SPORTS

Coach Martin, volleyball players receive honors

Yellow Springs High School volleyball coach Shirley Martin was voted the Metro Buckeye Conference Coach of the Year by her fellow coaches.

Over the past season, she led the Lady Bulldogs to a 10–2 conference mark, a vast improvement over last year’s record of 3–9. The YSHS varsity team ended in second place in the conference. The team finished its season 15–6.

“I am honored to have the opportunity to work with this group of ladies that had vision and heart,” said Martin, “Never have so few awakened so many.”

Three members of the eight-girl team received post-season honors: Janell Martin and Emma Robinow made First Team All Conference, while Evin Wimberly made the Second Team.

“We’re proud of the turnaround the girls achieved this year,” said YSHS Principal John Gudgel.

Cross country—
Bulldog runners fall short in bid to reach state finals

Twenty-nine schools and 573 runners turned out for the 17th annual John Bryan Invitational on Tuesday, Oct. 15. Unlike the last three years, this year the runners saw clear skies as the race began.

For the Yellow Springs High School boys, David Warren shot out into the lead at the beginning of the race. The rest of the team also gained some leading positions until Carey Dixon suffered a stomach cramp, causing him to fall back significantly. Warren finished in sixth place in 17:31, and Dixon ended up in 35th place with 19:23.

For the YSHS girls, Tina Peters shot out to the front of the pack in the beginning, then fell slightly behind to finally take second place with a season record of 21:38. Tina Chen placed 86th out of 118 finishers.

For the McKinney School boys, Sam Borchers went toe to toe with Matt Wagner of Fergus Junior High, who has been Borchers’s main rival this season. Borchers held the lead for most of the race, but a final sprint in the last stretch by Wagner put Borchers in second place with a final time of 11:08.

Andy Peters and Andy Sontag trailed closely behind. Peters, a seventh grader, finished in 11:56 to take fifth place. Sontag, an eighth grader, was a step behind with 11:58 and sixth place, a new lifetime best for the runner.

Zack Reichert and Matthew Marretta, both eighth graders, were what coach Vince Peters called “the key to the team placing second in this year’s John Bryan Invitational.” Reichert placed 69th with 14:50 and Marretta took 76th in 15:01. These scores brought up the overall ranking of the team to second. Pete Lovering also beat several squads as he placed 115th in 17:39.

The McKinney girls team consisted of only Lara Donnelly and Rosa Dixon. Donnelly took 81st place out of 111 finishers with a time of 18:11. Dixon, a seventh grader, took 31st place with a time of 15:45, narrowly missing the awards, which only went to the top 30 finishers.

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The qualifiers from the YSHS cross country teams met on Saturday, Oct. 19, to compete for a chance to be in the State Championships.

The weather had just begun to clear up when the boys race began. To go on to the state meet, the runners had to finish in the top 16, out of 133 runners. Warren and Dixon ran for the boys, while Tina Peters was the lone girl harrier for YSHS.

With roaring crowds estimated at 2,000 or more, all three finished with upper places but none made the qualifying 16.

Warren, a sophomore, finished closest, with his first mile in 5:26, and completing his run in 47th place in 18:05. Dixon followed with 69th place in 18:32.

In the girls race, Peters was in 25th place at one point but fell behind to finish 54th with 21:59.

“I’m very proud of what our athletes did,” coach Peters said. “All three are underclassmen and will improve by leaps and bounds over what they accomplished last year.”

Youth soccer—
FC Springs splits 2 games

FC Springs split its two games last week in the Miami Valley Youth Soccer Association.

Saturday, Oct. 19, the Springs hit the road for Greeneville to play the Greene-ville DC Crew.

A late first-half goal by Brock Gunder-Kline, on an assist by Alex Turner, put the Springs ahead initially, 1–0. The Crew, however, scored two unanswered goals in the second half to win, 2–1.

Less than 24 hours later, the Springs beat the Warriors S.C. Thunder of Huber Heights, at home, 3–2.

Ben Armstrong opened the game with a fast break goal. Turner got credited with an assist. Fifteen minutes later, the Thunder tied the game on a pass into the penalty box that split the defense and was slipped into the far-post net.

The Springs responded two minutes later, when Turner passed to Gunder-

Kline on the left wing. After beating the defense, GunderKline launched a cross from the left corner that dropped over the keeper’s hands and into the net, giving the Springs a 2–1 lead at the end of the first half.

Less than 60 seconds into the second, the Warriors took advantage of the Springs’ failure to clear the ball out of their end and tied the game again, 2–2.

Two minutes later, Alexis Onfroy-Curley scored the winning goal with an assist from Todd Sheets. Sheets delivered a pass into the top of the penalty box, which Onfroy-Curley reached, just ahead of the Thunder’s fullback, and redirected past the oncoming keeper.

The Springs close out the fall portion of their schedule this weekend with two road games. On Saturday, Oct. 26, the squad travels to Lebanon to take on Thunder United S.C. at 10 a.m., then Sunday, Oct. 27, the Springs take on the Troy Trojans in Troy at 2:30 p.m.

Youth basketball teams sign up

Sign up for the fifth- and sixth-grade youth traveling basketball teams will be held Saturday, Nov. 9, 10 a.m.–noon, on the second floor of the Bryan Community Center.

Playing against schools from the Kenton Trace Conference, Yellow Springs will again field four teams: fifth-grade boys, fifth-grade girls, sixth-grade boys and sixth-grade girls. Fourth graders are also encouraged to try out. Each team will carry a maximum of 12 players.

Open gym play will begin the week of Nov. 11, and official practices will start Sunday, Dec. 1. The season begins the first weekend in January. Games will be played on Saturdays and Sundays through February.

For more information, call the following coaches: fifth-grade boys, Bryon Stubblefield, 767-2902; fifth-grade girls, Rich Miller, 767-2049; sixth-grade boys, Mike Haller, 767-1256; sixth-grade girls, Paul Comstock, 767-9279.

McKinney football season best in years

The McKinney School Bulldogs lost to Riverside, 32–8, in the final game of the season on Thursday, Oct. 17.

Jerrico Stubblefield made the only touchdown for Yellow Springs on an eight-yard run in the fourth quarter, while Josh Foster got the two point conversion on a quick pass.

Despite the loss, coach Craig McCann said, “It was a fun game and it was a great season for us. We look forward to next season and further improvement.”

The squad’s record this year was 2–5, its best showing in a number of years.

Johnston wins John Bryan meet

Members of the Miami Valley Track Club finished one through four at the 17th annual John Bryan Invitational Open Race on Tuesday, Oct. 15.

Dave Johnston, the YSHS assistant cross country coach, took first place for the fourth year in a row. He sped around the two mile course in 10:18. Following behind was YSHS alum Grant Scott, in 10:45. Third place went to Kenn Dailey, in 11:02, while Dave Bailey completed the MVTC sweep with fourth place in 11:16.

A few YSHS students competed as well. Christian Periera placed 30th in 13:39, which, along with his race with the high school students, totaled up to five miles of racing in one day. Alice Schilz placed 46th in 18:59.

Two Mills Lawn Elementary students also ran in their first ever cross country races. Third graders Miranda Russell and Alexandra Beer placed 42nd and 48th overall. Among the women and girls, Russell was second with 17:46 and Beer was 11th place with a 14:47 posting.

The mother-son team of Kenta and Kumi Nolin ran together. Kenta, 12, was 33rd overall at 14:47 and his mother was third in the women’s race at 15:28.

On Saturday, Oct. 5, Dave Johnston placed third overall out of 1,100 finishers at the Minster Oktoberfest 10 Kilometer Race. His time was 32:02, winning him a cash prize and a medal of honor.

Placing 20th overall but first in the 45–49 age group, Dave LaPalombara finished with a 35:33 posting. Dave Bailey took 26th overall with 36:31 and placed second in the 30–34 age group.

Boys soccer team advances to Division III district finals

The Yellow Springs boys varsity soccer team defeated Greeneview in a dramatic shoot out, 2–0, Tuesday, Oct. 22, at Greene-view, in Division III, Dayton 2 tournament play.

The Bulldogs advanced to the district finals, where they will travel to play the defending Division III champions Springfield Catholic Central, Saturday, Oct. 26, at 7 p.m.

After YSHS and Greeneview played two scoreless overtime periods, Bulldogs Nic Huneck and Aaron Zagory scored the goals in a penalty-kick shoot out.

Goalie Matt Phillips stopped three Greenview penalty kicks to secure the win for YSHS, which improved its record to 14–0–1.

The Bulldogs opened tournament play by shutting out the West Liberty Salem Tigers, Saturday, Oct. 19, in the Division III districts.

Seventeen minutes into the match on the Bulldogs’ home turf against the Tigers, Duncan Silvert-Noftle was tripped inside the Tigers’ penalty box, drawing a penalty kick. Silvert-Noftle delivered a kick to the back of the nets, putting the Bulldogs up 1–0. Silvert-Noftle has not missed a penalty kick this year.

Ten minutes before the half, Rory Hotaling finessed his way through the center of the Tigers’ defense and delivered the ball to Silvert-Noftle on the left side of the box. Silvert-Noftle then beat the West Liberty players trying to cover him and set up Noah Woodburn for the goal on an unmarked goal mouth. Woodburn sent his shot ripping across the grain into the near post netting to give the Bulldogs a 2–0 lead at the half.

Twelve minutes into the second half, Silvert-Noftle crossed the ball from the right side to Anthony Brandon in front of the goal. Brandon’s shot on goal was powerful enough to cause the goal-tender to lose his grip, dropping the ball. Waiting beside the keeper, Woodburn picked up the rebound for the final goal of the night.

Phillips chalked up his sixth shutout of the season with help from the defensive lineup of Zagory, John Grubbs, Michael Hosket, Brandon Frye and David Suzel. Scott Keyes, Huneck, Martin Bakari and Matt Wallace held down the midfield. Assisting in the Bulldogs offensive attack were forwards Mike Mucher and Cody Johnson.

Go Bulldogs!