'ONCE-IN-A-LIFETIME' ATHLETE

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January 31, 2025

For information on admission to Notre Dame Prep, please click here. 

Inaugural class of Notre Dame Prep's Athletic Hall of Fame includes Gatorade Player of the Year, state champion, and Walt Bazylewicz Athlete of the Year award winner Molly Coldren NDP'08.

On Friday, Feb. 7, Notre Dame Prep will induct its first class into the Athletic Hall of Fame, which features alumni, an administrator and coach, and a longtime parent volunteer and supporter. The inaugural class for the year 2024 includes Bobbie Bieszki NDP'00, Molly Coldren NDP'08, Mike Durkin, Nathan Mylenek NDP'16 and Betty Wroubel.

As we get closer to that special night, we are profiling each inductee, one at a time, and alumna Molly Coldren NDP'08 is the subject of today's review.

Coldren was named Miss Softball in 2008, Gatorade Player of the Year for volleyball in 2007 and was the 2007 Miss Volleyball runner-up. She also was a member of the 2007 Notre Dame Prep volleyball state championship team, led the 2008 softball team to a final four appearance and was named First Team All-State twice in both volleyball and softball. 

Coldren also was an NDP Dirty Dozen award recipient, earning varsity letters in all four years in volleyball, basketball and softball, and was a recipient of the  school's Female Athlete of the Year award in 2008. In 2007, she was named the Walt Bazylewicz CHSL Athlete of the Year and was inducted into the CHSL Hall of Fame in 2012. 

Following high school, Coldren played four years of softball at Central Michigan University, where she became the single-season and career record holder for home runs and the career record holder for RBIs. She has coached high school girls basketball, volleyball and softball and served as an athletic director, including at St. Marys Prep and Marian.

"Molly is a once-in-a-lifetime type of athlete whose impact on the school’s athletic programs, as well as her continued success in the sport of softball at the collegiate level, make her highly deserving of this recognition," said Betty Wroubel, current athletic director and Coldren's softball and volleyball coach at NDP. 

"What truly sets Molly apart is not just her athletic ability, but her leadership and character," continued Wroubel, also a member of NDP's inaugural hall of fame class. "She is a natural leader who elevated the level of play for everyone around her. Her work ethic and commitment to excellence made her a role model for others, and she helped create a culture of success that inspired those who played alongside her."

An induction ceremony for the inaugural class, which coincides with the 30th anniversary of Notre Dame Prep, will be held at halftime of the NDP boys varsity basketball game against Genesee Christian School on Friday, Feb. 7, with tip off at 5:30 p.m. Following, the NDP girls varsity basketball team will take on Genesee Christian School at 7 p.m.

A meet and greet will be held in the athletics triangle following the induction. The Notre Dame Prep athletic booster club will also be hosting a basket raffle throughout the evening with proceeds benefiting Notre Dame Prep athletics and the hall of fame.

For the Notre Dame Prep Athletic Hall of Fame's Class of 2025, nominations are due by May 1, 2025. Please click here for more information.

 

For information on admission to Notre Dame Prep, please click here.

Comments or questions? mkelly@ndpma.org

About Notre Dame Preparatory School
"At Notre Dame Prep, we inspire our students to become the best versions of themselves. We challenge them through an experience of academic excellence, focused on active, project-based learning. We invite them to explore a world of opportunities beyond the classroom. We guide them as they grow in spirituality within a community strong in its Catholic and Marist identity."

Notre Dame Preparatory School is a private, Catholic, independent, coeducational day school located in Oakland County. Notre Dame Preparatory School's upper school enrolls students in grades nine through twelve and has been named one of the nation's best 50 Catholic high schools (Acton Institute) four times since 2005. Notre Dame Prep's middle and lower schools enroll students in pre-kindergarten through grade eight. All three schools are International Baccalaureate "World Schools." NDP is conducted by the Marist Fathers and Brothers and is accredited by the Independent Schools Association of the Central States and the National Association of Independent Schools. For more on Notre Dame Preparatory School, visit the school’s home page at www.ndprep.org.