ThisWeek Community Newspapers Clintonville
Page B2
January 6, 2011
2010: THE YEAR IN REVIEW Continued from page B1 selves and they did a little bit of a combination of both, and it worked out well for them.” The Wildcats also experienced tragedy during the 2009 season when 16-year-old Arthur Lane was struck by a train and killed on the eve of the team’s 16-15 win over Cleveland Glenville in the state final. NATIONAL RECOGNITION ON HARDWOOD: Not only was Jared Sullinger of the Northland boys basketball team named Ohio’s Mr. Basketball for the second consecutive season after averaging 23.1 points, 11.7 rebounds and 1.6 blocks, he was named Naismith Player of the Year, an honor bestowed on the top player in the nation. Sullinger, a 6-foot-9 forward now starting for Ohio State as a freshman, also was named McDonald’s All-American, Jordan Brand All-American and Parade magazine Player of the Year. He finished as Northland’s all-time leading scorer with 1,972 career points. Sullinger was named MVP of the McDonald’s All-American game on March 31 at Ohio State, despite having to go to a hospital the morning of the game for what was thought to be food poisoning. He scored 22 points and had seven rebounds in the East all-star team’s 107-104 loss to the West. Sullinger also participated in the Jordan Brand Classic on April 17 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Satch Sullinger, Jared’s father and Northland’s coach, was named Naismith Coach of the Year. SPECIAL DELIVERY: St. Charles golf coach Anthony Mampieri almost missed the crowning moment of his team’s season. On the morning of the second day of the Cardinals’ dominating performance at the Division I state tournament, his wife, Leeanne, went into labor with the couple’s third child. Cristiano Matthew Mampieri was born about four hours before the Cardinals teed off on Oct. 23, allowing Mampieri an opportunity to meet his team at Ohio State’s Scarlet Course before the start of the second round. “He got there and gave them a pep talk before they were to tee off and then went back to the hospital for a while,” assistant coach Eric Horvath said. “He told me he had a favor to ask of me, and then takes off early.” “Eric said that he felt like he was the Dennis Hopper character from the movie ‘Hoosiers.’ You know when Gene Hackman gets kicked out of the (basketball) game and hands (Hopper’s character) the scorebook and tells him he’s the coach now,” Mampieri said with a wide grin. “It wasn’t anything like that, but (Eric) did a great job.” When Mampieri returned to
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2010: More top stories Below are the rest of the top 25 stories from ThisWeek Sports in 2010. For more details on each story, please visit ThisWeekSPORTS.com. No. 11: Westerville North boys cross country team only can wonder what might have been at Division I state meet. No. 12: Harvest Prep girls basketball team produces Division IV state championship. No. 13: Two area wrestlers capture state titles. No. 14: Columbus Academy junior Morgan Ransom earns Division II state girls golf title. No. 15: Cousins Ashley Thai and Lauren Thai of Hilliard Bradley win doubles title in Division II state girls tennis. No. 16: Upper Arlington and Dublin Jerome capture state titles in boys lacrosse. No. 17: A year after area boys soc-
the course a few hours later, St. Charles was well on its way to its second consecutive state title. The Cardinals shot a record 610, breaking the previous mark of 611 set by Cleveland St. Ignatius in 2002 and Upper Arlington in 1993, and finished well ahead of runner-up St. Ignatius (621). Senior Michael Ricaurte was tournament medalist with a 144 over 36 holes. Mampieri resigned as coach after the state tournament, saying he wanted to spend more time with his family. RIGHT ON TRACK: The Reynoldsburg girls track and field team defied the odds by winning a second consecutive Division I state championship. Despite the fact that their participation dropped by more than 50 percent from the 2009 season, the Raiders scored 56 points at the state meet that concluded June 5 at Ohio State to finish well ahead of runner-up Rocky River Magnificat (35). After losing a large senior class and having two key expected returnees transfer, Reynoldsburg had fewer than a dozen athletes competing by season’s end. Yet, led by sophomore Destinee Gause, the Raiders were able to defend their state title. Gause was disqualified at state in the 100 meters preliminaries because of a false start, but she won her second consecutive 200 title (24.07 seconds) and led the 400 relay (47.24) and 1,600 relay (3:48.87) to titles. “You lose some and you win some,” said sophomore sprinter/hurdler Faith Washington, who was second at state in the 300 hurdles (43.28), fourth in the 100 hurdles (14.7) and ran on the runner-up 800 relay (1:40.4) and the 1,600 relay. “This year we gained some mature young freshmen, so losing what we did (from the 2009 season) didn’t really matter as much.” The Hartley girls team narrowly missed winning its second consecutive Division II state title, as it scored 71 points to place second behind Cleveland Collinwood (77) and ahead of
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Sports briefs Capital to hold softball clinics Capital University softball coach Nan Payne and pitching coach Alan That will hold clinics in January and February for girls grades five through 12. The schedule includes hitting clinics from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Jan. 8 and Feb. 5; a pitching clinic from 9 a.m. to noon Jan. 22; a catching clinic from 9 a.m. to noon Jan. 22; and a defensive clinic from 9 a.m. to noon Feb. 12. Each clinic is limited to 50 participants. A brochure with registration information is available at capitalcrusaders.net. For additional information, contact Payne at (614) 2366487 or npayne@capital.edu.
GCSTO holding swim tryouts The Greater Columbus Swim Team of Ohio (GCSTO) is looking for new athletes. GCSTO was ranked by USA Swimming as one of the top 100 teams in America in 2009 according to the national governing body USA Swimming. The team will practice at Columbus Academy, the Concourse Hotel Fitness Club, St. Charles Preparatory School and the Columbus School for Girls. New swimmers are al-
lowed two weeks with the team to see what it has to offer. For more information, contact GCSTO coach Steve Nye at (614) 478-5445 or stevenye@sbcglobal.net. More information is also available on the web at www.gcsto.com.
Ready to hold baseball clinic Ready High School baseball coach Harry Caruso will direct a spring training program from Feb. 27 to April 3 for players in grades one through 12. The program will be held in conjunction with U.S. Baseball Academy. Sessions are planned in advanced hitting, pitching and catching. For more information, visit www.USBaseballAcademy.com or call (866) 622-4487.
Schools announce coaching vacancies The following schools are seeking coaches: St. Charles — Golf. Send résumé to athletics director Dave Lawler at dlawler@cdeducation.org. Westerville South — Boys soccer, assistant boys and girls soccer. Contact the athletics department at (614) 797-6004. Westland — Football, volleyball. Send résumé to Greg Burke at greg.burke@swcs.us.
cer teams swept all three state championships, no central Ohio team wins a title. No. 18: Westerville Central’s Mary Wells rolls to girls bowling title as Warhawks place second. No. 19: Area coaches reach career milestones. No. 20: Two longtime area coaches step down. No. 21: Hilliard Davidson baseball team upsets top-seeded Grove City in Division I district tournament. No. 22: Four area Division I boys basketball teams finish the regular season undefeated. No. 23: The Dublin Coffman and Big Walnut girls volleyball teams lose in their state finals matches. No. 24: Thomas Worthington field hockey team falls short in state championship. No. 25: Childhood friends vie for NCAA men’s soccer title.
third-place Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy (57). Collinwood had competed in Division I in 2009. That season, the Hawks shared the state title with Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy, as both teams scored 55 points. “I can’t take anything away from Collinwood. They put up the points,” coach Richard Jones said. “If we can put up almost 80 points and a team beats us, then they deserve to win.” Though the team championship eluded Hartley, the Hawks won individual titles and broke a meet record in the 1,600 relay. Senior Chesna Sykes won the 100 (11.97) and 200 (24.22) and was on the winning 400 relay (47.37) with CharAnna Dixon, Chelsea Scott and Jordyn Smith. Sykes also was on the secondplace 800 relay (1:41.1) with Aisha Cavin, Dixon and Maya Pedersen. The 1,600 relay of Taisha Ferguson, Cavin, Pedersen and Scott finished first in 3:49.94, breaking the previous meet record of 3:50.08 set by Warrensville Heights in 2009. QUITE A SPLASH: The Upper Arlington girls swimming and diving team won its sixth consecutive Division I state title, scoring 295 points to finish ahead of runner-up Watterson (186) in February at the C.T. Branin Natatorium in Canton. The Golden Bears won only one event, the 200-yard medley relay, but had swimmers finish in the top eight in every event. Kristyn Fulcher, Nicole Wagner, Katie VanFossen and Lauren Comer teamed to win the 200 medley relay in 1 minute, 46.23 seconds, edging runner-up Centerville (1:46.67). Abby Chin placed second in four events: the 500 freestyle (4:53.6), 200 free (1:51.24), 200 free relay (1:35.97) and 400 free relay (3:29.67). Watterson’s Gracie Finnegan, capped a dominant career by winning four more state titles to finish with eight for her career. She defended her titles in the 50 free (23.2) and 100 free (50.06) and
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Spring baseball training offered Watkins Memorial High School will be host to a six-week spring training baseball program for players in grades 1-12 from Jan. 9 through Feb. 13. Watkins Memorial coach Don Schone will direct the program with U.S. Baseball Academy. Sessions are offered in advanced hitting, pitching and catching. For more information, visit www.USBaseballAcademy.com, or call (866) 622-4487.
By Darrin Bryan/ThisWeek
No. 6: Destinee Gause (right) and the Reynoldsburg girls track and field team won their second consecutive Division I state title June 5 at Ohio State.
anchored the Eagles’ 200 free relay (1:35.08) and 400 free relay (3:27.09) to first-place finishes. Also on the relays were Camey Rabold, Michele Rielly and Samantha Schuttinger. “(Defending my state titles) definitely added pressure, but I came in knowing it’s my senior year,” Finnegan said. “I kind of wanted to go out with a bang and break some records. But I had great competition and I had a great time. It was real fun.” THREE-PEAT: The Lakewood softball team won its third consecutive state championship, defeating Poland Seminary 1-0 in the Division II state final on June 4. Third baseman Kelsi Thompson led the Lancers’offense, producing two of their five hits, including a solo home run in the second inning. Pitcher Alyssa Patznick went seven innings, allowing six hits and one walk and striking out four. Lakewood finished 29-5. The Lancers’ other two titles came in Division III, as they beat Youngstown Ursuline 5-0 in 2009 and defeated Wellington 5-3 in 2008. Grove City reached the state final in Division I, losing to Massillon Perry 10-0 on June 5 to finish 28-5. ACES ON THE COURT: Central Ohio players swept the Division I and II state titles in the boys tennis tournament on May 29 at
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Ohio State. Worthington Kilbourne senior Kevin Metka defeated Liberty Township Lakota East’s Zack Mueck 7-6 (11-9), 6-3 in the Division I singles final, marking his second state title. Metka was part of the Division I doubles championship team in 2009. Watterson junior Chris Diaz, who won the Division I doubles title in 2008 with his brother, Philip, and placed second in doubles in 2009, cruised through the Division II singles field without losing a set in any of his four matches. He beat defending state champion Joey Fritz of Cincinnati Country Day 6-3, 6-2 in the final. Diaz finished 31-0 in singles matches without losing a set and has a 62-1 career record in high school singles matches. He has won a team-record 62-consecutive singles matches. Upper Arlington won its staterecord 15th doubles championship but first since 1999 when junior Billy Weldon and freshman Stu Little defeated New Albany’s Riyad Bennoui and John Hendrix 6-4, 6-1 in the Division I final. For only the 10th time in the 91-year history of the boys state tournament, a pair of doubles teams from the same school matched up against each other in the final when senior Andrew Enslen and sophomore Chad Buchanan of Columbus Acade-
my played senior Eoghan Bahnson and sophomore Langston Hughes, also from Academy. Enslen and Buchanan topped their teammates 6-3, 6-4. BROTHERLY LOVE: After trading the state pole vault record with his twin brother, Joey, for much of the season, Olentangy Liberty junior Chris Uhle topped his sibling at the Division I state track and field meet on June 5 at Ohio State. Chris cleared 16 feet, 9 inches to win the state title and break his brother’s state record by an inch. Joey placed second at state in 16-0. Dublin Scioto’s Michael Shibko was third (15-8) and Gahanna’s Jacob Blankenship was fourth (15-8). “I never like knocking Joey down, but getting the state record was amazing,” Chris Uhle said. “After he missed his third attempt, I was thinking, ‘This is my show. If I clear this, I’ll get first place.’” Joey cleared 16-5 on April 13 but the height wasn’t recognized by the OHSAA because it was set in a dual meet. Chris cleared 16-6 at Liberty’s Freedom Relays on April 23 to set the official record, but the brothers shared the mark after they both cleared 16-7 at the Olentangy Invitational on April 30. Joey then owned the record by himself after clearing 16-8 at the Delaware County Elite Eight meet on May 6.
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