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Home > Blogs > Springfield, Ohio High School Sports > Archives > 2009 > August > 06
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Training Camp Insider: Springfield
Every practice looks the same after a while. I’ve been to six different schools this week: Triad, West Liberty-Salem, Springfield, Catholic Central, Mechanicsburg and Tecumseh.
There are subtle differences sure, but every day, I’ve seen coaches yelling, players stretching (lunges, leg kicks, etc.) and teams gelling.
This is where it all begins, which is easy to forget on freezing Fridays in November.
At Springfield on Wednesday, the players trudged over from the high school to the practice field at 8:30 a.m. First the coaches lined them all up in one vertical line, dividing them into groups of 10 for the first stretches of the day. After that, they rotated through a series of agility drills, jumping over pads, shuffling through them and bouncing their way through the ropes.
At this time last year, coach Rick Robertson was trying to turn two teams (North and South) into one, and his Wildcats rewarded him with some big moments last fall, including a 7-0 upset of Centerville.
Springfield finished 4-6 and 2-3 in the Greater Western Ohio Conference Central Division, tying for fourth in the six-team race.
The defense was dominant at times last year, and it’s the offense where Springfield needs to show the most improvement this year. Quarterback George Walker, a sophomore, will lead the offense.
“It’s nice we don’t have a revolving door,” Robertson said. “George started the last eight games last year, and every day he matured. He’s still just a sophomore, so he does sophomore things every now and then, but he had a pretty good summer, especially throwing the ball in our 7-on-7s.”
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment | Categories: Greater Western Ohio Conference, High School Football, Springfield High School, Training Camp Insider, Videos
OHC boys golf changes title format
Last year, the Ohio Heritage Conference tournament decided both the league champion, and how players earned All-Conference honors.
That won’t be the case in 2009.
The OHC has adopted a points system, similar to the one used in the CBC.
The CBC plays 10 regular matches with each team earning one point for a victory. Those points then carry on to the league tournament, where teams get two points for every team they beat. Those points are then tallied and the team with the most points in each division win their respective titles.
“I’m in favor of it,” said West Liberty-Salem coach Darrin Leichty. “I’ve been an advocate of it since I started coaching. The kids who average well over the course of the season have a better chance to make All-Conference. It gives you a better chance overall.”
Tidbits
- After spending 27 years coaching at both Catholic Central and North, Mike Ulliman returns to the greens to coach Springfield High School this fall.
He hasn’t coached since he left North after the 1999 season.
“I enjoy (coaching),” Ulliman said. “I’m retired now. I did it for so many years. I had a lot of good players over the years. It’ll be a fun year and hopefully they learn a lot. We’re learning a lot about etiquette and course management.”
- Derek Cobb will be the No. 1 player at Urbana this fall. The Hillclimbers finished 0-14 last season, but Coach Jay Keely is optimistic his team can bounce back this fall.
“We’re going to be better based on two factors: We got a lot of experience last season and the other teams lost a lot to graduation,” Keely said. “At the end of last year, we were getting three low scores every match. The key will be getting some other low scores to go with them. I’m pleased with what I see so far.”
- Mechanicsburg returns four of its top six golfers, but lost No. 1 Allan Swords to graduation. Garrett McMahill and Jacob DeLay will provide a one-two punch at the top for the Indians.
“We’re hoping to continue to make improvements and our goal is to finish above .500 and in the top half of the OHC,” said fourth-year coach Curt Cunningham.
- Freshman Jordan Reese will be the No. 1 man at Cedarville this fall. Cedarville coach Todd Shuttleworth said Reese has been shooting under 40 in practice.
“He’s going to be a good one,” Shuttleworth said.
Freshman Mitchell Grimone will be the top player at Catholic Central this fall, when he’s not playing football.
Emmanuel Christian will join Yellow Springs in the Metro Buckeye Conference this fall.
Yellow Springs’ top player, Carl Weiner, returns this fall.
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment | Categories: Catholic Central High School, Cedarville High School, Central Buckeye Conference, Emmanuel Christian High School, Mechanicsburg High School, Ohio Heritage Conference, Prep Golf, Springfield High School, Urbana High School, West Liberty-Salem High School, Yellow Springs High School
Greenon boys golf ready for big 2009
2008 was a big year for the Greenon High School golf team.
The Knights won their first-ever Central Buckeye Conference Mad River Divsion title, completed their first unbeaten regular season and qualified to the D-II Districts for the first time in school history.
“It was a year of firsts,” said eighth-year coach Steve Norris.
Greenon is hoping for even bigger things this season, returning five of their top six golfers from last year, including Dylan Anderson (38.5 stroke average), Zach Gerlach (39.6) and Chad Gerlach (40.3).
The Knights have ramped up their schedule this season with hopes of performing well in both the CBC and Clark County tournament.
“We want to win our division, but we want to be one of the top teams in the county,” Norris said. “We want to win the County tournament. Even though we’re in the small division, we can compete with the big schools.”
This year, they’ll face both Tippecanoe and Tecumseh in CBC crossover division dual matches. Norris also said Kenton Ridge, Shawnee and Northeastern will be tough in Clark County.
“It’s a strong county when it comes to high school golf,” Norris said.
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment | Categories: Central Buckeye Conference, Greenon High School, Prep Golf
KR boys golf looks to repeat on success
The Kenton Ridge High School boys golf team won the CBC title last season, thanks to strong performances from its senior class.
Chris Reed, Randon McNeil, Jeff Nickels and Kyle Hickman lead the Cougars on the course, but all four graduated in the spring.
“We lost a lot of talent,” said KR coach Chris White.
But that won’t stop White from having big expectations for this fall.
“I expect to be right where we were last year,” White said. “The guys I’ve got coming back have put in a lot of work to carry on the momentum we had last year. These guys were part of that and they want to continue it and be a part of their own team. We’ve got a real good chance.”
Seniors Zach Zink, Tony Delledonne and Chris Via and sophomores Clay Portz and Luke Schlicher should be in the Cougars’ top-five players.
Juniors Kyle Powell and Meric Curlis, sophomores Ben Perkins and Hunter Clark and freshmen Dylan Mason and Brandon McDuffie are also members of the Cougars’ squad.
White said the top-6 positions will be decided on a match-to-match basis.
“I’ve got 6 and I’ll let those six decide who they want to play with,” White said. “I get better results from them if I’ve got a twosome that likes to play together and help each other.”
That doesn’t mean there won’t be pressure on his entire team to perform. The Cougars’ junior varsity squad hasn’t lost in four years, tallying a 48-match win streak.
“That’s evident by how good the varsity has become since we’ve been here,” White said. “It’s those guys getting better each year and moving up.”
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KR grad Downs featured on cover of Eastern Michigan football media guide
Kenton Ridge High School graduate Brandon Downs has been featured on the cover of the Eastern Michigan University football media guide for 2009.
Downs, a 6-1, 246-pound defensive lineman, (No. 17, far right in picture) played in all 12 games last season, earning 11 starts. He tallied 15 solo tackles and 15 assisted tackles for 30 on the year. His best game came against Akron on Oct. 18, where he recorded six tackles.
Downs began his career as a tight end and moved to the defensive side of the ball in 2007.
The Eagles went 3-9 and 2-6 in the Mid-American Conference last season, but have a new coach in Ron English.
They’ll face a tough non-conference in 2009 with trips to Big Ten foes Northwestern (Sept. 12) and Michigan (Sept. 19), and Southeastern Conference opponent Arkansas (Oct. 31).
Eastern Michigan opens the season on Sept. 5 at home against Army.
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment | Categories: College Football, Kenton Ridge High School, Mid-American Conference
