Sidelines: Cross country league titles to be decided on Saturday
10/11/2007Cross country teams begin their push toward the state meet this weekend as a number of league championship races are held Saturday.
The City League meet will be run at Ottawa Park Golf Course, with the open races preceding the girls varsity race at 10 a.m. and the boys varsity race at
10:45 a.m.
Notre Dame will look to claim its sixth straight title in the girls race. The Eagles are led by senior Monica Guisfredi, who has won the individual title the last two years.
In the boys race, St. John's Jesuit has won three straight titles. The Titans, top-ranked in the Division I state poll, are led by senior Joe Miller, who set a meet record in winning last year's individual crown.
The Northern Lakes League championship will be run on the Bowling Green State University athletic fields Saturday. The girls varsity race starts at 2:50 p.m., followed by the boys race at
3:30 p.m.
Maumee's Bo Waggoner and Christy Titus of Bowling Green each won the previous four individual titles. Waggoner now runs for Duke, while Titus is at Boston College.
The top returnees from last year's boys race are Nick Esbin and Jacob Barnes of Northview, as well as Kyle Fitzpatrick of Southview.
On the girls side, Shannon Titus, Christy's sister, finished fifth last season and is unbeaten in NLL competition this fall. Her top competition should come from Alixe Korshack of Southview, Nicole Mangas of Northview and Andrea Alt of Perrysburg.
The team races have been dominated in recent seasons by the Northview boys and Bowling Green girls.
Northview's boys went 7-0 in NLL dual meets this season, while Southview girls were unbeaten in league races.
The Eastwood boys and the Lakota girls are the defending champions in the Suburban Lakes League, which will hold its race Saturday at Walsh Park in Fremont. The girls varsity race will be run beginning at 10:40 a.m., followed by the boys varsity race at noon.
Both teams are among the favorites to win again this season. Despite the loss of two-time individual champ Corey Johnson, the Eagles have used depth to win two of the previous three boys titles. And the Lakota girls, led by defending champ Carly Reese, are ranked seventh in Division III.
Two state-ranked teams are among the favorites in the Northwest Ohio Athletic League race, which will be held Saturday at Deshler Airport. The girls race will start at 10 a.m., with the boys race immediately following the girls.
Wauseon is heavily favored to claim its fourth consecutive girls crown. The Indians, currently ranked 10th in D-II, are led by two-time individual champ Holly Baird and four other runners who finished in the top 10 last season (Lexie Baird, Amy Stutzman, Abby Overhulse and Jessica Jones).
The boys race is expected to be a close battle between Bryan and Delta. Bryan is the defending champion and winner in 11 of the previous 14 seasons. Delta is ranked fifth D-III and is led by defending individual champion Nick Thomas.
Toledo Christian will look to defend its Toledo Area Athletic Conference boys and girls titles Saturday at the championship meet at Maumee Bay State Park.
The Eagle boys, ranked fourth in D-III, will look to earn their fourth straight league title in a race that will start at 11:30 a.m.
On the girls' side, Emmanuel Christian's Sara Armstrong will try to claim her fourth consecutive individual crown in a race beginning at 11 a.m.
Torey Brummett of Cardinal Stritch will look to continue his fine season at the Division III state golf tournament this weekend.
Also qualifying were Zach Erb, a junior from Stryker, as well as teams from Fremont St. Joseph and Liberty-Benton.
Competition will be at Ohio State's Scarlet Course with 18 holes tomorrow and 18 on Saturday.
Brummett, a junior, won his second consecutive Toledo Area Athletic Conference title this season. He then shot a 73 to advance out of the Green Hills sectional, followed by a 73 to finish second at the district at Stone Ridge.
"Getting to the state tournament was one of my goals this year," Brummett said. "I've worked hard on my game this year.
"I'm hitting more fairways and more greens, and my putting is probably the best it's even been. It's really saved me a ton of strokes this year, and I've been able to make a lot of birdies."
The Division II tournament will be held on OSU's Gray Course this weekend.
Next weekend the Division I and boys and girls tournaments will be played on the Scarlet and Gray courses, respectively.
Central Catholic senior Sharise Calhoun verbally committed to play basketball at Oakland University last week, according to coach Steve Pfahler.
Calhoun is a guard who last season averaged 11.7 points per game, while adding 3.5 rebounds and 3.0 assists per contest.
"Sharise is probably the quickest kid I've ever coached, with great quickness both laterally and forward and back," Pfahler said. "She has an extra gear most kids just don't have."
Lakota wrapped up the Suburban Lakes League volleyball title with a five-game victory over Otsego last week.
Despite a loss Tuesday to Genoa, the Raiders are 14-1 overall and 12-1 in the SLL.
The Northwest Ohio Athletic League volleyball crown will be decided tonight in Archbold as the Blue Streaks host Evergreen. Both teams enter this contest with 6-0 league records.
It will be a rematch of last year, when the Vikings won on their home floor in the final league contest of the season to win a share of their third NWOAL crown since 2002. Archbold is looking for its 19th league title.