Sidelines: Southview QB Pidcock heading to Bowling Green
2/26/2009Southview quarterback Alex Pidcock recently decided he will accept Bowling Green State University's offer to join the football program as a preferred walk-on.
Pidcock, who led the Cougars to an undefeated season and the Division II state championship, accepted the offer from BGSU over the same kind of offer from the University of Toledo.
"It's a little further away from home, but the coaches at both schools were really nice," said Pidcock, who passed for 20 touchdowns without throwing an interception during the regular season. "They said if I work really hard I'd have a decent shot at a scholarship by my junior and senior years.
"I'm just going to go and work hard and prove that I deserved a scholarship."
Pidcock, 6-foot-2 and 220 pounds, directed the Cougars to a 15-0 record. He passed for 1,723 yards while completing 79 of 106 passes during the 10-game regular season while also rushing for 895 yards on 103 carries and 15 TDs.
Pidcock also considered Youngstown State and Findlay.
All of Southview's players and coaches recently received championship rings to commemorate their season
Southview athletic director Glen Gillespie said the school's boosters paid for the rings that cost a total of about $8,000.
Other school officials who were interested in receiving the team championship ring, like Gillespie, paid for their own memorable merchandise.
Dave Connelly recently decided to step down as Sprinfield's football coach after three seasons.
The Blue Devils, led by Blade player-of-the-year Eric Page, finished 6-4 last season.
In Connelly's three seasons, Springfield went 11-19.
Springfield athletic director Robb Brown said Connelly stepped down to spend more time with his family.
Brown said having a new coach by April 1 would be ideal.
The state swimming and diving championships began yesterday with the Division II diving at Branin Natatorium in Canton. The competition continues with Division I diving today before the swimmers hit the water tomorrow and Saturday.
One of the major changes in the tournament format is a switch to holding preliminaries on Friday in both divisions, with the championship races set for Saturday.
The Division II meets begin at 9 a.m. on both days, with the Division I to start at 5 p.m.
The other major change was the addition of Division II for boys, giving Ohio two divisions in both boys and girls.
One local swimmer to watch is St. Francis de Sales senior Roman Willets, who posted the fifth-best time in state history in winning the 100-yard freestyle at the district.
Willets shattered the previous district record by more than a second with a time of 44.91 and has the second-fastest time in the state.
"He posted the fifth fastest time in Ohio ever by any swimmer," St. Francis coach Keith Kennedy said.
Willets also set a district record in the 200 free. His time of 1:39.37 bested the mark he had established last year and is two full seconds faster than any other qualifier in this year's state meet.
In the Division I girls race, Notre Dame freshman Rachel Dzierzak has the second-fastest qualifying time in the 100 breaststroke (1:04.36).
Napoleon's Samantha Zuch has the fastest qualifying time in the 200 free (1:49.65) and the 500 free (4:56.72). A junior, Zuch finished second in both the 100 free (1:51.97) and the 200 free (52.14) last year.
Area wrestlers will look to earn berths in the state tournament by finishing in the top four at three district tournaments this weekend.
The Division I district will be held at Mentor, a Cleveland suburb, starting at 5 p.m. tomorrow. It continues Saturday at 9 a.m., with the finals scheduled at 7 p.m.
Fostoria will host the D-II district starting tomorrow at 4 p.m., with the semifinal rounds beginning at 10 a.m. Saturday, with finals at 6 p.m.
The D-III district will be held Owens Community College starting tomorrow at 4 p.m. It continues Saturday at 10 a.m., with the finals at 5 p.m.
Swanton's Paige Onweller set a Northwest Ohio Athletic League record for career 3-pointers in league contests.
The senior has hit 46 3-pointers, one more than Katie Griggs of Wauseon, who collected from 1995-98.
Several area teams will compete in the district tournament held at Westgate Lanes in Lima this weekend.
The boys begin at 5 p.m. tomorrow, while the girls start at 1 p.m. on Saturday.
Among the boys teams who qualified for the district are Fostoria and Eastwood, who finished first and third, respectively, at the sectional held at Seneca Lanes in Fostoria. Shawn Wedge led the Redmen by rolling 212-191-182 for a 585 series.
Among the individuals who advanced to the district from Seneca Lanes were Ron Norris of Lakota, who finished with a 560 series; Kodie Stout of Fremont Ross (541) and Stephen Burns of New Riegel (536).
Host Napoleon won the sectional at River City Lanes, with a team total of 4030 to beat second-place Bowling Green by 90 pins. Defiance (3804), Perrysburg (3750), Patrick Henry (3680) and Rossford (3654) also qualified for the district.
Cory West of Napoleon won the sectional title with games of 230-201-220 for a 651 series.
Individuals who will advance to Lima are Zack Wilson of Evergreen (611), Paul Miles of Springfield (587), teammates Zack Neal (561) and Brent Lumbrezer (546) of Swanton, Josh Destatte of Maumee (549) and Dylan Hall of Tinora (545).
On the girls side, Eastwood also advanced from the Fostoria sectional thanks to a third-place 3280 team score. Mallory Fritz led the Eagles with a 138-181-174-493.
Carlie Laird of Fremont Ross also advanced with a 460.
The Napoleon girls also won at their home center with a 3482, 25 more than Patrick Henry. The Patriots' Ariel Kinder won the section title with 203-223-200-626.
Other teams that advanced are Wauseon (3367), Bowling Green (3249), Evergreen (3234) and Delta (3174).
Rossford teammates Danielle Bunde (551) and Sara Jensen (546) advanced to the district along with Katie Gerken of Defiance (518), Swanton's Sara Ruiz (510) and Tinora teammates Christy Birks (472) and Lisa Engel (471).
Rogers senior Erik Kynard is the defending Nike Indoor Nationals high jump champion.
A successful defense of the championship is Kynard's goal for finishing out the indoor season in his final year of high school. He was the only competitor in last year's competition to clear 7 feet and won with a jump of 7- 1/4.
Kynard, who recently signed a letter of intent to attend Kansas State, will compete at March 13-15 in Boston.
The 6-foot-5 Kynard has already scaled seven feet twice during this indoor season with a season-best effort of 7-2 1/2. He has also spent time working on running the hurdles events.
A year ago, winning the Nike championship proved to be one of numerous highlights in a memorable junior year. Earlier in the indoor season, he cleared 7-3 3/4 for a personal record to win a meet competition and also qualify for the 2008 United States Olympic Trials held last summer in Eurgene, Ore. He cleared 7- 1/2 feet at the trials before getting eliminated after failing to clear 7-2 1/2.
He also claimed the Ohio
Division I state championship.