SIDELINES
Perrysburg girls race to 2nd place at Tiffin Carnival
9/11/2013The Perrysburg girls cross country team won its first two invitationals of the season and followed those up with another strong performance Saturday at the highly regarded Tiffin Carnival.
The Yellow Jackets finished second in the Division I-A race at Hedges-Boyer Park with four runners clocking in among the top 27.
“We are off to a great start with high hopes for the season,” Perrysburg coach Jon Monheim said.
Perrysburg won the Norm Bray Memorial Invitational in Fremont on Aug. 25. Senior Taylor Monheim won the event with a time of 19 minutes, 36.48 seconds. Her senior teammate Courtney Clody was fourth (19:46.87).
The Yellow Jackets then took first at the Mel Brodt Invitational in Bowling Green. Monheim was first at 19:29 and Clody second at 19:36.
Perrysburg was the area’s highest finishing team in the Varsity A races at the Tiffin Carnival.
Clody was 12th in 19:37.03, while Monheim finished 14th (19:44.72). Juniors Jordan Doore and Katie Menke were 25th and 27th, respectively.
Coach Monheim said depth was the key as the Jackets finished one point behind Brunswick with the efforts of Emily Henry (50th), Grace Lahey (57th), and Allie Kemp (79th).
Monheim finished 65th at the state meet last year, while Clody played soccer on an undefeated team that won a state championship.
Coach Monheim said the addition of Clody and Doore (a former volleyball player) have been pivotal.
“In track we won the indoor state meet in the 3200 relay, and in outdoors we were the state runner-up in the same event,” Monheim said. “Three of those four girls (Monheim, Clody, and Doore) have spurred some great excitement in cross country.”
More Tiffin Carnival
Also at the Tiffin Carnival, Clay senior Erin Gyurke raced home with the individual title in the top division (I-A) with a blistering time of 18:31.72. Gyurke placed eighth at state as a junior.
In the girls D-II/III race, Genoa sophomore Carly Gose won with a time of 20:29.41, while Woodmore sophomore Courtney Burner was second (20:37.56).
The Liberty-Benton girls placed the highest as a team, finishing sixth.
In the D-III race, Liberty Center’s Brittany Atkinson won in 18:32.77 as the Tigers won the team title.
Wauseon junior Taylor Vernot was seventh in II-A race at 19:11.34. The Napoleon girls were fifth as a team in the division.
Whitmer sophomore Abbigail Dorn was runner-up in the I-B race at 19:41.67, leading the Panthers to the team title.
Notre Dame’s Stephanie Sherman was third (19:47.39), followed by Findlay’s Emily Stahl (19:53.28) and Southview’s Alexandra Wainstein (19:53.98) in the I-B race.
Among the boys, Woodmore junior Ryan Avers raced home with the title in 17:15.97 in III-B, pacing the Wildcats to a second-place finish.
The Liberty Center boys were fifth in the III-A race.
In the D-II race, Wauseon junior Quintin Reiser was fourth (16:20.96) and Otsego junior Brandon Avers was sixth (16:32.91).
In the D-I B race, Findlay sophomore Isaiah Gaines was fourth (17:01.18) and Bowling Green junior Lucas Overmyer fifth (17:10.72) as the Bobcats placed fourth.
Football
Bedford family
There can be no doubt about the unity of the Bedford football team this season.
Emblazoned on the back of every jersey is the word “FAMILY” instead of players’ names.
Bedford coach Jeff Wood said he came up with the phrase when he took over the program in 2008 as a way to reinforce team unity. In previous seasons, the players wore T-shirts with the phrase.
“It encompasses everything in life,” Wood said. “Family for us is a brotherhood. They will be teammates from now until they come back for reunions.
“It also carries over to the school with those that don’t play football. We want our kids to focus on being a good son and being a good person.”
Bedford has started off with a 2-0 record and a 103-25 scoring edge.
“The kids love them. They want to wear them to school every day,” Wood said. “It makes them feel a part of something.”
Wood said he borrowed the idea from the Air Force football team, which has the words “service” and “freedom” on the backs.
NLL’s rough start
The Northern Lakes League football teams are off to a tough start — all eight teams have a loss.
Defending champion Napoleon (1-1) edged Defiance 33-28 in the opener, but fell to Wauseon 34-21.
Preseason favorite Southview (0-2) has has stumbled out of the gate, falling to St. Francis (21-18) and Central Catholic (35-17).
Perrysburg (1-1) rebounded from a 42-25 loss to Whitmer with a 50-13 rout of Clay. The Yellow Jackets face another stiff test on Friday at Central.
Golf
Kontak rolling
Maumee senior Mitchell Kontak is on pace to repeat as the golfer of the year in the Northern Lakes League.
Kontak has won medalist honors in three of the five 18-hole tournaments he has participated in this fall.
Kontak won the Irish Invitational at Stone Ridge (69), the Cardinal Stritch Invitational at Maumee Bay (74), and the Sylvania Invitational at The Legacy (70).
He tied for the low round at the Panther Invitational at Heather Downs with a 70 but lost the medalist honors in a three-hole playoff.
Kontak, a four-year letter winner, won the NLL tournament last season. This summer he repeated as champ of the Toledo Junior Match Play championships. He also won the 2012 S.P. Jermain match-play championship.
Johnson sets Lake record
Lake junior Ian Johnson set a school record for an 18-hole match with an even-par 70 on Aug. 9 at Lakeland Course in Fostoria.
The old record was held by three golfers, who all shot 72 — Matt Smith (2008), Shawn Conley (2006), and Chuck Barteck (1981).
Soccer
AW boys No. 2 in state
Anthony Wayne (6-0-1) is ranked No. 2 in Division I of the Ohio Scholastic Soccer Coaches Association boys poll.
The Generals finished last season ranked No. 7 when AW was knocked out in the regional semifinal by Southview. The Cougars went on to reach the state final.
St. John’s Jesuit (3-1-1) is ranked 10th in the initial OSSCA poll in D-I. The Titans reached the district semifinals last postseason where they fell to Southview.
Anthony Wayne defeated St. John's 1-0 last Thursday.
Maumee (6-1-0) is the top ranked boys team in Division II at No. 9. The Panthers were in D-I last season and lost in the sectional final to Southview.
In Division III, the Liberty-Benton (4-0-0) boys are No. 8.
In the girls polls, Notre Dame (5-0-1) is ranked ninth.
In D-III, Liberty-Benton (6-0-1) is sixth and Oak Harbor (3-1-1) seventh.
Baseball
Mercy Field a winner
Mercy Field, the home of the Central Catholic and Lourdes University baseball teams, has been selected as a regional winner in the Eight Fields of the Year competition sponsored by the National High School Baseball Coaches Association.
Mercy Field won in the Upper Midwest Region, placing it in the running for the national field of the year, which will be announced in December.
“The award is proof of something we already knew was great,” said Jeff Mielcarek, Central Catholic’s baseball coach and the originator of the idea for the field. “We are blessed with a fantastic facility. We know what we’ve got, and it’s pretty awesome.”
Contact Mark Monroe at: mmonroe@theblade.com, 419-724-6354 or on Twitter @MonroeBlade.