very helpful to me on the field and off the field."
Amelia to Aquinas
In hockey, Amelia was a team captain, a two-time all-Catholic and a two-time honorable mention all-state star. The four-year varsity player helped lead the Marlins to Catholic League championships in 2014 and 2016.
Amelia was a two-year varsity player for head coach Lindsay Hoyt's lacrosse team which finished with a 9-6 record this past season. The Marlins also posted a winning record last year.
Amelia had such a fine prep career that she has signed letters of intent to play both lacrosse and hockey at Aquinas College in Grand Rapids. She is anxiously looking forward to competing at the next level while playing close to home.
"I'm really excited and I've gotten to meet people from both teams and everyone is so sweet," said Amelia, who plans to go into athletic training. "I really love the school and the atmosphere there. The coaches were fantastic from both sports and, of course, the academics are too."
Libby a Brine All-American
Libby had a memorable hockey season as she began Mercy's miracle comeback in the state title game against Ladywood.
With the Marlins trailing 2-0 with less than three minutes to play, Libby scored twice — the second goal with 30 seconds left in regulation — to send the game into overtime. Mercy completed the amazing finish as Libby assisted on the game-winner in a 3-2 decision.
On the lacrosse field, Libby, a starter at attack, finished as Mercy's second-leading scorer behind senior Evie Drukker with 41 points (27 goals and 14 assists). She also was second in total shots with 51.
Libby had such an outstanding lacrosse season that she was named as a 2017 Brine National All-American. She has been selected to represent Michigan at the National Lacrosse Classic, scheduled for July 18-21 in Richmond, Va., at the River Sportsplex.
Mercy's lacrosse star will now have the chance to showcase her talents to NCAA lacrosse coaches from across the country.
"I play with Triumph Lacrosse and coach Chris Marucci helped me a lot and prepared me to play at Mercy and make it to the Brine national team," said Libby, who has two brothers: Mack will be a freshman at Catholic Central and Charlie will be a seventh-grader at Clifford Smart Middle School in Commerce. "My goal is to represent the state of Michigan and make it as far as we can.
"I was very excited when I found out I was going to play at the Brine tournament," she added. "I think it is a very big honor to represent the state and I think it's very cool."
Mercy will be without Amelia next year, but Libby will be there to carry on the Bartels name.