ThisWeek Community Newspapers Grove City Record
June 2, 2011
Page B3
Ready Roundup
Knights to take shots at state track titles By JARROD ULREY ThisWeek Community Newspapers
The Ready High School boys and girls track and field teams completed regional competition last weekend with a combined five championships and realistic hopes that they could add to that total in the state meet. Emily Morris will compete for the title in Division II girls shot put at 9 a.m. Saturday, June 4, at Ohio State. Nick Frye, Taron Slone and Demetrius Clark all advanced to state in individual events and the boys 400-meter and 800 relays also moved on in Division III, which holds its running preliminaries at 10 a.m. Friday, June 3, and finals at 9:30 a.m. Saturday, June 4. “It’s pretty surprising what (the boys) are doing,” Slone said. “We were looking good at the CCL meet (May 12 and 14) and each week we’ve improved.” Morris earned her final chance at a state title in the shot put by winning
the Division II regional championship May 28 in Dayton Welcome Stadium with a throw of 42 feet, 3 1/2 inches. She had the second-best throw among all four regionals behind Washington Court House’s Jessica Guyett, who won the regional at Byesville Meadowbrook with an effort of 42-6. Last season, Morris took third at state with a throw of 40-3 1/2. She was second (40-11) as a sophomore. Her performance helped the girls team score 10 points and tie BloomCarroll, Buckeye Valley and Cincinnati Taft for 21st behind champion Hartley (82) as 49 teams scored. Morris was in third place heading into the finals of the shot put. “I won, which I’m really excited about actually,” Morris said. “I missed my graduation (May 28) for this and I knew if I didn’t throw it far enough (during the finals) that I was only going to get third place. So I got a little bit extra distance on it.”
At a glance
Below are the state qualifiers for the Ready track & field teams with regional event, place and time/distance/height: BOYS — Demetrius Clark: 100 (fourth, 11.24); Nick Frye: 110 hurdles (first, 14.72); Taron Slone: 100 (first, 10.73); 400 relay: Clark,
Frye and Slone also enter state among the title favorites in their individual events. After finishing 11th at state in the 110 hurdles (15.63 seconds) last season, Frye has taken a big step forward this spring. His winning time of 14.72 on May 27 at Fairfield Union was the best time among competitors at the four Division III regionals. Slone’s first-place time of 10.73 in the 100 also was the state’s best at the
Halston Jones, Frye and Slone (first, 43.96); 800 relay: Frye, Clark, Jones and Slone (first, 1:31.2) GIRLS — Emily Morris: shot put (first, 42-3 1/2) Other regional results: BOYS — Clark: 200 (10th, 23.98) GIRLS — 400 relay: Caitlin McAndrew, Holland Jones, Clare Bochy and Carly Culbertson (ninth, 52.08)
hard to get better. Last year (at state) I’d never been in front of that many people for a track meet before, so I was nervous. I don’t think I’ll be so nervous this time.” Clark took fourth in the 100 (11.24) at regional to advance individually. Clark, Frye and Slone were joined by Halston Jones on the 400 relay (43.96) and 800 relay (1:31.2), both of which took first at regional. The boys team placed second (45) of 46 teams that scored at regional, which was won by Columbus Academy (71). “I’m absolutely excited for the relays,” Frye said. “I’ve never been on a relay that got to state before.” “At the beginning of the season, we weren’t looking too good (in the relays), but we’ve put it together,” Slone said.
regional level. He finished 16th in the 100 (11.58) at state last year. “I usually go out to race the clock,” Frye said. “If I stumble or get out to a bad start, there are people that can beat me. I’ve been getting out better this year by making sure my lead leg gets over the hurdle. This year I’ve worked on strengthening my right leg more.” “There’s a big target on my back,” Slone said. “I know everybody is work- julrey@thisweeknews.com ing hard to go faster, so it pushes me www.ThisWeekSPORTS.com
TRACK
At a glance
Continued from page B1
By Eric George/ThisWeek
The Comets’ Jacquelyn Fowler (3) gets a hug from Dakota Pyles after scoring the winning run as teammates Kendra Willis (left) and Skye Dorsey join the celebration after the 3-2 win over Teays Valley in the regional semifinal May 26.
SOFTBALL Continued from page B1 it was going to pull off another two-out rally with runners on second and third in the seventh inning against Gahanna, but Lions senior pitcher Brandis Fishel struck out junior Paige Rhodes to end the game. “We never gave up. Even in that last inning, we thought we were going to do it,” junior pitcher Savannah Dorsey said. “We thought we were going all the way the whole time.” “I was confident we could do it,” coach Rona Dorsey said. “The right batters were up at the plate, but it just didn’t go our way.” The Comets had reason to be confident considering the way they won the regional semifinal. With two outs in the bottom of the seventh, Teays Valley catcher Erica Prantl dropped a third strike and committed an error while trying to throw out Turkovich at first base. Freshman Jacquelyn Fowler took off from second on the passed ball and beat a throw home to give Central Crossing the victory. The Comets also won the district championship with a 2-1 victory over Dresden Tri-Valley on May 21, as Turkovich hit a solo home run with two outs in the fifth.
At a glance
•Record: 25-3 overall, 13-0 (first) in OCC-Central •Seniors lost: Lindsay Carmean, Skye Dorsey, Dakota Pyles, Allissa Turkovich and Kendra Willis •Key returnees: Savannah Dorsey, Jacquelyn Fowler, Paige Rhodes and Ciera Williams
OCC. “This is a great group of kids. They’ve set the bar for future teams,” coach Dorsey said. “They set out at the beginning of the season to do that.” She also believes her team has enough returning players to make another run next season. Expected to return are Savannah Dorsey, who was firstteam all-OCC, all-district and all-state as well as the OCCCentral and Central District Player of the Year, and Rhodes, who was second-team all-district while playing first base. Also expected back are Fowler, juniors Sara Baker, Jourdan Hager and Ciera Williams and freshmen Abby Rhodes, Hunter Taylor and Alison Amos in the outfield, sophomores Kayla Bausch and Paige Kirk as pitchers, sophomore Kristen Merz at second base and freshman Michaela Dorsey as a designated player. “We didn’t want to see the season end this way, but we’ve had a season full of memories,” said coach Dorsey, the league and district Coach of the Year. “They’ve made this season remarkable.”
Central Crossing won the OCC-Central Division at 13-0, finishing ahead of Thomas Worthington (10-3), Worthington Kilbourne (10-4), Hilliard Davidson (7-7), Hilliard Darby (5-8), Upper Arlington (4-10), Dublin Coffman (3-11) and Westland (2-11). League games between the Comets and Thomas and Darby and Westland were canceled. Part of the team’s success was because of its five seniors. Pyles was first-team all-OCC and all-district and second-team all-state as an outfielder, while Turkovich was first-team allOCC and all-district and honorable mention all-state as a shortstop. Carmean was second-team all-OCC. Skye Dorsey was special mention all-OCC and Willis pbatterson@thisweeknews.com was honorable mention all- www.ThisWeekSPORTS.com
man (164.5), Davidson (131), Upper Arlington (100), Hilliard Darby (88), Thomas Worthington (84.5) and Worthington Kilbourne (55) and ahead of Westland (10). The boys team also had a number of near misses in the district 3 meet at Hilliard Bradley. Junior Kyle Dyer was sixth in the 800 (2:02.66) after placing first in the preliminaries, and classmate Will Doering was fifth in the 3,200 (10:11.01) as the Comets placed eighth (19) behind champion Coffman (116.5). Dyer and Doering ran on the all-junior regional-qualifying 3,200 relay along with Donovan Wonacott and Stanley Gates. It clocked 8:15.07 to finish 12th. Wonacott, the team’s only other qualifier for the regional, made the finals in the 1,600 and placed eighth (4:27.12) as the top four advanced to state. Freshmen Parker Hall, Matt Brenneman and Jovan Mitnaul are expected to return on the 400 and 800 relays, both of which were anchored by senior Seth Wieging. The boys team placed sixth (20) in the OCC-Central meet behind Davidson (170.5), Coffman (158.5), Thomas (129.5), Darby (96.5) and Upper Arlington (49) and ahead of Kilbourne (19) and Westland (13). •Grove City’s season was highlighted by the boys team’s victory in the Best of the Southwest Invitational on April 15. The Greyhounds (86) topped runner-up Central Crossing (66)
CENTRAL CROSSING •Finishes: BOYS — Sixth (20) in OCCCentral, eighth (19) in Division I, district 3, 36th (1) in regional; GIRLS — Seventh (26) in OCC-Central, 10th (16) in district 4, did not score in regional •Seniors lost: BOYS — Seth Wieging; GIRLS — Ayana Colvin, Samantha Downing, Sarah Hunter and Tia Smith •Key returnees: BOYS — Matt Brenneman, Will Doering, Kyle Dyer, Stanley Gates, Parker Hall, Jovan Mitnaul and Donovan Wonacott; GIRLS — Kara Barber, Allison Boggs, Madison Jor-
as the girls team placed third (62) behind Franklin Heights (98) and the host Comets (72), who had swept both titles the previous eight years. The Greyhounds advanced junior Harve Crabtree to the boys regional meet, where he finished 15th in the 110 hurdles (17.0) and 14th in the 300 hurdles (44.04) but did not qualify for the finals. He placed fourth in both events in the district 3 meet as the Greyhounds were 10th (16). Junior Jake Kursinskis placed ninth in the 800 (2:05.25) after he ran third in the preliminaries while the all-junior 400 relay of Ryan Barberi, Jordan Fisher, Drey Thompson and Nick Roach finished sixth (44.23). “We were pretty young this year, so we’ll have a lot coming back,” said coach Jane Taylor, whose seniors include Valparaiso-recruit Nick Kowaleski. “Our junior class, especially, is very strong. There’s a lot of (team) points in that group.” The girls team qualified the
dan, Molly Lalonde, Katrina Martin and Kendal Witherup GROVE CITY •Finishes: BOYS — Eighth (27.5) in OCC-Ohio, 10th (16) in district 3, did not score in regional; GIRLS — Eighth (15) in OCC-Ohio, ninth (17) in district 3, did not score in regional •Seniors lost: BOYS — Andy Bennett, Jake Green, Ryan Hickey, Nick Kowaleski and Christian Smurthwaite; GIRLS — Beth Boes, Kimmy Eakins, Emily Laffin and Amber Weiskittle •Key returnees: BOYS — Ryan Barberi, Harve Crabtree, Jordan Fisher, Jake Kursinskis, Nick Roach and Drey Thompson; GIRLS — Gea Boykin, Elayna Brizendine, Miranda Gaitten, Alexis McCoy and Annie Winkler
400 relay of seniors Beth Boes and Emily Laffin and juniors Elayna Brizendine and Miranda Gaitten to the regional. The relay also failed to advance to the finals while finishing 14th (51.98). In the district 3 meet, the same lineup was fourth in the 400 relay (51.34) and recorded a season-best 1:49.63 in the 800 relay to place fifth. Sophomore Annie Winkler was fifth in the 1,600 (5:22.42) and sixth in the 3,200 (13:06.11). The boys team placed eighth (27.5) in the OCC-Ohio meet May 12 and 14 at Pickerington North behind the host Panthers (156), Reynoldsburg (107), Gahanna (92), Lancaster (83), Pickerington Central (80), Newark (52) and Groveport (52.5). The girls also finished eighth (15) behind Central (159), North (140.5), Reynoldsburg (116), Gahanna (97.5), Lancaster (73), Groveport (31) and Newark (23). kadams@thisweeknews.com www.ThisWeekSPORTS.com
Sports briefs Crew Juniors holding tryouts The Columbus Crew’s community affiliated youth soccer club, the Crew Juniors-Phoenix, is holding tryouts for boys and girls ages 6 to 18. For more information, visit www.TheCrewYouth.com/PhoenixCrewJuniors or call (614) 370-9485.
Diebler, Lighty to help direct camp Former Ohio State basketball players Jon Diebler and David Lighty will help direct the fourth annual Buckeye Stars Basketball Camp
from 9 a.m. to noon July 27-29 at Worthington Kilbourne High School. The camp is open to boys and girls ages 7 to 18. For more information and registration, visit www.BuckeyeStars.com or call (888) 389-2267.
Tour de Grandview set for June 26 The annual Tour de Grandview cycling event will take place June 26 on the streets of Grandview Heights. Races feature professional cyclists from around the world in addition to top amateur and junior cyclists. Events are scheduled to begin at 11:45 a.m. Rider registration is under way at www.tourdegrandview.com.
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