I am going to make one final attempt to wrap my arms around the 2008-09 high school athletics year. There were plenty of thrills and tears as our kids took to the fields and courts wearing their school colors. These were the lead stories for Sports Corner. Thanks for the memories.
Aug. 3- I cautioned Green High football fans not to expect a miracle with first-year coach Tom Stacy. The Bulldogs lost nailbiters to Lake, GlenOak, Cloverleaf, and Wadsworth and used a nice 3-1 finish to wind up 4-6.
Aug. 10- The Springfield BOE had little choice but to close Lakemore Elementary.
Aug. 17- Coventry senior Ethan Wichterman demonstrated the heart of a champion in battling back from a shattered ankle to play football in 2007 and ’08.
Aug. 24- Aiming to put a 5-5 record behind them, Manchester’s football seniors were looking for a return to form. The Panthers fought to the end and came away 7-3, short of the playoffs in Division IV, Region 13.
Aug. 31- Archbishop Hoban’s upset of Walsh Jesuit turned the local football pecking order on its ear and got me in a headline jam.
Sep. 7- Coach Matt Rogers had the LCCS girls’ soccer team playi ng well, despite a schedule loaded with Division I opponents.
Sep. 14- The Green Bulldogs were regaining their swagger on the defensive side of the football. In retrospect, Green’s defensive effort against GlenOak was outstanding.
Sep. 21- Coaches Erin Weger and Henry Cobb had Lake volleyball off to an 11-1 start. Led by seven seniors, the Blue Streaks wound up 18-4.
Sep. 28- NFL Defensive Player of the Year James Harrison purchased $7,000 worth of football cleats for the Coventry Comets. Harrison starred at Coventry in the mid-1990s.
Oct. 5- I was reminded that ‘Big fast guys beat little fast guys.’ Manchester’s Joe Campbell, Springfield’s Chase Cole, Coventry’s Beau Cross, Green’s Tyler Guyton, and Lake’s Dillon Miller were among our area’s fastest football players for their size.
Oct. 12- I tried to make the OHSAA soccer playoffs a little bit easier to follow with an overview of Oct. 13-18 sectional games.
Oct. 19- Talk of a seventh division for OHSAA football seemed to make sense, but my beef remains with having just two divisions for girls’ soccer.
Oct. 26- Officials at Green and Lake anticipated hosting regional football playoff games at their newly carpeted stadiums. The artificial turf was well received, but did not yield postseason football in Year #1.
Nov. 2- Dylan Papp (Green), Rachel Gambow (Lake), Jamie McHugh (Lake Center), and Amber Silver (Manchester) were selected by WAKR for its Student-Athlete of the Week program.
Nov. 9- Brian “Gus” Dudek, a 2008 Green graduate, has been credited with sparking a resurgence in the Bulldogs’ distance-running program. GHS finished fourth at the Division I state cross country meet.
Nov. 16- The Green Turkey Tip-Off girls’ basketball field was reduced, but quality prevailed with Walsh Jesuit, Copley-Fairlawn, and Hudson coming to town.
Nov. 23- Archbishop Hoban (9-5) surprised more than one so-called expert with its remarkable run to the OHSAA Division II football semifinals.
Nov. 30- Rob and Wendy Swanson stepped up to coach Lake’s varsity swimming program.
Dec. 7- Second-year coach Jack Morgan believed his Springfield boys’ basketball team had a chance to contend in the Portage Trail Metro Division.
Dec. 14- I experienced a “Beun Overload” when I met Erik Beun at Berlin Hiland. His brother, Brad, is the assistant principal and athletic director at Lake Center. Another brother, Kyle, coached the LCCS girls’ hoops squad.
Dec. 21- Malone University men’s basketball coach Hal Smith was going to be home for the holidays after a double-organ transplant and long fight to survive a rare liver disease. Six of our local products were on the Malone roster and able to witness Smith s grit and determination.
Dec. 28- Wrestling teams at Lake and Manchester posted impressive results at the North Canton Holiday Tournament.
Jan. 11- The Lake girls’ hoops team, led by seniors Dana Brown, Jordan Jenkins, and Lauren Myers, was off to an 8-1 start and would eventually finish 17-5 (7-3), falling to Canton McKinley in the Federal League title game and to Perry in overtime in the playoffs.
Jan. 18- Green senior Kelsie Ahbe demonstrated considerable class in joining the Bulldog swim team. The two-time OHSAA pole vault champion assumed a leadership role despite having little background in the sport.
Jan. 25- Bowling, in its third year as an OHSAA sport, was seeing steady improvement at our local high schools. Green freshman Marissa Summers qualified for the state tourney.
Feb. 1- Hustling sophomores were giving Manchester High boys’ basketball a lift. Mark Noble, Kyle Dack, Tyler Masters, Clint Miller and Nick Miller expect to be leaders for the Panthers the next two seasons.
Feb. 8- St. Vincent-St. Mary High grad and Hartville resident Kara Murphy was the Mid-American Conference’s leading scorer as a sophomore on the University of Akron women’s basketball squad.
Feb. 15- Sectional/district basketball brackets were announced and everybody started 0-0 with dreams of cutting down the nets.
Feb. 22- Springfield senior wrestling standout Scotty Cole was “holding the Spartan pride” and helping to forge school spirit. I am so glad I tracked Cole down at Rootstown High School that Saturday afternoon in February
Mar. 1- I immediately knew I was in the right place doing the right story for this time of year. Red Walton, a 1935 Coventry grad, played on the Comets’ OHSAA state tournament basketball team in 1933.
Mar. 8- Green basketball enjoyed a big night when both of its varsity teams won playoff games at Copley and Ellet High Schools, respectively.
Mar. 15- A seismic shift appeared on the horizon for high school sports conferences; however, the Federal League decided not to expand and that squelched most of the movement. The Suburban League still needs to replace Ba rberton for 2011-12. At press time, Nordonia appeared to the replacement for Barberton in the Suburban League.
Mar. 22- The Southwest District seems far ahead of the Northeast District when it comes to scheduling basketball sectional and district games at college venues.
Mar. 29- Former Lake High softball stars Julie Boyes and Hallie Pettigrew were tearing it up for their respective college teams. Pettigrew shared the SAC Player of the Year honor and was South Atlantic Conference scholar-athlete of the year for her sport, overcoming a serious knee injury early in the season. She hit .405 in 50 games and was 17-of-17 on stolen bases. Wingate University (33-16-1) won the SAC regular season title and reached the NCAA Division II playoffs.
Apr. 5- Several milestones were noted in Green High’s first season of varsity lacrosse. The Bulldogs were hoping to make a run in the OHSLA Division II playoffs.
Apr. 12- Young talent dotted our girls’ track & field rosters and seven up-and-comers were singled out.
Apr. 19- The Green BOE was leaning toward adopting a conservative Open Enrollment policy.
Apr. 26- I know exactly where I was standing when I first became aware of Lake High athlete Jimmy Luther.
May 3- District runners-up the previous year, the LCCS baseball Tigers were determined to win the school’s first district championship.
May 10- The May 14-16 three-day stretch provided plenty of conference track & field action for our local athletes.
May 17- Once again, the Massillon Division I softball district was crammed with great teams. There was a mad scramble of young ladies ready to squeeze their foot into this year’s glass slipper.
May 24- Springfield senior Nilesh Patel was the WAKR Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
May 31- Coventry’s new football coach Neal Kopp will be joined on the sidelines by his father, John. The Comets expect to have a ninth grade team this fall.
June 7- It was a magical season of baseball at Green, Lake Center Christian, and Walsh Jesuit. The Warriors lost the Division II state title game. Green advanced to the Division I state tournament. LCCS lost the regional championship game 3-2.
June 14- Economics may force the OHSAA to re-think its playoff structure.
June 21- The fifth annual Suburby Awards celebrated another exciting year of high school sports. Green’s Kelsie Ahbe is the Senior Female Athlete of the Year.
Green, Ohio —
