Sports & recreation
September 28, 2011
Suburban Life
A7
Short-handed Crusaders trying to hang By Scott Springer
sspringer@communitypress.com
KENWOOD – They take on all comers. They beat Barrington High School of Illinois and lost to Avon of Indianapolis (ranked No. 4 in Indiana). Just last week there was a narrow loss to Carroll, an Ohio state champion last year. Randy Hurley’s Moeller Crusader soccer team has spent two weekends in Indianapolis and three in Dayton playing some of the area’s finest squads. It’s what Moeller does. The difficult thing has been doing it short-handed. Last year’s Greater Catholic League-South player of the year Jeff Fuller has been limited to one preseason appearance for the Crusaders. “Jeffrey’s been out of season,” Hurley said. “He’s been fighting a groin injury. We’re hoping to get him back in two to four weeks. We’re hoping it’s on the short side of that. That’s an all-state midfielder. He’s our engine in the midfield. If we get him back, that’s going to help us.” The injury bug has bitten Moeller and bitten them
THANKS TO WWW.LETSGOBIGMOE.COM
THANKS TO WWW.LETSGOBIGMOE.COM
Senior midfielder and tri-captain Chris Nartker looks for an angle in a Moeller game earlier this season. Nartker is the Crusaders’ leading scorer. hard. In addition to being without their best player, one of the tri-captains Chris Nartker has missed a game. Offensive weapon Erik Radke has also missed time and starting goalkeeper, Tim Valentine was out with mono. Grady Beerck has started in Valentine’s place. “In defense of Grady, he’s done well, “ Hurley said. “Timmy (Valentine) is still getting some rust off of him.” In the meantime, Moeller has a winning record, despite playing the “Murderer’s Row” of prep soccer. “I don’t think anyone can expect us to go undefeated with the schedule that we’re playing,” Hurley
said. “I think we’re realistic about the competition we’re playing. We put the boots back on and just play our game.” Tri-captain Chris Nartker has led Moeller’s offense and is among the league leaders in many categories. He’s shared leadership of the team with Joey Veatch with Fuller being out. “He’s an explosive, very intelligent player,” Hurley said. “He’s got a little spiciness to him. He’s confident and a leader. He’s dangerous in so many ways. We could put Chris in the back and he’d be one of our better defenders.” Helping Nartker has been lanky Erik Radke. The
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Senior midfielder Chris Nartker is one of Moeller’s tri-captains along with Jeffrey Fuller and Joey Veatch. Nartker has led the Crusaders in scoring during the current season. senior is not far behind Nartker among the GCL leaders. “He can be a handful; he just needs to realize how good he could be,” Hurley said. “He’s 6-7 and he’s got skill. He doesn’t use his physical skill to his advantage all the time. That’s something we’re constantly preaching to him. He’s got a ton of upside, we’re hoping he realizes how much more dangerous he can be.” Radke, for the most part, has been healthy for Moeller this season. “He’s fought a lot of
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Senior forward Erik Radke has been among Moeller’s scoring leaders all season. The Crusaders are trying to fend off St. Xavier in the GCL South.
injuries throughout his career,” Hurley said. “Last year, at the end of the year, was the first time he was truly healthy since he started in the program. We started to see a lot of progress out of him last year.” Assuming Hurley can get a healthy squad on the field all at once, Moeller hopes for a postseason run. The one thing coaches can’t project when making preseason determinations are injuries. “We’re looking in the second half of the season to get everyone healthy and on the same page again,” Hurley said. “A lot of people
Moeller coach Randy Hurley has led the soccer team since 1988. Again, this season the Crusaders are battling with St. Xavier for the GCL South lead. Hurley has been GCL coach of the year five times, district coach of the year three times and is in the Moeller High School Hall of Fame. at the beginning talked about how deep we were. That was true. But, when you’re playing with your depth, you’re no longer deep.” Ahead on Moeller’s menu is a game at Elder Oct.1 and regular season finale with St. Xavier at home Oct. 15. “Hopefully we can win another GCL championship and after that we’ll shoot for the tournament,” Hurley said. “There’s a target on our back and we accept that.” For more sports coverage, visit cincinnati.com/blogs/presspreps, facebook.com/presspreps or Scott on Twitter at @cpscottspringer.
Braves’ 13 shoot for 15 straight titles sspringer@communitypress.com
INDIAN HILL – As is the case in many of the Cincinnati Hills League sports, the Wyoming Cowboys and Indian Hill Braves are often are “at odds” on some court or field. For girls tennis, that competition happened Sept. 27, after deadline. Camargo Racquet Club teaching pro Gary Samuels took over the Indian Hill squad this summer and has enjoyed keeping the prestigious program at the top. “It’s been a great season,” Samuels said. “Good team spirit and camaraderie.” His assignment was to keep the team No. 1. Many of Indian Hill’s current players weren’t even in kindergarten the last time the CHL title went to another school. Wyoming is out to end that streak, which makes Samuels’ job even tougher. The Cowboys are neck and neck with the Lady Braves this season. “They’re always there,” Samuels said of the Cowboys. “Indian Hill has won the league 14 straight years.” Samuels’ singles players include two seniors and a junior. The top two seniors are sharing the first singles job.
“We’re going to start rotating Kasey Schumacher and R a c h e l Littman,” Samuels Samuels said. “Schumacher won our flight at the Coaches Classic in second singles. She played second singles last year behind Kelsey Matthews.” Brynn McKenna is a junior and plays third singles. She also won at the Coaches Classic and appears to be in the driver’s seat to take over for Schumacher and Littman next year. Flo Vanderschueren and Alex Skidmore have led Indian Hill in first doubles. They’re a rare combination of a senior (Vanderschueren) and freshman (Skidmore). “I couldn’t be happier with them,” Samuels said. “Their personalities go together well and their style. They’re just really solid,very smooth, experienced tournament players. They’re pretty tough to beat.” Nicole Gibson and Carolin Breda make up the second doubles team. The Breda-Gibson tandem was also victorious in the Coaches Classic. “Gibson and Breda are
just steady and scrappy and they defend well,” Samuels said. “They’re scrappy, relentless players and they get along well. That style has been almost unbeatable at second doubles.” Samuels previously coached at Cincinnati Country Day, where he coached a boys champion in Joey Fritz. His proximity to the courts off Drake Road made this job appealing. “I teach tennis just down the road at Camargo, so it couldn’t have been more convenient,” Samuels said. “I know a lot of these girls and taught a lot of them when they were younger at Camargo. A lot of them have been serious tournament players for years. It’s been enjoyable.” Samuels took to the Indian Hill girls so much he kept 13 on varsity team. He felt the tryout competition was that close. “That’s worked out well,” Samuels said. “We’ve had three players out with injuries for considerable amounts of the season.” After the team tournament match with Wyoming, the Lady Braves are back home Sept. 30 against Ursuline Academy. For more sports coverage, visit cincinnati.com/blogs/presspreps, facebook.com/presspreps or Scott on Twitter at @cpscottspringer.
SIDELINES Basketball registration
Girls and boys in third through sixth grade who attend Madeira and St. Gertrude schools are eligible to participate in the Cincinnati Area Youth Basketball League. The season consists of a 10-game schedule with games played at the home gym, Madeira Middle School, and in nearby communities. Teams in each grade participate in a post-season tournament. Practices start in early November and games begin early December. Teams practice once or twice per week. Players will be contacted by their assigned coach by the end of October. All registration forms with a check for $75 for third grade or $80 for fourth through sixth grades are due by Sunday, Sept. 25. Sign-ups are 1-3 p.m., Sunday, Sept. 26, at Madeira Elementary School or are accepted via mail. A late fee of $20 will be charged for any forms received after Sept. 25.
A spot on a roster cannot be guaranteed if registration is late.
Running scared 5K
The fourth-annual Ray Rusche Running Scared 5K and Kids Fun Run will be 6 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 15, on West Street near the Reading Stadium. Participants may wear costumes. The route goes through the decorated cemetery, where there will be some spooky surprises, and then out onto the flat streets of Reading. It will turn around and return back to end inside the stadium. The Post Race Party will take place inside and out of Haffey Field House, which shares a parking lot with the stadium. The fee is $20 if postmarked by Oct. 7. After that and race day, the cost is $25. There will be beer, food, a live band (BlueFish), costume contest, door prizes and participants may purchase a long- or short-sleeve T-shirt for $10. Partyonly tickets are available for $20.
This fundraiser benefits youth education. Visit www.runningscared5k.org, or on the Facebook page Running Scared 5k. Registration can be downloaded on the website or with a credit card at www.GetMeRegistered. com. The Clever Crazes for Kids Fun Run is 1-3 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 15. Registration is $5 per child and includes entrance in the short Fun Run through the decorated cemetery and entrance into the Halloween Fest. At the Halloween Fest, the children can have healthy snacks and drinks, play games, win prizes, be entertained and go on a hay ride. For an extra $5 the participant of the Fun Run may purchase a short sleeved T-shirt commemorating their afternoon run! Packet pickup and late registration will start at noon at Haffey Field House on West Street in Reading. Participants must be pre-registered by Oct. 7 to guarantee a T-shirt. Contact Sandy Harsch at 3097464 or email sharsch277@aol.com.
THE ULTIMATE JOINERY WEEKEND!
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By Scott Springer
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