ALL SPORT F 2012 Preview S A Special Spor ts Supplement of the Sidney Daily News
2 • Thursday, August 23, 2012
2012 FALL SPORTS PREVIEW
Sidney Daily News
SIDNEY
Jackets look to take first step back It’s there, and everyone knows it. They just don’t talk about it, says second-year head coach Adam Doenges. He’s trying to resurrect the Sidney High School football program, and it’s turned into a monumental job. He knows it won’t happen overnight, but he says the Jackets need to take that first step – a victory. Sidney heads into the upcoming football season in the throes of a long losing streak, backto-back 0-10 seasons. And playing in a league like Sidney does, the Greater Western Ohio Conference, makes digging out of that hole all the more difficult. “You don’t get back over night,” said Doenges. “And you don’t turn really good overnight. I don’t want to say we’re rebuilding. We still want to win and that’s our expectations. But we know where we are and we know we have some building to do. “We don’t bring up the losing streak, but it’s there,” he added. “There’s no reason to bring it up. I haven’t heard the kids bring it up, and the coaches don’t bring it up, either. But we need to get that first one. You put the time and effort in and you need that taste of victory.” He has 15 lettermen returning, but he said that number is skewed a bit because of injuries last season. “Some other
SDN File Photo/Todd B. Acker
JJALEN HERD (3) goes up for an interception last year against Bellefontaine. He’s among the returnees for the Yellow Jackets this season. kids got some playing time that might not have, but most of the lettermen are legit. But we started quite a few sophomores last year.” There are 52 players out in the upper three grades, with a freshmen
or two also in the mix. Of that number, 20 are seniors, but Doenges said only six of those seniors have played all four years. “That’s not very good, only six true seniors on the team. But it doesn’t matter where
you’re at or at what level, if that’s the amount of seniors, then you’re relying on a lot of young kids.” He said there will be some changes this season, but not dramatic. “Obviously, when you
have a season like we did, you want to go in and change some things,” he said. “We went to some clinics and talked to other coaches, visited some college programs. It doesn’t matter if you go 15-0, you still want to change.” He said offensively, the Jackets will go to more two-back sets, whereas last year there was just one behind the quarterback. “We have some more skilled kids that we can put in the backfield and make things happen,” he said. “Defensively, the basic look will be the same. We just have to coach them up better.” Kyle Dembski, a 5foot-8, 222-pound junior, will be in the backfield, as will Eric Barnes, who is a 5-10, 170-pound sophomore. The battle is ongoing for the quarterback spot, with senior Kaleb Dotson and junior Jordan Fox vying for the position. “We’re still looking for a guy to take charge,” Doenges said. The O-line will be anchored by three-year starter Jacob Lochard at center, 5-10, 252-pound George Latimer and 5-8, 208-pound junior Noah Stramen. They will all be starters. Levi Fitzpatrick, 6-1, 230, and Corey Saunders, 6-2, 218, are both first-year varsity players looking for playing time. He thinks he has good people to throw to in 6-0, 148-pound junior Jalen
Herd, and 5-7, 160pound speedster Kaleb Martin. “He was second in the GWOC in the 200 and he had a good spring and winter of lifting. He’s one of the faster guys in the GWOC and we’re looking for him to make some plays,” Doenges said of Martin. Anthony Yates, Brian Fishbaugh and Troy Rosengarten are also good targets. Yates was an all-league punter last season, and he teams with Andre Spillers to give the Jackets an excellent kicking game. Spillers has hit from over 40 yards in preseason field goal attempts. Defensively, the strength is at linebacker, where Dembski, 5-10, 158-pound Taylor Shepherd and 5-7 Dylan Owen line up. “We’re pretty solid there,” said Doenges. “And in preseason, we were real happy with our D-line, and that was one of our biggest weaknesses.” Up front will be Spillers, Zach Weldy, 6-1, 210 and a senior, and Connor Bodenmiller, 510, 208 and a sophomore. Austin Elmore was also in the starting lineup, but suffered a broken arm in preseason and is out for a while yet. Doenges said players off the O-line will also see action up front on defense. “Weldy is a firstyear player but he’s been a nice surprise so far,” said the coach. See EIGHT/Page 3
2012 FALL SPORTS PREVIEW
Sidney Daily News
Thursday, August 23, 2012 • 3
Eight seniors dominate roster for girls soccer
Girls soccer The Sidney girls soccer team has a lot of open spots to fill this season after losing 11 seniors, eight of which were starters last season. “While it’s going to be a transition year, I don’t necessarily consider it rebuilding,” said coach Stacey Goffena. “I feel the term rebuilding has been used in the past as an excuse to lose, and while I am putting together a new varsity
team, I still feel that the girls that step on my field are good enough to continue the winning ways we have seen in past seasons. As a new team, we just need to learn to adapt to each other and learn how to play together. We have had a successful summer, playing in four tournaments, so hopefully we’ll be ready to go by our first game.” Returning letter winners for the Lady Jackets are Monique Hanayik, Lauren Elmore, Tina Echemann, Morgan Knasel, McKenzie Anderson, Taylor Young, Clara Snavley and Lindsey Sturwold. Konner Harris will also be returning this season after recovering from an ACL injury that kept her out last season. There are still seven seniors this season. Offensively, Monique Hanayik is a secondteam all conference, third-team all Dayton area returning starter for the Lady Jackets. Last season she finished with 12 goals and seven assists as an outside midfielder. She will be
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(From page 2) In the defensive backfield, Martin, Jacob Roediger and Darius Southern are solid, and joined by a freshman, Darryl McNeal. Doenges feels he has an excellent coaching staff, which added two former players in Devon Langhorst and Thomas Goffena. “Devon has been tremendous,” said Doenges. “Thomas was coaching down in North Carolina and was able to get a job back up here. The kids look up to those two. They played here, graduated here and went on to successful things. We’re happy to have them.”
playing both outside midfield and striker for us this season. “She’s had a fantastic summer and has a very strong left foot,” said Goffena. “She will need to score for us to be successful.” Joining Hanayik on the offensive end will be Harris, who will also be splitting time as outside midfielder and striker. As a sophomore, she scored 20 goals and had 10 assists before her injury sidelined her last season. “Having her return will definitely help us offensively and she’s just a great athlete to have on your team. Her leadership and competitiveness are going to be what this team needs this season,” said the coach. Elmore and Echemann will play the center midfield position. “Tina has really impressed me over the summer and does a great job of controlling the ball and starting our offense. She usually has to mark the other team’s best offensive mid. Lauren has three years experience at the position and plays
SDN Photo/Eric Castle
SIDNEY HAS reason for optimism in girls soccer thanks to the presence of eight seniors on the team, including (front, l-r) Cydney Park, Lauren Elmore, Clare Snavley and Tina Echemann, and back, McKenzie Anderson, Monique Hanayik, Konner Harris and Taylor Young. very hard. I’m hoping to get her to step up this season and be an offensive threat for us,” Goffena said. Our defensive seniors will be led by Anderson. “McKenzie has the most varsity experience of all my defenders. While a sickness sidelined her for half of last season, she has had a great sum-
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mer and will have to be a vocal leader in the back,” said the coach. She is also joined by Snavely on the opposite side, and she saw some
varsity playing time last season. Taylor Young will be playing the stopper position. See VOLLEYBALL/Page 4
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2012 FALL SPORTS PREVIEW
4 • Thursday, August 23, 2012
Sidney Daily News
Volleyball hopes to build on 10-win season lent job of starting our offense out of the back. She has great ball skills for a defender and this will help us offensively. Kara will be playing outside midfield for us. She has great crosses and works very hard in a very tough position to play. She has worked hard over the summer and earned herself that spot. She has good crosses from the outside and will need to be an offensive threat for us.” Kaitlyn Davis and Adrianne Miller are two freshmen that will be on the team this season. Davis has some major shoes to fill as she steps into the sweeper position vacated by GWOC north player of the year Abigail Eppley. “She has done very well this summer and is adjusting to the physicality that comes with playing varsity soccer against some of the top goal scorers in the area,” said Goffena. “She doesn’t make freshman mistakes back there and has great decision making skills. Adrianne will be my utility player, she can literally play anywhere on the field. I’ve used her mostly as a center-mid sub, but she has also seen minutes on defense and other spots on our offense. She is very coachable and plays anywhere I ask her to. “I have also been using the summer to try to complete my roster,” she continued. “With only a few returning players, there were a lot of vacated spots. Many are still competing for the last few spots. I’m hoping with our two
weeks of practices and four scrimmages before our first game, we can finally get a roster of 16 that can tackle the GWOC North. Things are very different for us this season. With losing so many last year, we aren’t expected to win like in years past, but I feel this team has the competitiveness and ability to surprise some teams. I’m confident in them, we just have to learn to play together and once that happens, I feel they will also become confident in themselves which will show during the games.” Joining the coaching staff this year as junior varsity coach will be Goffena’s sister Megan Mummey. “She knows the girls and the game, but most importantly, she’s a great coach and will bring a lot of experience to that position,” Goffena said.
Boys soccer Eric Harlamert returns for another season as the head coach of the Sidney High boys soccer team, and he’s looking for improvement over last year’s 6-9-2 record. The Jackets lost eight players to graduation from that team, but return 10 lettermen from a
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(From page 3) She has also been plagued by injuries in the past, so Goffena is hoping she can complete a whole season. The returning juniors are Morgan Knasel and Lindsey Sturwold. Knasel leads the way up top in the striker position. Last season she had 14 goals and four assists and was named to first team all league and second team all Dayton area as a sophomore. “She is lightning quick up top and plays out every ball,” said Goffena. “I love coaching players like Morgan because she never quits. She plays out everything and makes a lot of things happen out of nothing. Lindsey will be our starting goalkeeper. She did play in a few varsity games last season while our starter was out, so she is coming in with some experience. She will have to be very consistent in the goal and make good decisions for us to win games.” Sophomores joining the varsity team this season are Lauren Spaugy, Lauren Boyd and Kara Burns. “Lauren Spaugy has probably been the biggest surprise to me this summer,” said the coach. “She was out almost all of last season with an injury, so seeing her return this season and her level of play, I’m very impressed. She will be playing some outside midfield and center mid. Lauren Boyd is a very good defender for us. She plays the stopper position and does an excel-
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year ago, leading to a lot of optimism from the coach. Returning are six seniors in Dustin Lorenzo, Joel Fannon, Jacob Davis, Preston Heath, Trevor Thompson and Zach Austin, juniors Blake Steenrod and Brady Gaylor and sophomores Eric Beigel and Jordan Perkins. “This team will be led by our captains, Dustin, Jacob and Blake,” said Harlamert. “The team includes a great group of freshmen too.” The newcomers to the varsity include a pair of seniors in David Young and T.J. Lindsey, and six freshmen in Chase Lorenzo, Quentin McKenzie, Ben Snavley, Ben McClain, Bradley Burden and Nick Kindle. Harlamert pegged the starters as Gaylor and Beigel at forward, Heath, McKenzie and the two Lorenzos at midfield, Davis, Fannon, Perkins and Steenrod at defender and Sam Clendenin at goalkeeper. “We start with a real tough schedule, including teams like Beavercreek, Wayne, Alter, Hilliard Davidson and Springboro,” said Harlamert. “While all games are tough and contain
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unknowns, Vandalia and Troy will be tough to beat in our league.” And they will be gunning for the Jackets — Sidney has won or shared the GWOC North title five years in a row.
Volleyball Sidney High hit the double-figure mark in victories last season, finishing 10-13 under coach Ashleigh Ratermann. And with seven players returning for this season, the coach is optimistic. “I’ve been looking forward to this season ever since we ended tournament play last year,” said Ratermann. “Having six seniors who each bring something different to the team is going to make our upcoming season a huge success. The team meshes well together in all aspects and everyone helps out one another to accomplish the task at hand.” Returning are setter/hitter Kristin Beigel, defensive specialists Ashley Doak, Christina Colon and Michelle Abbott (also right side hitter), outside hitter Allison Neu and middle hitter Shelbie Anderson, all seniors, and junior outside hitter Madison Barker.
Beigel was secondteam All-GWOC North and Neu made the North special mention list. Ratermann is also looking for contributions from newcomers like junior setter Cady Hollerich and sophomore middle hitter Brie Wells. “Throughout the course of the summer, all of the girls in the program worked hard and dedicated themselves to open gyms and conditioning. Sidney volleyball has continued to improve each year and hopefully that continues this year,” the coach said.
Cross country Ken Kellner is the new head coach of the cross country teams at Sidney this season, and he inherits teams that both finished fourth in the GWOC North Division last season. Back for the boys are six lettermen, including some all-GWOC North runners. Sophomore Jared Tangeman and senior Alex Bowman both ran their way to second-team honors. Also returning are senior Austin Oder, junior Matt Schwarzman, and sophomores Tristan Moore and Dean Fannon. See INTEREST/Page 9
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2012 FALL SPORTS PREVIEW
Sidney Daily News
Thursday, August 23, 2012 • 5
NEW BREMEN
McGaharan takes over as Cardinal coach Former Sidney High School assistant coach Jason McGaharan takes over as head coach of the New Bremen Cardinals, trying to resurrect a p r o g r a m McGaharan that has won just two games over the last two seasons. The Cardinals were 010 last season and lost some key players to graduation in quarterback Elliot Westerbeck and wide receiver Ben
Chaney, who combined to set school records. Tight end Troy Williams and lineman Neven Frazee anchored the line. Returning are senior wideout/ defensive back Parker Manger, senior defensive end/tight end Justin Heitkamp, senior running back/defensive lineman Alex Speelman, junior lineman Ty Overman and senior lineman Craig Broerman. Linebacker Nick Ahlers is also expected to have a good season. Manger is 6-foot-2, 176 pounds, Heitkamp is a big target at 6-6, 205,
Speelman is 6-3, 224, Overman is 6-2, 221, Broerman is 6-1, 204, and Ahlers is 6-1, 205. So the Cards will have the size to stack up with just about anybody on their schedule. McGarahan said it’s a hard-working group and well-conditioned. He also called them good team players who take coaching well, and are hungry to be part of a winning football program. But they will need to overcome youth and inexperience. The Cardinals will run a variation of the Wing-T on offense and a
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4-2 on defense. Paul, senior middle HanThere are 11 seniors nah Holdren, junior on this year’s squad. right side/setter Karli Jones, junior middle Volleyball New Bremen went 8- Julie Brown, junior out16 in volleyball last sea- side hitter Victoria son with a young team, Wente and junior defenand with nearly all of sive specialist Tarynn those players returning, Clune. Sophomore Steph this should be a strong season for the Lady Car- Brandt, an outside hitdinals. ter/defensive specialist, There are nine letter- is also in the mix this winners returning in all, season. including senior outside “I’m excited for the hitter/defensive special- season,” said coach ist Haley Moeller, senior Theresa Jenkins. “We defensive specialist Mea- have some experience gan Brandt, senior right under our belt and they side hitter Emily have really been pushing Niekamp, senior defen- to be a better team this sive specialist Amber year in terms of ball con-
trol, movement and communication. We know the league is tough every year, but if we stay focused and work hard, hopefully we’ll give the typical powerhouses a good fight.”
Boys golf Coach Cindy Newman has five lettermen returning this season from a team that was 5-4 in the conference last year. Those returnees include seniors Darin Bergman and Alex Feltz, juniors Travis Bertelsen and Zach Hegemier and sophomore Alex Britton. See COACHES/Page 6
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2012 FALL SPORTS PREVIEW
6 • Thursday, August 23, 2012
Sidney Daily News
Coaches expecting good year from runners Also back are seniors Jeff Trego, Aaron Hegemier, Eric Francis, Tyler Hagen and Avery Rhinehart and sophomore Jacob O’Neill. Two freshmen are also looking for varsity time in Taite McKinney and Max Travis “We have three or four individuals who have played in competitive tournaments throughout the summer. This should help them to be more consistent in league play. The boys have been practicing hard during the summer and are ready to play, and we should be competitive in the MAC.”
Girls cross country
SDN Photo/Luke Gronneberg
Coach Laurissa Dalrymple has a young team but she says it’s enthusiastic and she’s excited about the upcoming season. The Lady Cardinals were second in two regular-season meets, one at home and one at St. Marys, and went on to finish eighth in the MAC. She has three returnees and they are also sophomores in Ashley Berning, Shelby Paul and Veronica Hirschfeld. She looks for contributions from sophomore Marissa Frazee and also senior Elizabeth Alt. “I expect to see great improvement as the girls step up their level of intensity in training and races,” she said.
NEW BREMEN returns most of its volleyball team from last season, including these five seniors (l-r) Amber Paul, Meagan Brandt, Emily Niekamp, Haley Moeller and Hammah Holdren.
Boys cross county
Girls golf
Coach Molly Watcke also has three experienced runners back from a team that was fifth in the MAC last season. The returnees include
New Bremen’s girls are coached again by Mike Holdren, in his third year, and he has four letter-winners returning from a team that
was 3-8 overall. The returning players are juniors Rachel Parker and Mackenzie Howell, and sophomores Sydney Holdren and Sara Lafleur. “Our top three players are very solid,” Holdren said. “We are looking for others to step up and fill our varsity lineup. Our six player lineup will not be set in stone. We will have competition weekly for the last positions.” The other golfers looking to break into the top six are senior Erika Smith, junior Heather Bensman, sophomores Mikayla Schott and Payton Doherty, and freshman Amy Schmitmeyer. He said Coldwater will be favored because of returning player of the year Kelsey Koesters, and he also expects Versailles and St.
CARE
Henry to be strong.
September 6 ...............................Versailles 10 ...................at Marion Local 11.....................at Wapakoneta 13...................................Celina 18 ..............................at Russia —— Volleyball August 25 ..............................at Russia 27.................................Botkins 30........................Marion Local September 1.................JC, Troy Christian 4................................St. Marys 6.........................Fort Recovery 13.................at New Knoxville 15 ...........................at Anna tri 17........................Fort Loramie 18 ........................at Coldwater 20..............................St. Henry 25 ................at Lima Shawnee 27.......................at Delphos SJ 29...................at Van Wert Inv. October 2 ..................................Lehman 4.............................at Parkway 9...................................Minster 11 .........................at Versailles
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Schedules
Football All games at 7:30 Aug. 24................at Covington Aug. 31 ...............Fort Loramie Sept. 7.....................at Minster Sept. 14......................Parkway Sept. 21.................at St.Henry Sept. 28 .............Fort Recovery Oct. 5 ...................at Versailles Oct. 12 .............................Anna Oct. 19 ...at Delphos St. John’s Oct. 26 ................Marion Local —— Cross country August 25.....................at Delphos Inv. September 8................at Spencerville Inv. 15 ........................at Eaton Inv. 22...................at Van Wert Inv. 27.................New Bremen Inv.
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sophomore Eric Smart, junior Drew McClurg and senior Jacob Rutschilling. The top newcomers will be sophomores Nathan Herriott and Brad Rammel and freshmen Cort Suchland and Jason Zircher. “We have a young squad but I expect outstanding results from our boys,” said the coach. “The combination of talent and intensity will elevate them to the next level quickly.” She expects Versailles, Coldwater, Minster and St. Henry to return strong squads this season.
October 4 ...................at Coldwater Inv. 6 ............................at Thill Inv. 11 .......................at MAC meet —— Boys golf Home matches at Arrowhead August 23..............................St. Henry 27...........................at Parkway 30 ................................Minster 31........................Fort Loramie September 1 ....................at Versailles Inv. 4 .......................at Waynesfield 6 ...........................at Versailles 10........................Marion Local 13.......................Fort Recovery 17.....................................Anna 20 .....................New Knoxville —— Girls golf Home matches at Arrowhead August 23 ..........................at St.Henry 27 ...............................Parkway 30 ................................Minster 31........................Fort Loramie
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2012 FALL SPORTS PREVIEW
Sidney Daily News
Thursday, August 23, 2012 • 7
MINSTER
Stacked backfield returns for Wildcats Coach Nate Moore begins his third season as the head coach of the Minster Wildcats, and will be looking to lead the squad to the postseason playoffs for the third time in a row. Two years ago, the Wildcats became a true Cinderella story. They finished the regular season 5-5, upset Springfield Catholic in the first round of the playoffs, then shocked the entire area with an upset of Marion Local in the regional semifinal game. That momentum carried over to last season, when the Wildcats finished with a 7-3 regularseason mark to again qualify for the postseason. And again, they made a nice run, beating Springfield Catholic and Fort Loramie before losing in the regional final. This year’s edition of the Wildcats has some holes to fill, but some top athletes returning from last season. There are 12 lettermen back, including six returning starters on both sides of the ball. Last year’s team had a solid one-two punch at running back, with Troy Kauffman rushing for 677 yards and Korey Schultz 658 during the regular season. Both are back this season, Kauffman being a 5-foot-10, 175-pound senior and Schultz a 5-11, 165pound senior. In addition, the Wildcats have their quarterback returning in
SDN Photo/NAME
KOREY SCHULTZ (29) led Minster in rushing last season and returns this year. ultra-talented Adam Niemeyer. He has outstanding size for a signal-caller at 6-2, 195, and throws a good ball, as evidenced by his 53 percent completion rate last season. He was 112 for 213 for 1,152 yards and 11 touchdowns last fall. He lost his No. 1 receiver to graduation in
Daniel Gusching, but has his No. 2 back in Devon Poeppelman, who had 17 catches for 132 yards in a an injuryplagued regular season. Tight end Ethan Wolf, the No. 3 receiver last year with 13 catches for 174 yards during the regular season, is also back, and quite a target at 6-5, 225. There are five other returning starters back from last season, including senior defensive back/wide receiver Jay Eilerman, linebacker/TE James Borges, DB/running back Paul Dues, and linemen Wes Hegemann and Mason Haney. Eilerman is a 6-0, 165-pound senior, Borges is 6-1, 180 and a senior, Dues is 6-3, 170 and a junior, Hegemann is 6-2, 240 and a junior and Haney is 6-1, 220 and a senior. There are two other returning lettermen in 6-1, 195-pound senior linebacker/offensive lineman Alan Tebbe and 6-0, 170-pound DB and wideout Kurtis Thobe. Niemeyer, Poeppelman, Kauffman and Borges are all three-year
lettermen for the Wild- have just three back. We cats, and Hegemann is a have strong talent at the top and with more play two-year letterman. in tournament formats Girls golf Coach Deb Ahrns and they will take advantage the Lady Wildcats had of the exposure and an outstanding season their skills and confilast year, finishing 17-1, dence will improve. We taking first in the MAC, look to challenge in the second in the sectionals league again with St. Henry also being a top and fifth at district. But many of the girls team.” Minster has won five who accomplished that have graduated, leaving of the seven league tionly three letter-winners tles. Returning are juniors and the term “rebuildClaire Fischer and ing” being used. “We will see this as a Marissa Conrad and rebuilding year,” said sophomore Abby HausAhrns. “We said good- feld. The top newcomers bye to four letter-winjunior Amelia ners from last year and are
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Volleyballl There are six letterwinners returning for coach Cami Lefeld from a team that was 12-11 last season. See SIX RETURN/Page 8
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2012 FALL SPORTS PREVIEW
8 • Thursday, August 23, 2012
Sidney Daily News
Six return in volleyball, seven in boys CC “With this being my second year as head coach, the girls already know what is expected of them,” said the coach. “And they are really starting to fill into the system that I am trying to integrate. All of these girls have worked extremely hard in the offseason.” Returning are senior middle back Madeleine Eiting, senior outside hitter/setter Allison Jutte, senior defensive specialist Alisha Monnin and senior outside hitter Claire McGowan, junior outside hitter/setter Sarah Hosey and sophomore setter Regan Hahn. Junior hitter Megan Kaiser and sophomore defensive specialist Cassie Jutte will also see a lot of playing time. “I look for Madeleine and Megan to be forces at the net as my middles with their ability to block and put the ball away,” she said. “Allison will be looking to spend most of her time as a right side attacker and defender and Regan is my returning setter. Claire is looking to have a breakout year and balancing her out on the other side will be Sara, who has really focused on her hitting this off-
SDN Photo/NAME
FIVE SENIORS return for girls cross country at Minster, including (l-r) Hannah Butler, Taylor Arnold, Amanda Sherman, Natalie Fausey and Morgan Richard. season. Alisha will be taking on the primary role of libero this year, and I look for Cassie to help distribute the ball on defense as well.”
Boys cross country Larry Topp returns for his 26th season as the head boys coach at Minster and welcomes back seven lettermen from last season. They include seniors Eric Dahlinghaus and Ted Trzaska, juniors Andrew Albers and Dominic Slonksoky, and sophomores Andrew Fausey, Jonathan Fausey and Nathan Riethman. Dahlinghaus, who was Minster’s No. 2 run-
feelings that we were left with at the end of last year. I’m starting to see the signs of the new leaders setting team goals to get the team ready. Captains Eric Dahlinghaus, Nick Kemper and Ted Trzaska will have the team ready. “We’re looking forward to a good season,” he added. “The team is 14 athletes strong and we are hoping that in these numbers we can find the athletes and the leaders to replace the loss of our top runner, Francis Slonkosky, from last year. We have seven returning lettermen which should bode well for the search for new leadership. We have a good nucleus of young and veteran runners to get the job done. Although we are far from the level we need to get to, we are working toward getting the chemistry and team strength to vie for the league championship.” He says it will be the “usual suspects” contending for the MAC title, including St. Henry and Coldwater as the favorites and Versailles being strong too.
ner last year, is a threeyear letterman. Albers and Slonkosky have both lettered twice. Also expected to make an impact this season is freshman Ben Butler, who was fifth in the junior high league meet last season. “We will come in ready to run again this year, with the guys working hard again over the summer,” said Topp. “Our guys need to work on the confidence it takes to be winners. The fifth place finish at regionals last year has the guys working even harder this Boys golf year. We are working The Wildcats finished hard to overcome the second in the conference
Good Luck To All The Area Sports Teams!
Good Luck To All The Area Sports Teams
15 Moeller Mem., Mercer Elks 17...............................Parkway 18...................at Mississinawa 20.........................at Versailles 22 .............MAC at Arrowhead —— Cross country August 25..............at West Milton Inv. September 1 ...............at Columbus Grove 8...........................at Tiffin Inv. 15........................at Eaton Inv. 18 .........................Minster Inv. 22 ..................at Van Wert Inv. 29.....................at Botkins Inv. October 4...................at Coldwater Inv. 11 ..............MAC at Coldwater —— Girls golf August 27 ...................at Marion Local 30........................New Bremen September 4 ...................at Lima Catholic 6..........................at Coldwater 10.....................at Lincolnview 13 .............................St. Henry Schedules 17 ..........................at Parkway Football 20 .............................Versailles All games at 7:30 22............................MAC meet Aug. 24 ..........at Fort Loramie —— Aug. 31 .......................Lehman Volleyball Sept. 7 ................New Bremen August Sept. 14 ...............at St. Henry 25 ...........at Sidney w/Graham Sept. 21...................Coldwater Sept. 28.......................at Anna 30 .....................New Knoxville September Oct. 5.....................at Parkway Oct. 12...............Fort Recovery 1 ......................at Lehman Inv. Oct. 19 .................at Versailles 6 ...........................at St. Henry Oct. 26 .......Delphos St. John’s 8 ................................at Celina 10 .......................Fort Loramie —— 11.........................at St. Marys Boys golf Home matches at Arrowhead 13.........................at Versailles 18 ......................Fort Recovery August 23...........at Delphos St. John’s 20............at Dephos St. John’s 27 .......................Marion Local 22 .........................Minster Inv. 30 ...................at New Bremen 27...............................Parkway October September 1....................at Versailles Inv. 1 .................................Houston 6 ..............................Coldwater 4 .........................Marion Local 10 .....................New Knoxville 9 .....................at New Bremen 11.................Anna, Van Buren 11 ............................Coldwater 13 .........................at St. Henry 13 ....................at Spencerville
last year with a 10-1 record, and should contend again with the return of four golfers this year. They include Josh Tumbusch, a senior team captain, juniors John Burke and Freddie Purdy and sophomore Xavier Francis. The top newcomers will be Austin Brackman, Sam Schutte and Matt Trushaw, all sophomores. “Experience and desire should allow us to contend for another MAC title,” said coach Jay Purdy. “The league is going to be competitive.” Minster has won the league title six of the last seven years.
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2012 FALL SPORTS PREVIEW
Sidney Daily News
Thursday, August 23, 2012 • 9
Interest up in Sidney High girls tennis and continue to peak, they may have one of the most competitive seasons they’ve had in the last few years. We need those ‘end of the season’ times to happen much earlier and bring them down from there. The boys favorites in the league will be Vandalia and Troy, and we need our top five to challenge them.”
Golf Coach Doug Barhorst has just one returning letterman from last season, so it’s a rebuilding year for the Jacket golfers. The returnee is junior Tom Dunn, with the top newcomers this year being junior Jalen Block and freshman Cole Cartwright. “It was obvious from the GWOC preview that this is going to be a rebuilding year,” said Barhorst of the 17th place finish. “With only one returning letterman who was only parttime varsity, we are
very inexperienced. I only have three guys who really have golfed before, so the main goal for this year is to get better and have some fun doing it.”
Girls tennis The Sidney High girls tennis team has attracted a large number of participants this season, with 28 girls out for the team. “We’re excited, one, because there is so much interest, and two, because we have a pretty good cast returning,” said coach Tony Brown. “Returning are Jaclyn Covington, Kennedy Lee, Marilyn Kies, Deidra Drees, Ardy Li and Ann Imke. “I’m not saying we’re going to win every match, I’m not saying we’re going to take the GWOC, but I will say we’re young and eager to learn, with only four seniors on the team. We have a host of underclassmen that may
make an impact this year. We always hope to improve every year on wins and also gain some experience, but we would trade wins for gaining knowledge and technique any time. My hope is to get this program back to that winning atmosphere and I know the girls and the school are ready to start turning the corner.” Schedules Football All games at 7:30 Aug. 24.................at St. Marys Aug. 31 ...............Bellefontaine Sept. 7........at West Carrollton Sept. 14..................Springboro Sept. 22 ......................Belmont Sept. 28 ........................at Troy Oct. 5 ..............................Piqua Oct. 12 .......................Vandalia Oct. 19 ..................at Trotwood Oct. 26.....................Greenville —— Cross country August 25 .............At West Milton Inv. September 5......................at Fairborn Inv. 8 .........................at Mason Inv. 11 ............at Fort Loramie Inv. 15 ....................at Graham Inv. 22 ...........................Sidney Inv. 29 .....................at Botkins Inv. —— Boys soccer August
23 ...........at Hilliard Davidson 28...................................Wayne 30 ...................West Carrollton September 6 ...................................at Alter 11 ..............................Trotwood 13 ...............................Fairborn 18 ....................................Piqua 22..................at Lima Catholic 27 .........................Wapakoneta 29 .........................Miamisburg October 2....................................at Troy 9 ..............................Greenville 13 ....................................Xenia —— Girls soccer August 29 ..............................at Wayne September 1 .................at West Carrollton 5 .............................Springboro 8 .........................Bellefontaine 10 ........................at Greenville 11 ..............................Trotwood 15 ..............................at Celina 19................................at Piqua 26 ...............................Vandalia 29 .........................Miamisburg October 1.............................at Fairborn 3 ........................................Troy 8 ................................Fairmont 13 ....................................Xenia —— Boys golf August 28.................................Botkins 29 ....................................Piqua September 4............................at Fairmont
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5.............................at Vandalia 6 ..................................Lehman 10...................................Wayne 18 ...................at Troy w/Xenia 19 ............................Greenville 24................at Piqua w/Wayne —— Girls tennis August 23 ...........................Springboro 27 ...........................Northmont 28..........................at Trotwood 29 ...........................at Lehman September 11 ...............................Vandalia 13 ...............................Fairborn 18 ......................................Troy 19 ..........................at Shawnee 20.....................at Wapakoneta 24 ................................at Elida 26 ...............................Stebbins —— Volleyball August 25...............................Home tri 27.....................at Wapakoneta 28 .........................Beavercreek 30 ..............................at Wayne September 1...................................Botkins 4 .................at West Carrollton 6 .............................Springboro 11..........................at Trotwood 13................................at Piqua 15...............................Home tri 17.......................At Lima Bath 18 ...............................Vandalia 20........................................Try 24 ...................at Bellefontaine 25 ........................at Greenville 27...............................Fairlawn
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(From page 4) He also has five freshmen to bolster the squad in Elliott Godwin, Chris Musser, Jonathan Perin, Keiyu Sakarai and Jamie Wallis. For the girls, there are eight runners returning, including junior Stevie Shepherd, who was honorable mention allleague last season. She is joined by seniors Danielle Cooper, Taylor Heffner and Mikell Stephens, juniors Ivy Barker, Jenifer Davis and Kyrie Kellner, and sophomore Miranda Roark. He also looks for help from senior Shannon Deal, and freshmen Tori Heffner, Malia Kellner and Caitlin Wright. “The teams are packed with dedicated kids who are working to put up new personal best times,” said Kellner. “I’m proud of their efforts so far and anxious to get the season started. If our girls come out strong in the beginning of the season
10 • Thursday, August 23, 2012
2012 FALL SPORTS PREVIEW
Sidney Daily News
RUSSIA
Big year expected for Lady Raider spikers Coach Todd Wion is talking in glowing terms about his Lady Raider squad this season, saying he expects it to be a contender for the County championship. It’s hard to blame him. After all, he has eight letter-winners, basically his whole team, back from last year when the Lady Raiders were 18-6 overall and 93 in the County, good enough for runner-up spot. “We will be a contender this year,” Wion said. “Combined with strong senior leadership and young talent, we will be very competitive and look to go far in postseason play. The county will be very strong again this year and I believe we will be one of the top contenders.” The list of returnees is led by a pair of firstteam All-County performers in senior setter/outside hitter Ashley Borchers and senior left outside hitter Olivia Monnin. Monnin was also second team all-district and Borchers first-team all-district and honorable mention all-Ohio. Monnin was second in the area in kills last season and led the area in ace serves. Borchers was sixth in the area in assists. Also back are senior libero Abbie Goubeaux, senior defensive specialist Kayli Dues, senior setter Emily Francis,
senior middle hitter Bethany York, junior outside hitter Maggie Kearns and sophomore outside hitter Kylie Wilson. Goubeaux was second in the area in digs last season and Monnin fifth Among the players looking for a spot are junior outside hitter Camille Puthoff, sophomore setter/hitter Taylor Daniel and sophomore middle hitter Claire Sherman.
Boys golf Coach Paul Bremigan is back for his 14th year as head coach of the Raider boys, and is coming off an outstanding season that saw the Raiders finish 11-1 in the County and 86-18 overall. And despite losing two golfers, the Raiders are off to an excellent start this season, winning the County Preview and placing second in the Dan Kendig Memorial. Returning are seniors Treg Francis and Bryce Dues, junior Austin Tebbe and sophomore Luke Dapore. “We have 18 boys out for golf and only two are seniors,” said Bremigan. “With these large numbers, we hope to create a competitive atmosphere among ourselves to make us better. We will rely on Treg Francis and Bryce Dues for leadership and consistency. Austin and Luke had a lot of success and gained valuable experience last year. He said numerous
underclassmen will battle for the remaining two spots, and pointed to freshmen Connor Monnin and Zach Sherman with the inside track. Bremigan said the Raiders have a target on their back after winning the County championship four of the last five years. “We’re especially excited to be hosting the county championship at Stillwater for the first time in seven years.” He said the ultimate goal for the Raiders is to go where no Russia team has ever gone — the state tournament.
Girls golf Back for the Lady Raider golf team are seniors Gina Barlage, Alexa Counts and Angie Muhlenkamp, and juniors Taylor Borchers and Morgan Daugherty. Junior Kayla Pleiman and freshman Alicia George are also in the mix. “Our girls are looking forward to the season and I saw great improvement out of Morgan’s game the first week of practice,” said coach Doug Borchers. “We graduated district qualifier Tori Borchers so we’ll be looking for some girls to step up and take a leadership role. Our seniors are capable of it and I think they will. Our newcomers are showing dedication to the game and picking up the fundamentals quickly. They will be factors in our team scores before it’s all
SDN Photo/Luke Gronneberg
RUSSIA IS pinning its volleyball hopes on a big senior group, including (front row, l-r) Emily Francis, Kayli Dues, Abbie Goubeaux and Casey Albers, and (back row) Ashley Borchers, Olivia Monnin and Bethany York. said and done.”
Cross country Doug Foster returns for his seventh season as coach. The Raiders were 14947 last year, won the SCL title, were district runnerups and a state qualifier for the sixth straight year, finishing 13th. Returning letterwinners include senior Brandon Barlage, juniors Steven Stickel, Bryan Drees and John Heung; and sophomores Jordan Gariety and Alex Herron. “With six of our top
seven runners back from last year's squad and a talented freshman class coming in, expectations will be quite high for the Russia boys,” Foster said. “Junior Steven Stickel led our team last season and he was followed closely by senior Brandon Barlage, juniors Bryan Drees and John Heuing and sophomores Jordan Gariety and Alex Herron. “All of the above had outstanding campaigns last year and we are expecting greater accom-
plishments from these six this upcoming season.” Other runners vying for varsity spots includ seniors Josh Meyer, Trevor Sherman and Austin Gariety; juniors Jacob Epperson, Randy McCarty, Kyle Poling and Nick Paulus; sophomore Nick Colby and freshman Andrew Ball, Bryant McCarty, Caleb Ball, Weston Lavy, Trevor Monnin and Joeseph Stickel. See RUSSIA/Page 13
2012 FALL SPORTS PREVIEW
Sidney Daily News
Thursday, August 23, 2012 • 11
FORT LORAMIE
Redskins hit hard by graduation FORT LORAMIE – Head coach Matt Burgbacher says his team is out to prove people wrong this year. After another playoff season a year ago, the Redskins come back this year with a long list of holes to fill, with the loss of nine starters on offense and eight on defense. “Everybody thinks we’re going to have a down year,” he said. “But these kids want to prove people wrong.” And he says if heart matters for anything, they will do just that. “We’re not blessed with size this year, and we don’t have a lot of speed, and that’s fine,” he says. “We’re still going to be the same team with what we run. This is a hard-nosed group with a lot of heart. They’re not the biggest guys, but they’ll come up and smack you, and not back down from anybody. We played Indian Lake in our first scrimmage and they were a lot bigger than us. But our kids didn’t back down. They have a
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QUARTERBACK Seth Guillozet returns for Fort Loramie this year, and will find himself runnning the ball more this season. lot of pride in what they do.” The Redskins went into last season with a three-year starter returning at quarterback
in Ryan Humphreys. But he was injured in a loss to Minster in the opener. The silver lining to that is that backup Seth Guillozet took a lot of snaps and performed well, throwing for over 1,000 yards during the regular season and 15 touchdowns, with only four interceptions. And he’s back to build on that this season. “Seth has been very consistent for us,” said Burgbacher. “We’ll utilize his arm, his legs and his brain. Thirty six is the highest you can get on the ACT and he’s got a 35. We came into the season with an open competition at quarterback between Seth and Tyler Kazmaier, and we know both those guys are going to play for us.” Kazmeier is coming back from a torn ACL last season. Most of the experience the Redskins have back this year is in the backfield as in addition to Guillozet, Delaunte Thornton and Logan McGee both return.
Thornton rushed for 623 yards during the regular season last year, second on the team. And McGee added 286 on 37 carries, or 7.7 per carry. “Delaunte will carry the ball a lot more, and Logan will get a lot of carries. And we have other kids, so we’re not going to be dependent on one guy. We’ll try to get the ball to everybody.” Which is nothing new _ last year three players rushed for over 600 yards. Up on the front line, there is one big change. Zach Brandewie, 6-1, 194, has moved to center this season after starting at guard all of last season. The other linemen will come from a group that includes 511, 175-pound Andy Meyer, 5-10, 187-pound Tristan Stripling, 5-10, 168-pound Daniel Zimmerman, 5-11, 249pound David Ahrns, 6-0, 236-pound Dylan Aselage, 5-11, 177pound Garrett Eilerman, 5-11, 179-pound David Holthaus, and 63, 181-pound Grant Ol-
berding. The right end is Clay Hoying, a big target at 64, 204. “We think he’ll have a big year for us,” the coach said. The wideouts will be Jason Streib, Frank Riethman, Blake Gaier and Trey Rittenhouse. “We’ve never asked our quarterback to be a runner, but this year we’ll want Seth to carry the ball for us,” said Burgbacher. “He’s one of the faster guys and he can make things happen. We lost our top two receivers to graduation so that’s a whole new crew. But they have come a long way. We’re going to throw when we want to throw and that will be a big
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part of our offense. We worked hard on it over the summer. On the defensive side, Eilerman is back at nose guard after starting every game last year. “He battles and he’s quick,” said the coach. Ahrns, Aselage, Justin Puthoff, Craig Poeppelman and Olberding give Burgbacher depth up front. The linebackers will be Streib, Benanzer and McGee, and in the defensive backfield will be Craig Fullenkamp, Gillozet, Kazmaier, and Thornton. They will be pushed by Cole Cordonnier, Andy Grewe and Rittenhouse. See LOTS/Page 12
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12 • Thursday, August 23, 2012
2012 FALL SPORTS PREVIEW
Sidney Daily News
Lots of returnees for Loramie spikers
Volleyball Coach John Rodgers is excited about this year’s squad and has every right to be, with a long list of returning players from a team that was 19-7 last season and won the County title, despite huge graduation losses from the previous year’s team that was unbeaten in County play and won 23 matches overall. “I am really excited about this team,” he said. “We have great potential. But we have a tough schedule and our league will be competitive, as usual. “I think we have a shot at the (league) title, but the old saying applies: ‘on any given night.’ We have to be prepared mentally each time we step on the court.” The returnees include four seniors in outside and right side hitter Lindsey Hilgefort, defensive specialist Meghan Bruns, middle hitter Reggi Brandewie and
libero Danielle Wehrman. Also back are three juniors in setter Julie Hoying, middle hitter Renee Meyer and outside hitter Darian Rose. They are joined by two girls who lettered last year as freshmen in defensive specialist Janelle Hoying and outside hitter Kelly Turner. He also looks for big things from newcomers like junior outside hitter Amy Holthaus, and sophomores Hallie Benanzer, a setter; Ashley Pleiman, a middle hitter, and Colleen Poeppelman, an outside hitter.
Cross country Dennis Prenger is back as the Fort Loramie cross country coach and is excited about the season. “The kids have been working hard this summer to accomplish our season goals,” he said. “They have really prepared themselves for a great fall by accumulating a lot of summer miles.” There are 27 girls out this season, and Prenger thinks that will provide the depth and competition that he will need to get back to where he wants the team to be. Leading the way is Meg Westerheide, a twotime qualifier to the state meet in both cross country and track. “I think that experience will translate into an even better junior season,” Prenger said.
“Selene Waters had a breakout season last fall and I expect her senior season to be a great one,” he continued. “Alaina Schulze and Kristen Chaney are our other two seniors that will be counted on to provide competition.” Tara Luebke, Hannah Meyer, Danielle Holthaus and Sara Puthoff all ran at state last year and are returning this season. “In addition to our returning lettermen, we are adding a lot of capable freshmen and some other kids that are coming out for the first time,” Prenger said. “When we add those different parts together, I am excited about our prospects. The league is shaping up to be very competitive, and the Southwest Regional is setting up to be a great preview of the state meet.” The Loramie boys number eight runners this season, and will be led by Jacob Siegel, a senior who qualified for the state meet last fall, and is looking for a return trip. Juniors Evan Riethman and Doug Gigandet, as well as sophomores Ty Frilling and Caleb Hoelscher return from last year’s team that qualified to the regional. “We’ve established our team goals and the boys know it will take a concerted effort by all runners to achieve them,” Prenger said. “The top programs in the
SDN Photo/Eric Castle
FORT LORAMIE returns four seniors in volleyball this season in (l-r) Meghan Bruns, Danielle Wehrman, Reggi Brandewie and Lindsey Hilgefort. “After last season, County are Anna, Russia and Jackson Center, but there really is only one I expect to be in the mix direction for us to go and that is up,” said this year, too.” Turner. “It’s not likely Boys golf Coach Brad Turner is to happen all this year, back as the head boys but we are going to golf coach after two start getting things years away, and he has turned around. I like his work cut out for him. what I’ve seen so far The program has fallen out of the younger playoff recently. Last year’s ers, and Brandon Eilerteam did not win a match man (senior) will be a all year and finished last good leader for this group. We will look to in the County meet.
gain a lot of experience throughout the season and try to learn a little bit and get better each and every day. Maybe by the time the season’s over, we will have figured some things out and be able to mix it up a little bit come time for the league tournament and the postseason.” See 3 of top 6/Page 13
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(From page 11) The Redskins will compete in the Northwest Central Conference this year, with the Metro Buckeye Conference, which they won last season, having folded. “It’s uncharted territory,” he said. “The only team we’re familiar with is Waynesfield, who we played last year. It’s exciting because we’re playing new teams and it’s a new challenge. I think our kids are up to it.”
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2012 FALL SPORTS PREVIEW
Sidney Daily News
Thursday, August 23, 2012 • 13
3 of top 6 Russia runners have same goals golfers back
Girls golf Mike Anthony is back as the head girls golf coach again and has three players returning from last year, when the Lady Redskins finished with a 15-7 record. They include junior Ashley Ordean, junior Hope Ruhenkamp and sophomore Kristen Barhorst. Only one girl is listed as a newcomer in sophomore Amanda Seger, and there will be no seniors on the team. “We will be young without any seniors on the roster,” said Anthony. “We do have three of our top six golfers back from last year and look to them to lead the team. By the end of the year, we should be very competitive.” Schedules Football Games at 7 p.m. unless noted Aug. 24 ...............Minster, 7:30 Aug. 31 ..at New Bremen, 7:30 Sept. 7 ......at Toledo Chr., 7:30 Sept. 14 ......................Lehman Sept. 21 ................Waynesfield Sept. 28 ...............at Fairbanks Oct. 5 ....Muncie Southside, 7:30 Oct. 12..................at Riverside Oct. 19 ...............at Ridgemont Oct. 26 ................Upper Scioto —— Cross county August 25 .......................at Celina Inv.
FORT LORAMIE September 8 ...........................at Tiffin Inv. 11.................Fort Loramie Inv. 15.....................at Alliance Inv. 29 .....................at Botkins Inv. October 4 ...................at Coldwater Inv. 13........County meet at Russia —— Volleyball August 25 ...........at Coldwater Classic 28 .............................Versailles 30 ..........................at Fairlawn September 4..................................Houston 6 ................................at Russia 10 ............................at Minster 11.................................Botkins 13................at Jackson Center 15..................at Northmont tri 17 ...................at New Bremen 18.....................................Anna 20 ...........................at Lehman 25...............................Fairlawn 27 ...........................at Houston October 1 .....................at Marion Local 2 ....................................Russia 4 ..............................at Botkins 8 ......................Jackson Center 9 ..................................at Anna —— Boys golf Home matches at Arrowhead August 28 ..........................at Fairlawn 30................................Houston September 4 ................................at Russia 6...................................Botkins 11................at Jackson Center 13.....................................Anna 17.................at New Knoxville 18 .............................Versailles 20 ..County meet at Stillwater —— Girls golf August 23 ............................at Minster 27............................Tri-Village 28.............................Covington 30 .......................at Ben Logan 31 ...................at New Bremen September 4 ............................at Arcanum 6 ................................at Russia 10 ..............................St.Henry 11 ...............................Parkway 13 .........................at Riverside 17 ..............................at Russia 18 .........................at Versailles
led by first team AllOhio senior Lauren Francis. “Lauren had a tremendous junior year and we feel she is primed to be even better this season. Senior Becca Meyer, junior Kirsten Voisard and sophomores Emily Borchers, Claudia Monnin and Hannah Bornhorst all gained vast experience last year. We feel they all will have break-out performances this cross country season.” Juniors Rachel Pinchot and Emily Frazier return, along with newsomers in freshman Lauren Heaton, Amanda Frazier, Molly Kerns, Erin Gaerke and
Karissa Voisard.
Schedules Volleyball August 25 ........................New Bremen 27.............................at Newton 28.............................at Botkins 30 ....................Jackson Center September 4...................................at Anna 6 ..........................Fort Loramie 10.........................at Covington 11...........................at Fairlawn 13 ................................Houston 15........................Mississinawa 20 .................................Botkins 22 .....................at Minster Inv. 24..............................Versailles 25 ................at Jackson Center 27 .....................................Anna 29...........................at Bradford October 2......................at Fort Loramie 4 .................................Fairlawn 6 ...........................Wapakoneta 8..............................at Houston —— Cross country August 25 ..............at West Milton Inv. September
8 ................at Spencerville Inv. 11.............at Fort Loramie Inv. 15.........................at Eaton Inv. 29......................at Botkins Inv. also, at Midwest Meet of Champions October 6............................at Anna Inv. 13.........................County meet —— Boys golf Home matches at Stillwater August 23.............................at Botkins 27 ................................Lehman 30.................................at Anna September 1.........................Versailles Inv. 4 ..........................Fort Loramie 6.............................at Fairlawn 8....................at Middleton Inv. 17 ...............................Home tri 20.........................County meet —— Girls golf August 28 ......................at Miami East September 11..........................at St. Henry 17.........................at Covington 18 ........................New Bremen
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(From page 12) In addition to Eilerman, also back are senior Blake Ransdell, junior Kyle Pleiman and sophomore Jordan Meyer. The top newcomers will be sophomore Josh Koppin and freshmen Tanner Rosengarten and Aaron Schwartz.
“Our goals for the upcoming season are to place as high as we can at the big invitationals, to win the Shelby County Preview, the Shelby County League meet, the Dayton districts, the Southwest regional and to qualify for the state meet in Columbus. “From there, we will see what happens. If we can stay healthy and injury free, our goals this season are very attainable.” Foster sees his team as the SCL favorite. “At the present time, I see us as the team to beat in the Shelby County League,” Foster said. “I say this because of the experience we have coming back and being the defending champions. Our stiffest competition will come from Anna and Jackson Center.” • Foster also coaches the girls team. The Lady Raiders were 137-35, 2011 SCL runnerups, district runnerups and regional qualifiers. Graduating off that team was Macy Monnin. Returning letterwinners include seniors Lauren Francis and Becca Meyer; junior Kirsten Voisard; and sophomores Claudia Monnin, Emily Borchers and Hannah Bornhorst. “This year’s team possesses a mixture of youth and experience going into the upcoming season,” Foster said. “Six of the top seven runners are back from last year’s squad and expectations for the team are also extremely high. We wil be
2012 FALL SPORTS PREVIEW
14 â&#x20AC;˘ Thursday, August 23, 2012
Sidney Daily News
JACKSON CENTER
Five players return for Lady Tiger spikers JACKSON CENTER â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Longtime volleyball coach Kim Metz has some players to replace, but a good core of returnees this season. The golf team also returns a lot of experience.
Volleyball The Lady Tigers had another excellent season under longtime coach Kim Metz last year, finishing with an 18-9 record and challenging for the County title. This year, the coach returns five players, but there are still losses from graduation to contend with. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re returning a good core of girls from our team last year,â&#x20AC;? said Metz. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We do have the challenge of bringing in a new crop of talent. Our focus is to prepare the younger players for the challenges ahead, both mentally and physically. I like the possibilities that this team is creating in practice. We need to be able to transfer that to our matches.â&#x20AC;? Returning for the Lady Tigers are senior middle hitter Brittany Foster, senior outside hitter Kerstin Gasson,
junior outside hitter Courtney Gates, sophomore middle/outside Haley Elchert and sophomore outside hitter Courtney Zimpher. She has a long list of newcomers that she will be counting on, too. They include senior defensive specialists Brooke Gates and Madilyn Himmeger, junior defensive specialist Kaneta Schaub, sophomore setter Kayla Gates, freshman setter Jayel Frye, freshman middle hitter Erin Metz, and freshman outside hitter Pauline Meyer. Metz hopes to make another run at a County title, but knows it will be tough. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Once again, I think the league will be a nightly contest for each team to be up and ready for the match,â&#x20AC;? she said.
Golf The Jackson Center boys return five golfers from last yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s team that was fifth in the County meet and 4-9 in dual matches. Returning are senors Trey Elchert and Nathan Hensley, junior Brandon Ware and sophomores Levi Schmitmeyer and
Gavin Wildermuth. Freshman Drew Sosby is also expected to contribute. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re always looking to improve and be consistent. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a good group to coach,â&#x20AC;? said coach Dave King.
Cross country The Tiger boys sustained heavy graduation losses that will force them to rely on some youngsters this season, according to longtime coach S.J. Hoover. Back are seniors Trey Elchert and Alex Meyer and sophomore Gavin Wildermuth. Tyler Lett and Drew Sosby are a couple of freshmen looking to contribute. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We graduated a good group of runners last year, so weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll be depending heavily on our freshmen,â&#x20AC;? said Hoover. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We will have good leaders with Trey and Alex and our goal will be to be competitive in the County. â&#x20AC;˘ On the girls side, there are just two runners returning and not many numbers this year. Senior Hannah Meyer and sophomore Alison Burt are the lone re-
SDN Photo/Luke Gronneberg
RETURNING FOR the Jackson Center volleyball team are senior players (l-r) Brittany Foster, Brooke Gates, Madilyn Himmeger and Kerstin Gasson. turnees, and senior Tabatha Meyer and junior Tiffany Bayhan round out the team. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We continue to have fewer than five girls on the roster, which means our main focus this year will be on individual performance,â&#x20AC;? said Hoover. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Hannah will be our lead runner.â&#x20AC;? Schedules Volleyball August 28 ................................Houston 30 ..............................at Russia September 4 ...................................Botkins 8 ..................................Lehman
Good Luck To All The Area Sports Teams This Season!!!
11.................................at Anna 13 ........................Fort Loramie 15 ......................Lima Catholic 18...........................at Fairlawn 20............................at Houston 24......................New Knoxville 25...................................Russia 27.............................at Botkins 29.........................at Covington October 1........................at Waynesfield 2......................at Marion Local 4 .......................................Anna 6 ...............................Tri-match 8......................at Fort Loramie 9 .................................Fairlawn â&#x20AC;&#x201D;â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Cross country Boys and girls September 8 .........................at Mason Inv. 11.............at Fort Loramie Inv. 15.....................at Graham Inv.
18............at Ohio Caverns Inv. 22 ..................at Versailles Inv. 29......................at Botkins Inv. October 4 ...................at Coldwater Inv. 6............................at Anna Inv. 13 ........County meet at Russia â&#x20AC;&#x201D;â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Golf Home matches at Shelby Oaks August 23 ................................Houston 30 .................................Botkins September 1 ....................at Versailles Inv. 6 .......................................Anna 7........................New Knoxville 11 ........................Fort Loramie 13 ...............................Fairlawn 17 ..............................Riverside 20...County meet at Stillwater
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2012 FALL SPORTS PREVIEW
Sidney Daily News
HOUSTON
Thursday, August 23, 2012 • 15
CHRISTIAN ACADEMY
Lady Eagle spikers return five Coach Ronmda Inman has five players back in volleyball at Christian Academy, including senior setter/outside hitter Naomi Wildermuth, junior setter Chastity Inman, junior Seana Frew, and sophomore outside hitters Kayla Curtis and Makaley Braun. Also in the mix are SDN Photo/Luke Gronneberg sophomores Makenzie TAYLOR WILLOUGHBY (left) and Kortney Phipps Milks and Betsi Ford, are senior returnees in volleyball at Houston. and freshmen Katie Lyons and Alexia Kidwell. “We are definitely a young team,” said the coach. “I have two sophomores who are first-year players. Besides being young, we are also short. Scott Bayless is look- 13....... County meet at Russia But we are a scrappy —— ing for better things out group and plan to utilize Golf of his Houston golf team Home matches at Shelby our talents, perfect the this fall after last year’s skills, and finish with a Oaks August team was 2-10 in County great season.” 23 ....................Jackson Center play. Boys soccer ................................Ansonia He has four lettermen 27 Nathanial Baumgard28.....................................Anna returning in seniors 30 ...................at Fort Loramie ner heads up the boys Kyle Patterson and September soccer program. Drew Roberts and jun- 4.................................Fairlawn The team is trying to iors Jaron Howard and 8 ..................at Tri-Village Inv. build the program back 11 ..............................at Russia Anton Wehrman. 13 .................................Botkins up, and part of that He also looks for 20........County meet at Russia process is playing a very —— sophomores Quinten limited schedule this Volleyball Pence and freshman season, with only five August Deion Booher to con- 27 ..............................Arcanum matches on tap. tribute. “This year is a re28................at Jackson Center “We are young in 30.....................................Anna building year for us.” he September terms of experience but we’re learning and re- 4 .....................at Fort Loramie 6.................................Fairlawn specting the game,” said 11 .....................New Knoxville Your Link to the Bayless. 13 ..............................at Russia Community
Golf team has four returning
Schedules Cross country Boys and girls September 8................at Spencerville Inv. 11 ............at Fort Loramie Inv. 22 ..................at Versailles Inv. 25 ................at Tri-Village Inv. 29 .....................at Botkins Inv. October 6 ...........................at Anna Inv.
15 ..at Sidney tri (middle school) 17 ..........................at Bradford 18 .................................Botkins 20 ....................Jackson Center 25.................................at Anna 27........................Fort Loramie October 1 ..............................at Minster 2 ............................at Fairlawn 8.....................................Russia 9 ..............................at Botkins
said. “We are not involved with OHSAA this year so we are using 7thru-12 grades to field our team. We will be playing a short schedule and will be working hard get back to winning ways from years ago.” Schedules Boys soccer Aug. 24 ...................Tri-Village Sept. 14 .....................Fairlawn Sept. 21..............at Tri-Village Sept. 22 .....at Xenia Christian Sept. 25.................at Fairlawn Volleyball August 21 ...................Xenia Christian 24.........................East Dayton September 4 .........................Spring Valley 22 ..............at Xenia Christian 25.........Grand Lake Christian 28 .......................Miami Valley October 11 ...............Calvary Christian
SDN Photo/Luke Groonneberg
SENIOR NAOMI Wildermuth leads Christian Academy’s volleyball hopes this season.
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16 • Thursday, August 23, 2012
2012 FALL SPORTS PREVIEW
Sidney Daily News
FAIRLAWN
New soccer coach again for Jets Fairlawn is looking for good things in volleyball, with the return of seven girls from last season. And the boys soccer team has a new head coach for the third time in three years.
Volleyball Danielle Cathcart is back as the head coach of the Lady Jet volleyball program again. She has seven players returning from a team that was 12-12 and finished fifth in the County last season. They include senior middle blocker Olivia Cummings, senior setter Abby Stemen, senior libero Haley Slonkosky, senior outside hitter Samantha Morris, junior middle blocker Kara Short and junior outside hitter Emry Bernardi. Players looking to contribute and earn playing time are junior outside hitters Kelsey Oates and Alisa Fogt, sophomore setter/defensive specialist Allison Watkins, sophomore defensive specialist Abby Roe and sophomore outside hitter/defensive specialist Katie Nuss. “We have a lot of experienced players back this year, and I will definitely be expecting the seniors to step up and be leaders,” said Boyer. “We really came together this summer as a team and we are looking forward to starting the season. The league is always competitive, but if we can stay healthy and mentally
strong, I think we can with five lettermen recompete for a top spot.” turning this season, including two all-league Soccer The Fairlawn soccer performers, it should be team is under coach another good year for Dexter Tobie and he has the Jets. Back is senior Ansome excellent players returning from a 5-10 thony Gillem, first-team team of a year ago. He’s All-County, and senior the third head coach in Trey Everett, second team All-County and a the last three seasons. They include senior district qualifier last forward Trey Everett, year. Those two, along senior goalie Anthony with another senior, Gillem, senior mid Ryan Zach Rogers, are all fourLessing, senior sweeper year lettermen. Ryan Lessing is a senJessie Hughes, junior goalie Wesley Bolton, ior three-year letterman junior center-mid Bri- and Cody McDonald is a anna Hayden, sopho- senior two-year lettermore stopper Madison man. Zane Shipman is a Guinter, junior defender Luke Brautigam and junior expected to consophomore defenders tribute. “We return five letterAustin Doak and Hanmen from last year’s nah Gold. Top newcomers will team and look to be very in the be senior goalie Grant competitive Covault, sophomore mid- league,” said Heckman. fielder Abbie Roe, and “The kids have been freshmen mids Ethan working very hard on Shnipke and Mason their games this summer and the improveHuelskamp. “It’s an exciting year ment is very evident. “I think the league to take over the program,” said Tobie. “I get will be very competitive to work with a great up top this year,” he group of seniors. Trey, added. “Russia and Anthony and Ryan will Botkins, a well as us, rebe our attacking force. turn the majority of their Jessie, Luke, Madison kids from last year.” and Wesley in goal will Cross country hold our defense. There Coach Dennis Davis are many incoming returns two lettermen freshmen who will de- this year in junior Trey velop with time to be Fletcher and sophomore great soccer players. I Joey Cockroft. see a lot of potential for He’s also looking for this program.” contributions from sophomore Jared Brautigam Golf Fairlawn was 6-6 last and freshmen Jarrett season and placed fourth Cromes and Ross Covin the County meet, and ault.
Schedules Soccer August 21............................Ben Logan 25.................................Botkins September 1 .......................New Knoxville 7..............................Tri-Village 10 ................................at Triad 14 .........at Christian Academy 17 ...................at Southeastern 22 .....................at Spencerville 25..............Christian Academy 28 ..........................Miami East October 2...................at Troy Christian 4.......................................Triad 9 ..............................at Botkins —— Volleyball August 25 ................................Lehman 27.............................Covington 28.................................at Anna 30........................Fort Loramie September 1 ................................Riverside 6 .............................at Houston 10 ..............................at Bethel 11...................................Russia 13 ............................at Botkins 15 .....................at Waynesfield 18 ....................Jackson Center 20.....................................Anna 25 ...................at Fort Loramie 27 ..............................at Sidney 29 ................at Mechanicsburg October 2..................................Houston 4 ................................at Russia 6 ...................Newton, Ansonia 8...................................Botkins 9..................at Jackson Center —— Boys golf Home matches at Shelby Oaks August 23.....................................Anna 28........................Fort Loramie 30..........................at Riverside September 4..................................Houston 6.....................................Russia 11.................................Botkins 13 ....................Jackson Center 20............County at Stillwater —— Cross country August 25 ..............at West Milton Inv. September 11 ....................at Loramie Inv. 15 ....................at Graham Inv. 18............at Ohio Caverns Inv. 22.........................at Clark Inv. 25 .........................at Triad Inv. 29 .....................at Botkins Inv. October 6 ...........................at Anna Inv. 13........County meet at Russia
SDN Photos/Todd B. Acker
FAIRLAWN HAS good experience back for this season, including these senior girls, Haley Slonkosky (3), Marie Rose (6), Olivia Cummings (17), Samantha Morris (2) and Abby Stemen (20).
READY TO run for the Fairlawn cross country teams are (l-r) Trey Fletcher, Kaileigh Poe, Joey Cockroft and Troy Fletcher.
2012 FALL SPORTS PREVIEW
Sidney Daily News
Thursday, August 23, 2012 • 17
BOTKINS
Eight returning for Lady Trojan spikers experienced setters, with Schneider leading the team in assists last year, and Denise Schwartz and Rachelle Maurer played outside hitter and played all the way around. “They are a big part of our passing game, especially serve receive,” said Trego. “They both have made major improvements since last season. Allison Guckes will be the libero and Trego said she’s one of the quickest athletes he’s ever coached. “She moves very well in the back row and is working on reading the hitters. When she gets comfortable doing that, I think she will be one of the best liberos in the area.” Those players are being pushed by newcomers like Malia Prout, Vicki Grillot and Becca Knoop. “All good players who I see getting significant playing time on vasity,” Trego said. “We have a great returning group of players this year and most have significant varsity experience, which should be a big asset for us this season,” Trego added.
GOOD LUCK RUSSIA RAIDERS
Boys soccer Kevin Lynch returns for another season as the head boys soccer coach at Botkins, where he has built an outstanding program that is averaging 11 wins per season. In the seven years the program has been in existence, the overall record is an impressive 77-27-17. “If we want to continue the success, we are once again going to have to avoid injuries,“ Lynch said. He said seniors Andy Egbert, Logan Russell and Even Dietz will lead the way. “Andy will be organizing the defense along with seeing some time in the midfield, Logan will be the one handling the attacking midfield role, and Evan gives us a solid goalkeeper between the pipes while also seeing some time in the field,” said Lynch. “These three seniors will be joined by fellow seniors Austin
Frey and Derek Snider. Austin will be a vital part of the backline as well as seeing some time as a defensive midfielder, and Derek is looking to lock down the starting left back postion. “The seniors will be joined by three juniors, Austin McGowan, Aaron Shipper, and newcomer Caleb Will,” he went on. “Austin will be running the wide channels once again this year trying to put some dangerous crosses into the box. Aaron Schipper is looking to crack the starting lineup this year after two years of coming off the sidelines. And Caleb will provide us with some key depth. “The sophomore class includes Eric Egbert, Taylor VanGundy, Caleb Oren, Christian Hoskins, and Trent Henry,” he continued. “Eric and Caleb are looking to hold down the center defensive midfielders for the team this year while
Good Luck To All Area Teams! Fall . . . the best
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Taylor is going to be playing up top looking to put the ball in the back of the net. Christian is working on getting more experience between the pipes so we are able to get Evan on the field if we need him. And Trent will be holding down our other center back position in our backline. “The freshman class is led by Nolan Greve who is looking to break into the varsity starting lineup as a freshman,” Lynch said. “His fellow freshman on the team are Jacob Will and Kyle Maurer. Both will be working on their skills as they get used to the speed of the game at the varsity level.”
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Coach Bryan Trego begins his eighth season as the head volleyball coach at Botkins, and he has reason to be optimistic heading into the season. Logan Pitts, a twoyear starter, is back after having to sit out well over half the season last year because of a broken arm. “She brings a lot of offense for us and has worked really hard in the offseason to start the year in great shape,” Trego said. Jessica Dietz also returns after starting at middle hitter last year and leading the team in blocks with 57 during the regular season. “She has come into her own offensively and will be a big asset,” Trego said. Abby Russell played right side last season and Trego said she does a good job of setting up the block, and Colleen Greve played middle hitter last season when Pitts was out and filled in nicely. She is playing right side this season and is putting last year’s experience to good use. Colleen Maurer and Jill Schneider are both
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2012 FALL SPORTS PREVIEW
18 • Thursday, August 23, 2012
Sidney Daily News
11 players back in girls soccer (From page 17) The newcomers that have Gutman excited are juniors Erin Place and Courtney Kohler, sophomore Lakota Running Hawk, and freshmen Chloe Flora and Kayla Heuker. • Likewise, the Botkins boys cross country team has Gutman excited. “This is an exciting time for Botkins cross country,” he said. “We have a strong returning core and a talented freshman group that went 13-6 last year as 8th graders. The entire team is really looking forward to competing at a high level this year. This group knows their potential and is working hard to reach it.” Back are seniors Seth Hoying and Josh Schwartz, junior Roger Miller and sophomores Austin Jones and Lucas Buehler. Miller was first-team All-County last season. The freshmen in the mix this season include Jared Goubeaux, Aaron Fullenkamp, Cameron Flora, Jacob Roberts, Jacob Cooper and Nolan Greve. Senior Heath Geyer will also contribute.
Girls soccer The Lady Trojans were 8-9 last season, and appear to have a good chance at upping that mark, with the return of 11 players off that squad for coach Joe Welker. “This season will rely heavily on the senior class and what kind of leadership they bring,” he said. “We do well on our corner kicks and attacking set plays.” The returnees include senior midfielders Hannah Koch, Claire McCullough and Caitlin Lane, senior defenders Heather Brown and Riley Luthman, juniors Emily Bown, Carly Harshbarger, Gavrielle Woodruff, Shelby Boyd and Michaela Kramer, and sophomore Whitney Bornhorst, another midfielder. There is a good group of young players ready to stop in, including sophomores Kaitlyn Schmerge, Brooke Bornhorst and Hannah Wagner, and freshmen Keirstyn Rogers, Natalie Ambos, Sierra Butcher, Tiffanie Daniels and Kassidy Esser.
Golf Coach Brett Meyer returns five players from last year’s team which was 74-43 overall along
with 10-2 in the league, good enough for runnerup. The Trojans then went on to qualify for the district tournament. The returnees include seniors Connor Bornhorst, Cory Kies andNate Cisco, and juniors Seth Hannah and Nick Okuley. The top newcomer will be junior Roger Miller. “We have a lot of returning lettermen and our JV team shot well,” said coach Meyer. “We are looking to get consistency from our 4through-6 golfers. We have younger guys that are looking to contribute so we should have some depth this year. “I think the league will be very competitive,” he added. “Every team will have to golf well each night in order to win.” Schedules Volleyball August 25..........................Waynesfield 27....................at New Bremen 28...................................Russia September 1 ................................at Sidney 4..................at Jackson Center 6 .......................................Anna 8........................New Knoxville 10 .....................at Indian Lake 11....................at Fort Loramie 13 ...............................Fairlawn 15 ..............................Riverside 18 ...........................at Houston
20 ..............................at Russia 22......................at Minster.Inv. 25 ........................Lima Temple 27 ....................Jackson Center October 2...................................at Anna 4 ..........................Fort Loramie 8.............................at Fairlawn 9 ..................................Houston —— Boys soccer August 25...........................at Fairlawn 28 .........................Spencerville 30 ............................WL-Salem September 4 ............................Miami East 6 ...................at New Knoxville 8 ............................at St.Marys 11 ........................Miami Valley 13............................at Lehman 15....................at Lima Temple 18 ........................Cory Rawson 22 .............at Franklin-Monroe 27 ..................at Lima Catholic October 2 ...................................Newton 6........................New Knoxville 9 .................................Fairlawn —— Girls soccer August 27 .................Franklin-Monroe September 1 ...........................at Riverdale 4 ..........................at Allen East 6 ..................................Lehman 8 ..................at Mechanicsburg 11.............................at Newton 13 ......................Lima Catholic 18....................at Cory Rawson 20.................................at Anna 22.............................Coldwater 25 ..............................Van Wert 27 .......................................Ada October 2.................................at Bethel 4 .......................................Anna 6 .......................at Lincolnview —— Cross country Boys and girls August 25..................at Bob Schul Inv.
August 23...................................Russia 25 ........................at Allen East 27..........................at Riverside 28...................................Sidney 30 ....................Jackson Center 31......................New Knoxville September 1 ....................at Versailles Inv. 4 .......................................Anna 6......................at Fort Loramie 11 ...............................Fairlawn 13 ................................Houston 20.........................County meet
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HANNAH KOCH battles for the ball in a match against Anna last season. She is one of 11 returning players in girls soccer this season.
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2012 FALL SPORTS PREVIEW
Sidney Daily News
Thursday, August 23, 2012 • 19
NEW KNOXVILLE
Shaping up to be a good fall season at NK Shaw and Marcus Nitschke will give the Rangers depth. Kuntz was also a state qualifier last year and broke the school record.
NEW KNOXVILLE — It’s shaping up to be a good fall season at New Knoxville. There is a good number of letterwinners back in four of the five sports, and the other, girls cross country, has two returning regional qualifiers back, one of whom ran at state.
Golf
Volleyball Coach Jill Roode had a solid core of players back from a team that finished 13-10 last season, so she’s looking for good things, especially if the young talent matures. “If our young talent matures, we should be a real factor at tournament time,” she said. She has six letter-winners back, and only one is a senior, so the Lady Rangers will be quite young this season. That senior is outside hitter Taylor Niemeyer. Also back are junior outside hitters Haley Horstman and Paige Lehman, with Horstman also doing some setting, and sophomores Kalyn Schroer, a defensive specialist, Meg Reineke, a setter/outside hitter, and Abby Rohrbach, a defensive specialist. The top newcomers are both freshmen in Rechel Leffel and Madison Lammers, both outside hitters. Roode looks for Marion Local and St. Henry to be the MAC favorites, and hopes her team can improve upon last year’s fifth-place finish.
SDN Photo/Luke Gronneberg
SENIOR TAYLOR Niemeyer leads the Lady Ranger volleyball squad
Soccer Coach Tony Hunt has seven players returning off a 6-11 squad from a year ago. “We return a lot of experience, so we hope to improve on last year’s record,” Hunt said. “We do not have a lot of depth, so we must avoid injuries.” The returnees include senior mid Chase Naviello, senior strikers Isaiah Oeding and Andrew Mackie, junior striker Caleb Yeatts, junior fullback Ryan Lageman, junior keeper Dean Frankenburg and junior fullback K.V. Mooney. Hunt is also looking for big things from a couple of freshmen, mid Alex Lehman and full-
SDN Photo/Luke Gronneberg
Coach Terry Halko has five lettermen in seniors Tyler Shreve, Justin Slaven, Michael Porter and Ryan Schott, and junior David Boesche. Logan Leffell is a freshman who will see varsity action. “With a senior laden lineup, we should be much more competitive this year,” said Halko. Tyler was an all-league player last year.” Schedules
Golf SENIOR SPENCER Wolf Home matches is one of six runners at Arrowhead August back for the boys cross 23 .............................Coldwater country team. 24....................at Marion Local back/keeper Jace Kuck. 30..........................at St. Henry
Cross country Nick Wirwille returns to coach the school’s distance runners, and has reason for optimism. Though the girls may not have the numbers to compete as a team, there are two regional qualifiers returning in Cassie Boyle and Clara Shroyer, both juniors. And Boyle went on to qualify for the state meet. For the boys, there are six returnees from a team that placed eighth in the MAC. They include senior Spencer Wolf, juniors Isaac Kuntz and Cody Shaw, and sophomores Ryan Allen, Andrew Arnett and Daniel Boyle. Freshmen Jacob
31 .............................at Botkins September 6 .............................Delphos SJ 10 .................................Minster 13................................Parkway 14 ................................Lehman 17 ...............................Home tri 20 ........................New Bremen —— Boys soccer August 23 ..............................St. Marys 27..........................Indian Lake September 1.............................at Fairlawn
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6 ...................................Botkins 8 ....................................Kenton 11 ..........................at Riverside 13 ...................................Celina 15 .............at Franklin-Monroe 18 ....................at Lima Temple 22...................at Fort Jennings 27 ............................at Lehman 29 ..........................Continental October 1 .......................at Spencerville 6 ...............................at Botkins 9 ..........................Cory Rawson 12................................Ottoville —— Volleyball August 25............at Coldwater Classic 28 ..............................St. Marys 30.............................at Minster September 4............................Spencerville 6..................................Parkway 8 ...............................at Botkins 111..........................at Houston 13 ........................New Bremen
17 .....................................Anna 18..........................at Versailles 20 .................at New Knoxville 24 ................at Jackson Center 27....................at Marion Local 29 ...................at Van Wert Inv. October 4 .........................Fort Recovery 8........................at Lincolnview 9............................at St. Henry 11 ...........................Delphos SJ —— Cross country September 1 ............at Wapak Night Meet 4 ........at St. Henry w/Parkway 8 ................at Spencerville Inv. 11.............at Fort Loramie Inv. 15 ......at Ottawa-Glandorf Inv. 22 .......................at Sidney Inv. 27 .............at New Bremen Inv. 29......................at Botkins Inv. October 4....................at Coldwater Inv. 6............................at Anna Inv. 11 ...............MAC at Coldwater
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20 • Thursday, August 23, 2012
2012 FALL SPORTS PREVIEW
Sidney Daily News
ANNA
Few starters return for Rocket football ANNA — Anna was 64 last season, and has just three starters back this season. For some, that might signal a time to panic. But when longtime coach Bryan Rioch says his front seven might be the best Anna has ever had, it certainly doesn’t sound like a rebuilding year. The Rockets planned to go into the season with three starters back on offense and two on defense, but that number shrunk by one on both sides of the ball when Chandon Williams suffered a broken foot playing basketball over the summer. Rioch had planned to move Williams from wide receiver to running back this season. Even with him playing, Anna still would have had an entirely new backfield this season. The Rockets lost quarterback Jay Meyer, who threw for over 1,500 yards last season, but Rioch says there are three quality signalcallers looking for playing time. “It’s the deepest we’ve been at quarterback,” he said. “Two are getting the most snaps in Nate Bollheimer and Josh Robinson.” Both have good size to be under center, Bollheimer at 6-foot-1, 195 and Robinson at 6-3, 180. “Both are going to play as we try to get our best 11 out there,” said Rioch. “Nate will have
SDN Photo/file photo
CHANDLER COTTERMAN (right) returns on the line for the Anna Rockets this season. some running back duties, too.” The third QB is a sophomore in 5-11, 170pound Nate Counts. In the backfield, the featured back may be Williams’ younger brother Christian, who is 5-9, 210. “He always falls forward, and every time he touches the ball, he can run for a while,” Rioch said. Also in the backfield will be Matt Lindsey at fullback. “He’s another kid who played behind a senior last year. He’s a nice, hard runner,” Rioch said. Senior Ben Kettler, 58, 165, will get some carries, as will Carter Bensman and Nick Doseck. “In the past, we’ve been pretty versatile,” said Rioch. “But we’re
not as much this year. Some run well, some block well and some catch the ball.” Up front, the line is anchored by returning starter Luke Cummings at guard. He’s 6-0, 230. And Stewart Watkins, 63, 225, was a part-time starter at guard last season. The center will be Nick Bertke, 6-1, 200, and the tackles are what has Rioch particularly excited. One is 6-7, 255pound Ryan Spicer and on the other side is Chandler Cotterman, 64, 270. “Ryan had a tremendous summer,” said Rioch. “He’s always been a big kid, and we’ve been waiting for him to blossom. And Chandler’s motor is always going.” At tight end will be Brandon Maurer and
Wes Showalter and at wideout will be Nick Ihle and Travis Grieves. “It will be different this year,” said Rioch. “I don’t know that we’ll be as explosive, but we’ll move the chains. We’re going to control the tempo. We’ll take 242/3 seconds to snap it, then get up off the ball really slow. We’re going to have to pound it, and we think we’re pretty good up front.” Same on defense — inexperience mainly in the backfield but “we’ll be pretty good up front.” The same players listed on the offensive line will see time on the D-line. The linebackers will be Showalter, Watkins and Maurer and Rioch said he’s looking at about eight players to play in the defensive backfield, led by Ihle, Counts, Bollheimer and Robinson. “I’m well aware that of the eight MAC teams we play, all but one have their quarterback returning,” Rioch said in reference to his inexperienced secondary. “But our biggest strength is if you don’t have the ball, you can’t throw it. And we plan on holding onto the ball.”
Girls soccer Last season was another in a long list of good ones for the Anna Lady Rocket soccer team, which finished with a 14-4 record. Highlighting last season was longtime head coach Jim Hague reaching a milestone, his
100th coaching victory. He now has a 10-year career record of 105-60-10 at the school. Nine letter-winners return from last season, including midfielder Kayla Blankenship, striker Rachel Christman and defender Erica Huber, all seniors. Junior defender Krista Blankenship and sophomore midfielder Cayla Bensman also return. “We have a very good group of senior players this year in Kayla, Rachel, Erica, Leah Bettinger (midfielder), Kelli Ehemann (midfielder), and Katie Niekamp (defender),” said Hague. “Kayla has been the team’s leading scorer for the last two years and was the team’s Offensive Award winner the last two years as well. She is a very good leader for us and is a good mentor for the younger players. “Erica is our leading defender and was the 2011 team’s MVP award winner.” he continued. “Erica brings a real toughness to the team and is also a good leader and mentor. Rachel is a steady player for us and she will play wherever she can to help the team. She filled many roles for us last year due to some injuries. We are looking at utilizing her skills at the striker position this year. Leah and Kelli will be our midfielders this year and both have improved and we are looking for some good things from them this year. Katie came into her own
last year toward the end of the season due to some injuries in the defensive end of the field. She stepped up and earned a defensive position.” Freshman Kristin Grimes steps into the goalkeeper position. Another freshman, Holly Boyd, is her backup. Helping Huber, Niekamp and Krista Blankenship on the defensive end will be freshmen Boyd, Hannah Aufderhaar, Jenna Harshbarger, Megan Heitmeyer and Brianna Gillem. At midfield will be Kayla Blankenship, Ehemann, Bettinger, Bensman, and also sophomores Brittnee Axe and Mary Buehler, and freshmen Raquel Bollheimer, Alexis Phillips, Rachel Gehret, Jennifer Robinson and Nicole Smith. At striker will be Christman, sophomores Emily Cavinder and Axe, and freshmen Sara Kettler, Buehler and Courtney Doeseck. There are 13 freshmen on the squad this season, with three or four possibly starting.
Volleyball After an amazing career at Anna, during which she took her place among the best players ever in Shelby County, Kelli Barhorst went on to star in volleyball for Ohio State. Well, now she’s back, and ready to lead her alma mater to more success in the sport. See KELLI/Page 21
2012 FALL SPORTS PREVIEW
Sidney Daily News
Thursday, August 23, 2012 • 21
Kelli Barhorst takes over Anna volleyball program (From page 20) Barhorst takes over for Amy Cobb, who stepped down after a second straight outstanding season last year. In her two years as head coach, she won 36 matches. “We have had a really great summer and a great start to our preseason practice,” said Barhorst. “We attended several camps throughout the summer to get a feel of what our strengths were, along with areas that need improvement. We have been working a lot on the fundamentals of the game since with Michele (McMahaon) and I being new additions to the coaching staff we have different expectations and different techniques than those from the past. So it is important I think that we start from the bottom up. “We have definitely made strides since the beginning of summer and are continuing to build upon those strides,” she continued. “Most of those strides have been made in our defense. Our girls are becoming more comfortable with the defense we are running and are starting to build trust with one another on the court. We are re-
G O O D
ally excited to start the season but there is still a lot of room for improvement and more fine-tuning that needs to be made before our first game on Saturday.” She has a strong group of returning players from the team that was 16-11 last year. They include senior defensive specialist/right side Summer McCracken, senior setter Sydney Rioch, senior outside hitter Natalie Billing, junior middle blockers Rachel Noffsinger and Megan Fogt, junior defensive specialist/outside Chloe Egbert and junior setter Hayley Steinbrunner. Noffsinger, Fogt and Billing were the team’s top three hitters last season, with Noffsinger leading in kills. And the person who set them up was Steinbrunner. Fogt also led the team in blocks and Billing was second in digs. Barhorst is also looking for good things from sophomore defensive specialists Chandler Bensman and Bridget Hoehne, and freshmen defensive specialists Mackenzie Wells and Avery Bensman.
Anna, and he welcomes back six runners from a team that placed fourth in the County meet last season. They include seniors Ryan Smith and Dominic Altstaetter, juniors Corey Abbot and Adam Larger, and sophomores Jonathan Berning and Luke Gaier. The top newcomers will be senior Keavash Assani, junior Derek Steinke, and freshmen Korash Assani and Tyler McKee. “We return a large group from last year’s team that qualified for the regionals, and we return one of the area’s top runners in Adam Larger, who was a state qualifier last year,” said Stewart. “We had a very young team last year and they learned a lot. We also did well on the track in the distance events and that will have a positive impact. Many of them put in a good summer of running and it has already shown.”
and Amy Albers, and sophomores Bonnie Altstaetter, Jennifer Larger and Ashley Littlefield. They will be joined by four freshmen in Tierra Ganger, Hunter Knouff, Kayla Moore and Mindy Schmitmeyer. “We only lost one runner from last year’s team and will have only one senior, so we will still be young,” Stewart said. “I have seen a lot of positive things in our early-season practice and look for individual runners and the team to improve as the season progresses. “The County has always been strong with Fort Loramie being one of the top teams in the state for as long as I can remember,” Stewart added. “Russia has also become one of the state’s top programs over the last five years and with Botkins improving so much, the top three teams will all be teams that can qualify for the state meet.”
Girls cross country
The Anna boys golf team has seen plenty of success the past few seasons under coach Tom Kremer, and he expects to compete again, even though it will be a young and inexperienced squad. Returning for the Rockets are senior Andy
Stewart is also in his 28th year as the girls cross country coach, and there are five letter-winners returning from last Boys cross country year’s fifth-place team in Dean Stewart is in his the County meet. 28th year as head boys The returnees are juncross country coach at iors Jodie Schmitmeyer
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Linkmeyer, junior Zach Zimpfer and sophomore Mike Omlor. Filling in this season will be senior Brad Boyd, and three freshmen in Ryan Smelewski, Alex Brinkman and Ross Pulfer. “A new year with a young and inexperienced team,” said Kremer. “But we will compete.” Schedules Football Games at 7:30 unless noted Aug. 24 .at Lehman (S), 7 p.m. Aug. 31 ....................Brookville Sept. 7 ...........at Fort Recovery Sept. 14 ....................Versailles Sept. 21 .............at Delphos SJ Sept. 28 .......................Minster Oct. 5 .......................Coldwater Oct. 12 ............at New Bremen Oct. 19............at Marion Local Oct. 26........................Parkway —— Cross country August 25 .....................at Delphos Inv. September 1.........at Columbus Grove Inv. 8 ................at Spencerville Inv. 15 ........................at Eaton Inv. 22...........................at Troy Inv. 25.......................at Patriot Inv. 29 .....................at Botkins Inv. October 6................................Anna Inv. 13 ........County meet at Russia —— Girls soccer August 25 ...................Preble Shawnee September 4...............................at Newton 6 ..........................at WL-Salem 8 ...............................BenLogan
11...............................at Bethel 15............................at Lehman 18 ......................at Miami East 20 .................................Botkins 22 ........................Miami Valley 25 .............at Franklin-Monroe 27.............................Greenville October 2 .......................Troy Christian 4...............................at Botkins 9 ..........................at Coldwater 11 ................................Lehman —— Golf Home meets at Shelby Oaks August 23 ...............................Fairlawn 28 ................................Houston 30...................................Russia September 1 ....................at Versailles Inv. 4 ...................................Botkins 6 ......................Jackson Center 8 ...................at Middleton Inv. 11 ............................at Minster 13....................at Fort Loramie 17....................at New Bremen 20 ........County meet at Russia —— Volleyball August 25 ..................at Fort Recovery 28 ...............................Fairlawn 30 ...........................at Houston September 1.......................at Lehman Inv. 4.....................................Russia 6...............................at Botkins 11 ....................Jackson Center 13 ................................Lehman 15 ...............................Home tri 17 .................at New Knoxville 18....................at Fort Loramie 20...........................at Fairlawn 25 ................................Houston 27 ..............................at Russia October 1 .......................at Wapakoneta 2 ...................................Botkins 4..................at Jackson Center 8 ..........................Marion Local 9 ..........................Fort Loramie
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22 • Thursday, August 23, 2012
2012 FALL SPORTS PREVIEW
Sidney Daily News
LEHMAN
Cavs looking to get back to postseason Last year was an atypical one for Lehman Catholic football coach Dick Roll. For the first time since arriving at Lehman in 2005, Roll and his team found themselves watching, instead of participating in the D-VI playoffs. That was not completely unexpected considering the youth of the team — but, Roll does not expect another 3-7 season this time around. “My expectations are high,” Roll said. “I am not sure we worked as hard (in the off-season) last year as the previous years. Last year, it just wasn’t in the cards for us.” The Cavaliers haven’t forgotten the struggles of a year ago as they head into a new campaign. “I think it was a motivator for us in the offseason,” he said. “The kids have worked hard. We lost some good kids off last year’s team that were part of a lot of success. But, this is a new year.” The Cavaliers have already suffered a blow in the preseason, with returning starter Greg Spearman lost of the season. “What it did was take away our depth,” Roll said. “We felt like we had depth — but he was a two-way starter — so it killed our depth.” The quarterback spot will look much like it did a year ago, with senior Dan Davis (5-8, 155) and sophomore Nick Rourke
(5-11, 150) sharing snaps. “They will split time until one of them just moves ahead (of the other),” Roll said. “In a way you would (like to see one quarterback), but we have made it work before.” It will be a more wideopen offense than in past years. “You will see a lot more spread formations,” Roll said. “We are trying to utilize our talent — and what it comes down to is we don’t have that big back. We will run some option and I think we will throw the ball more.” Seeing action at fullback will be junior John Husa (5-11, 185) and senior Dan Davis (5-8, 155); while Husa will also see time at halfback with sophomore Lane Monnin (5-8, 150). The receivers will be juniors Kristopher Lee (6-1, 175) and Andrew Westerheide (5-11, 160) and sophomore Clay Selsor (6-3, 170). When they use a tight end, it will be Lee. The offensive line is one of the strong points. Seeing action at center will be Bradley Montgomery (5-11, 215) and sophomore Joseph Skelton (5-6, 195). Senior Nick Cummons (5-11, 180) will be at one guard spot, while Bradley Montgomery or junior Quinn Monnin (511, 200) will be at the other guard spot. Seeing action at tackle will be seniors
Michael Jacob (6-5, 200) and Quinton Malone (62, 210) and sophomore Ben Montgomery (5-8, 217). “We have four starters back on the line,” Roll said. “So, we feel like that is a strong point.” The defensive line will have Malone, Brad Montgomery and junior James Rego (6-2, 217) at the tackle spots, with Gilardi, Jacob and Quinn Monnin seeing action at defensive end. “It is (just like the offensive line),” Roll said. “We feel like we are pretty strong up front.” The outside linebackers will be Husa and senior Andrew Adams (5-8, 145), while the inside linebackers will be Cummons and sophomore Skylar Brown (510, 160). The secondary will include Lane Monnin, Davis, Westerheide and Rourke. “We have guys out there who played last year,” Roll said. “They have a year's experience.” Gilardi will handle the punting duties, while senior Zachary Taylor (511, 168) will be the kicker. This be Lehman’s first year competing in the North Central Athletic Conference, which means some new competition. “I think the kids will come to realize (get excited about it) as we get into the season,” Roll said. “What I see is Fort Loramie, Fairbanks,
Waynesfield-Goshen and Lehman, in no particular order, at the top of the conference. I think Fort Loramie is going to have another strong team.” Roll knows Lehman is an improved team. “We are a year older,” he said. “But, I don’t know how many more games we are going to win because we are playing a tougher schedule.”
Girls soccer It’s definitely a changing of the guard in girls soccer at Lehman this fall — for the first time since the program began, Bill Ramey and Mark Vondenheuvel will not be on the sidelines coaching the Lady Cavalier booters. The new coach is Tony Schroeder, a familiar name since he was highly successful as the school’s boys coach a few seasons back. “Lehman soccer owes a great deal to coach Ramey and coach Vondenheuvel for their many years of dedicated service,” said Schroeder. “Beginning with the establishment of the program and continuing to the competitiveness that defines it today.” Schroeder inherits a team that returns 10 letter-winners and seven starters from an 11-4-3 season of a year ago, so optimism is running high. There are just two senior letter-winners in defender Stephany McEldowney and forward Sarah Titterington.
SDN Photo/Eric Castle
SENIORS SARAH Titterington (left) and Stephany McEldowney lead the Lady Cavs soccer team this season. The juniors are de- Sehlhorst, junior goalie fenders Karly Baird, Allie Hall, freshman deJordi Emrick and Made- fender Kassie Lee and line Franklin, goalie freshman mid Emily Grace Frantz, forward Reinhart. Taylor Lachey and mid“With experienced fielders Marla Schroeder seniors and juniors, we and Jenna Kronen- look forward to having berger. great leadership on and There is one sopho- off the field,” said more who lettered last Schroeder. “We have 15 year as a freshman in strong players vying for midfielder Elizabeth Ed- the 11 starting positions, wards. and the competition for Schroeder expects those positions provides sophomore McKenna a challenge these girls Guillozet and freshman need to take their skills Sara Fuller to both be in to the next level. We look the starting lineup, well-balanced and while off the bench will strong in all areas, and come junior mids Kro- speed should be a definenberger and Lauren nite asset.” Goettemoeller, junior See FOUR/Page 23 forward Olivia
2012 FALL SPORTS PREVIEW
Sidney Daily News
Thursday, August 23, 2012 • 23
Four new head coaches this fall at Lehman
Volleyball Lehman’s girls put together another outstanding season last year on the heels of a Division IV state championship two seasons ago. And there are five letterwinners back from a squad that finished 24-4 and was regional runner-up. Greg Snipes returns as the head coach again
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more outside hitter and Ava Schmitz a sophomore defensive specialist. “Ellie and Margo will be playing opposite hitter and back row, and Ava will take over as defensive specialist,” said Snipes. “We’re looking at having another strong team this year and hope to be playing at our highest level once tournament starts. Our regular season should have us playing at that level and we look forward to the competition.”
Girls tennis The Lady Cavs have a new coach this season in Will Harrelson, and he takes over a program that lost a lot of outstanding players to graduation. He’s left with just one returning player, junior Julia Harrelson, so he’ll be counting on newcomers to fill in, players like juniors Sarah Gravunder and Meghan Burner, and freshman Diana Gibson. “We have a young and inexperienced varsity squad after graduating all but one varsity player from last year,” said Harrelson. “It’s exciting as a first-year coach to be able to start with a young team and watch them develop. We look forward to our large junior class stepping up and
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possibly a freshman making a run at a varsity singles spot. We hope to represent Lehman well and look forward to a competitive regular season.”
Golf Lehman has a new golf coach for the first time in a long while as Joe Harrmann takes over for Elmer Schlater. Harrmann has six lettermen returning in senior John Copella, juniors Bryce Eck, Michael Reinhart and Mitchell Shroyer and sophomores Sam Dean and Jake Watkins. Sophomore Thomas Covault will also look to crack the top five and there are also five freshmen on the squad. “I’m very excited for this season,” said Harrmann. “Our lone senior, John Copella, will look to make a state run and we have a host of young talent ready to make a name for themselves.” Schedules Football Games at 7 p.m. unless noted Aug. 24 ......................Anna (S) Aug. 31 ...........at Minster, 7:30 Sept. 7 ............Indian Lake (S) Sept. 14..........at Fort Loramie Sept. 21...............Riverside (S) Sept. 28............at Waynesfield Oct. 5 .................Fairbanks (P) Oct. 12 ............at Upper Scioto Oct. 19............Spencerville (S) Oct. 27 .............................Open (S) — At Sidney (P) — At Piqua
Volleyball August 25 ..........................at Fairlawn 28 ...................at Marion Local 29 ............................at Urbana September 1...........................Lehman Inv. 4 ...............................Versailles 5......................................Piqua 8 .................at Jackson Center 11 .........................at St. Henry 13 ................................at Anna 15...............................Home tri 18...................................Celina 20........................Fort Loramie 22 ........................at Piqua Inv. 24 ......................Fort Recovery 27 ..........................Miami East October 2 .....................at New Bremen 8 .................................Parkway —— Boys golf August 23..............................Riverside 27 ..............................at Russia 28 .........................at Riverside September 1....................at Versailles Inv. 4 ........................at Lima Perry 6 ....................................Sidney 10...............................Home tri 14.................at New Knoxville 15 ............at Jordan Memorial 18 .......................Marion Local —— Girls tennis August 25 ...............at Schroeder’s Inv. 27 .....................at West Milton 28...................................Celina 29 ..................................Sidney September 4....................at Lima Catholic 5................................Bellbrook 10 ...................at Miami Valley 11 .............................St. Marys 12 ........................at Brookville 17..................................Carroll 19 ...............................at Eaton 22 ......................at Carroll Inv. 24.....................at Wapakoneta 25........at Springfield Catholic
Cross country August 25 .......................at Milton Inv. September 8................at Spencerville Inv. 11 ....................at Loramie Inv. 15 ....................at Graham Inv. 18 ...........at Ohio Caverns Inv. 22.......................at Sidney Inv. 29 .....................at Botkins Inv. October 4...................at Coldwater Inv. 6 ...........................at Anna Inv. —— Boys soccer August 25........................Miami Valley 27 ...........................at Graham September 1 ..............at Dayton Christian 6 ..............................Greenville 8 .........................Bellefontaine 13.................................Botkins 15...........................at Ottoville 18 ..............................at Bethel 22 ............................at Newton 27 .....................New Knoxville 29.....................Yellow Springs October 2 ...................Franklin-Monroe 6 .............................at Greenon 11..................at Lima Catholic 13 .........................West Milton —— Girls soccer August 25...................................Celina 27................................Graham September 1 ..............at Dayton Christian 6 ..............................at Botkins 8 ..............Springfield Catholic 15.....................................Anna 18 ..............................at Bethel 22 ............................at Newton 25 ..........................Miami East 29 .....................Troy Christian October 1 ...................Franklin-Monroe 6.............at Delphos St. John’s 8 .....................at Bellefontaine 11 ................................at Anna 13 ...............................at Piqua
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Boys soccer The Cavalier boys soccer team has a new coach this season in Tom Thornton, and he takes over a team that has a lot of lettermen back from a 4-8-4 season. Returning are senior defender Mitchell Bosse, senior mid Zac Taylor, senior defender Louie Gaier, junior defender Seth Bensman, junior defenders Robby Heckman and Peter Comer, junior forwards Joseph Simpson and Noah Dunn, sophomore mid Travis Thorton and sophomore goalie Nick Earhart. The top newcomers include sophomore defender Kyla Caulfield, sophomore forwards Dylan Sherman and Rocco Catanzarite, and freshman goalie Ian Smith and freshman forward Jared Brandt.
and welcomes back four of the six starters from last season. The returnees include senior setter/outside hitter Andrea Thobe, senior middle Ellie Waldsmith, junior outside hitter Erica Paulus, junior setter/outside hitter Ellie Cain and sophomore middle Olivia Slagle. Waldsmith was Lehman’s top hitter last season, finishing with 166 kills during the regular season. Thobe had 390 assists and Cain 315, while Cain and Thobe were second and third in ace serves for Lehman. Paulus led Lehman in digs with 313, which was third in the area, and Waldsmith had 62 blocks, fourth-best in the area. “We return four of our six starters from last year’s regional runnerup team,” said Snipes. “Andrea and Ellie will be back handling the setting duties along with being outside hitters. Ellie and Olivia will be the middle blockers. Erica will move from libero, where she’s played the last two years, to outside hitter.” The newcomers this year are being counted on heavily. Margo Baker is a sophomore outside hitter/defensive specialist, Ellie Sergeant is a sopho-
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