BY WENDI REARDON PRICE
Clarkston News Staff Writer
Grace, Mitch and Serra Lowney took one more trip through the halls of Everest Collegiate High School and Everest Academy as they ended their 14-year journey.
“It’s been wonderful,” Mitch said reflecting on the years since the triplets began going to Everest in preschool.
“This place is like a second home to me,” he added. “I am definitely coming back here to visit. The things I have learned, the teachers have taught me so much, the faculty has taught me so much so have parents and deans of students. The brotherhood you have with your classmates – it will be tough not to see them but we will keep in touch.”
Each sat down and reflected on their years on the campus and starting the next chapter of their lives.
Serra noted the impact it was to have good relationships with others and what comes out of the relationships. Especially with having less than 15 girls in her class building those relationships helped make many memories to reflect on and also helped with facing and dealing with problems.
“The biggest lesson is how to deal with problems and adjust to people you aren’t usually around,” she said, adding she learned how to communicate with people, how to treat people and how to work hard. “You have a ton of role models.”
“The close family atmosphere is awesome,” Grace said, adding her class was split into boys and girls until recently. “Some have come and gone but I have been with the same 7-8 girls since preschool and Kindergarten. It will definitely be hard leaving them.”
Serra added the friendships she has made over the years have turned into more.
“It is technically my second family and to have those people to go to when you need them and how many people care about you.”
Everest fulfilled each of the trio’s need in academics, athletics and religion.
The first aspect Mitch noted on what he enjoyed was Everest being a Catholic school.
“We have the opportunity to go to mass,” he said. “There are always priests around campus so if you are having troubles you can talk to them. Or they can talk to you every month and see how you are doing.”
He added it helped to keep him balanced.

“Having a strong relationship with God,” Grace reflected on her time at Everest. “My teachers are focused on we pray before every class and after every class. They are focused on it being the main priority which is nice. We can goof around sometimes. It’s nice to also have teachers who care about my sports or my life and not just the academics.”
Each followed in their parents, Ann and Patrick, footsteps and played basketball.
“There is a picture of me as a toddler holding a basketball,” Grace said. “We did stuff at Basketball America, then 3-on-3. Then, played at middle school and high school. I think I secretly have a love for it. Around sophomore year I had a choice to play or not. I am glad I kept playing.”
Grace and Serra were part of this year’s team which made the Elite Eight in the MHSAA Division 4 Girls Basketball playoffs after winning the district and regional championships.
“It was super awesome,” said Grace. “A lot of us didn’t think we would make it that far – just getting past Our Lady of the Lakes would have been hard. Super happy we made it that far and happy ended like that.”
“It was fun,” Serra said, adding there are no words to describe the experience. “It was a shock most of the time. Until the end it’s like we are in the newspaper, we are one of the last teams. It was an incredible feeling, not really describable. Once we got past Lakes I thought we could totally do this because the teams are pretty comparable.”
Grace and Serra also played volleyball during the fall season.
Grace played soccer her sophomore and junior year and decided this spring to focus more on volleyball to prepare for college.
“I just love volleyball,” Grace added. “It’s my favorite sport. The coach I had in fifth grade was the same coach I had in senior year.”
Serra competes during the spring season with the track team.
Mitch played basketball his junior and senior years with the varsity team with his mom as head coach. He also at one time played football, soccer and baseball.
But it was golf he found a passion in high school.
“Golf I took more serious and felt like I had a better shot. It’s been my love ever since,” he said.
Mitch was part of the Everest teams who won two state championships in his freshman and sophomore years.
“Winning the first one was crazy because that was our first school state title,” he said. “I feel like it brought Everest sports to what it can be in the future. For this year, I want to get the individual state title as well as the team state title.”
The next journey for the trio is college in the fall.
Mitch is going to Trine University to play golf and to study golf management.
“What stuck with me was head coach Bill SanGiacomo,” he said. “He’s been there for over 45 years so he knows what he’s doing.”
Mitch added it’s a great group of guys on the team. What really helped him decide was the program they have for golf management because it’s what he wants to do.
“First, I want to see if I can go pro,” he said about his goals. “Then, if that doesn’t work out I will have internships available to me to be a club professional and teach kids about the game because it’s something I like doing.”
Grace is heading to Albion College to play volleyball and to study business marketing.
“I want to be some sort of designer so probably minor in art,” she added.
She also looked at going to Trine University before deciding on Albion.
“I really like the atmosphere with the girls I would be playing with,” Grace said about her final decision. “Also, the academics were strong in what I want to study. My aunt and uncle where there and they loved it.”
Serra next journey is going to Miami University in Ohio to study biology.
“Then hopefully pre-med because they do a different pre-med track,” she said, adding her career goal is to help people, work with people and make a difference. “I want to do something where every day is something different, not just going through the motions. I feel like being a doctor and helping people is rewarding.”
Serra added she might play intramural sports in college.
“I have played sports all my life,” she said. “I was planning on it and then found a college I really love and can’t play there.”
Each left behind thoughts for the students at Everest Academy and Everest Collegiate.
“Just have fun with everything you do,” Mitch said. “It goes by so fast. Like yesterday I was just starting high school, now I am graduating soon. Cherish every moment you can.”
“Take advantage of the moment and the people you have around you,” Serra added. “I wish I had taken more advantage of the time and appreciated it because then it’s gone and you cant do much about it. Work your hardest because it goes by so fast and you don’t know what is going to happen.”
“Making sure you grow a strong relationship with your classmates is huge because you want to keep those memories,” Grace said. “The memories I have here are memories I am going to have forever. Stay close with your teachers. Having the relationship with my teachers I do have has impacted me right now – I can come in early and ask for help or stay after if I need help on homework. It’s obvious they care about the individual student.”

  Everest, graduating