Sidelines: Woodmore s Pendleton sets Ohio record in discus

5/10/2007

Woodmore s Emily Pendleton had already proven she was Ohio s best Division III discus thrower in each of the last three years.

A three-time state champion, Pendleton recently became Ohio s all-time best discus thrower in any division.

The Woodmore senior produced a personal-best throw of 183 feet, 3 inches on Saturday to win the competition at the Oak Harbor Invitational.

Her toss, which came on her final throw of the day, eclipsed the state record by more than six feet. Westerville s Krista Keirestablished the mark of 176-5 back in 1997.

It is also the top throw in the nation this season.

I m very, very excited, Pendleton said. It was an awesome day and an awesome throw.

Woodmore assistant track coach Mike Pendleton, who is also Emily s father, ranked her latest feat as one of the happiest moments of his life.

With the throw of 183-3, she established herself as the girls distance champion in state history, Mike Pendleton said. That s a huge thing to accomplish.

Pendleton entered her senior year having won the Suburban Lakes League, district, regional and state championships three years in a row.

Heading into the SLL meet on Saturday at Gibsonburg, she s focusing on a sweep of titles to end her high school career.

Pendleton is motivated to break the national record of 188-4 set in 1994 by Suzy Powell of Modesto, Calif.

I love challenges and I m up for the challenge, said Pendleton, who will compete at the University of Michigan.

Mike, who has served as Emily s throwing coach since before high school, considers the next four weeks as an opportunity of a lifetime for his daughter.

That national record is a long ways out there but it s possible, he said. If she goes another 5 feet, 2 inches of her best, it ll only give me a little more paperwork to have to fill out.

Mike said Emily remains a typical teenager despite all the track success. After her record toss on Saturday, she had other things on her mind.

She was worried about the prom that was later that day, the elder Pendleton said. She had a hair appointment at 3:30 and she was ready to move on.

St. John s standout diver David Colturi continued to add to his impressive resume last weekend.

Colturi won the 1-meter diving event at the prestigious Junior East Spring National Championships on Sunday in Coral Springs, Fla.

He beat 30 competitors and earned the opportunity to represent the United States at the British Elite Junior Nationals later this month in Sheffield, England.

This was definitely really cool, Colturi said. This is the first national championship I have ever won. It was a cool experience.

Colturi also finished second in the 3-meter at the USA Diving event and will be one of four male divers ages 16-18 that will compete against European teams May 29-June 1.

In February, Colturi won a Division I state title in the 1-meter by a comfortable margin.

It all came together at the right time, he said.

But Colturi s strongest event is the 10-meter platform and he hopes to represent the U.S. in the 2012 Olympic Games.

Colturi, a senior, accepted a full ride scholarship to Purdue University last winter. The 18-year-old Sylvania resident has won more than 20 titles.

League track championships throughout northwest Ohio will be settled tomorrow and Saturday.

In the City League meet at Rogers, which was scheduled to begin with preliminaries yesterday, the Whitmer boys and the Bowsher girls attempt to defend their respective team titles from a year ago. Field event finals begin tomorrow at 4:30 p.m. and the running finals start at 5 p.m.

Anthony Wayne attempts to repeat boys and girls team crowns tomorrow in the Northern Lakes League meet, which is set for Maumee. Field events begin at 4:30 p.m., and the running finals start at 7 p.m.

Eastwood s boys and girls each look to extend their string of Suburban Lakes League team titles to seven in a row Saturday at Gibsonburg. Preliminaries begin at 10 a.m., and the finals start at 12:30 p.m.

In the Northwest Ohio Athletic League meet, which opened with field events and prelims on Tuesday at Bryan, the Delta boys and Wauseon girls are defending champions. The meet resumes tomorrow at 5:30 p.m. Delta s win last year was its first boys title in 23 years. The Wauseon girls hadn t won since 1995.

Northwood is the site for the Toledo Area Athletic Conference track meet, which kicks off tomorrow at 4 p.m. Toledo Christian s boys and girls are each defending team champions.

The Sandusky Bay Conference meet at Sandusky Perkins is set for Saturday at 10 a.m. Perkins is the defending champion in both boys and girls.

The Midland Athletic League meet will be at 10 a.m. Saturday at Fostoria High School. Hopewell-Loudon is the defending boys champion. Carey is the defending girls champ.

Nick Meinert of St. Francis de Sales is scheduled to sign a letter of intent today to play basketball at Hillsdale College.

Meinert, who was named to the All-Blade basketball team, averaged 17.8 points this past season for the Knights.

The field is set for Saturday s City League softball playoffs. The only thing that remains unknown is the semifinal matchups at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. at the University of Toledo s Scott Park diamond.

As the 11-game league schedule is concluded today and tomorrow, barring weather cancellations, St. Ursula has a 9-1 CL mark, with the Arrows only loss coming against Start. SUA concludes CL play against Notre Dame.

Defending champion Clay (8-1) had its only CL loss against St. Ursula, and the Eagles have league games remaining against Whitmer and Central Catholic.

The third team with just one CL loss is Whitmer (8-1).

Start (7-2) had league losses against Clay and Whitmer, and concludes its CL schedule with games against Libbey and Scott.

Catcher Katie Bowman and middle infielder Erin Lein of the Start softball team have each made their college choices.

Bowman has verbally committed to play at Defiance College and Lein has committed to Urbana College.

The Toledo Area Lacrosse Association City Championships will be held this weekend.

St. Francis will play Bedford at 5:30 tomorrow at Pacesetter, followed by Perrysburg vs. Anthony Wayne/Glass City at 7:15.

The St. Francis-Bedford winner will advance to play Sylvania at 1 p.m. Saturday in the semifinals. at Stadium Field The Perrysburg-AW/Glass City winner will meet St. John s at 3 p.m. in the other semifinal.

The championship will be played at Stadium Field at 3 p.m. Sunday.

Not only will the Michigan high school volleyball season switch from its traditional winter season into the fall beginning with the 2007-08 school year, but the site of the volleyball state semifinals and finals will change as well.

Kellogg Arena in Battle Creek, Mich., will play host to the 2007 state tournament, which is set for Nov. 15-17. The arena can hold 4,675 spectators in a volleyball configuration.

University Arena, on campus at Western Michigan University, had been the home of the Michigan state semifinals and finals since 1997.