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May 5, 2005
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May 5, 2005 |
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sports
Bulldog sports roundup Peters wins two for girls track With six first-place finishes, the YSHS boys team placed third with 77 points. Bethel came in first with 129 points, followed by Jefferson with 105. Stebbins had 34 and Stivers 13. The YSHS team of Brad Benning-Clark, David Warren, Evan Gerthoffer and Sam Borchers easily won the 3200 relay in 8:52.4. Matt Hull, Warren, Borchers and Benning-Clark won the 1600 relay in 3:50.6. Benning-Clark also had a great day, winning the 300 hurdles in 42.6 and the high jump, with a leap of five feet 10 inches. Warren placed first in the 800 in 2:08.1, and Borchers won the 400 in 53.3. Andy Peters finished second in the mile run in 5:01.2, and John Pamplin placed second in the discus with a toss of 118 feet nine inches. Third-place finishes went to Issa Walker in the high jump and the 800 relay team of Caleb Keller-Pitstick, Ron Cobb, Jacquan Brewton and Keith Brewton. Anthony Carter placed fourth in the long jump, while Keller-Pitstick was fourth in the 110 hurdles. On Friday, April 29, three members of the boys team competed against the top Division I teams in Southwest Ohio at the prestigious Wayne Warrior Invitational. Benning-Clark finished fifth in high jump with a leap of 5 feet 10 inches. In the 1600, Borchers ran a personal best 4:34.9 in the mile to finish seventh, followed by Warren who ran a personal best time of 4:45.2 to place 13th. Tennis team win streak snapped Playing against a Cedarville team that had beaten the Bulldogs earlier in the year, Carey Dixon pulled out a tough first singles match, 6–2, 4–6, 7–6 (7–4). Mori Rothman was soundly defeated 6–4, 6–0 against a strong opponent, but Jesse Rothman won his match with a double bagel. Duncan Silvert-Noftle and Scott Keyes breezed through straight sets, dropping only four games, while Nick Rittenhouse and Erin Silvert-Noftle had an equally easy straight set win. In reserves Emile Fleming and Alex Turner won, 6–2, 5–3, while Stephanie Goode and Laura Garcia tied a pro set. The match against Northeastern came down to third singles. Jesse Rothman, previously undefeated and playing a Ram he beat in early April, had a good chance of winning. Serving for the first set up 6–5, Rothman’s tentative play cost him the next game and two set points in the tie break, which he lost, 13–11. Unforced errors cost him in the second set, 6–3. At first singles, Dixon was outmatched, 6–1, 6–0. Mori Rothman lost, 6–3, 6–2, at second singles. The first doubles team of Silvert-Noftle and Rittenhouse won, 6–0, in the first set, but changed to an “I” formation and promptly lost the second, 2–6. Reverting to convention, the doubles team took the third set, 6–3. Keyes and Turner won a second doubles, 6–1, 6–0. Garcia won a reserve singles set 6–2, while Goode lost 4–6. Against Greenview (13–1), the Bulldogs easily took their singles matches. Silvert-Noftle won at first singles, 6–2, 6–3, Dixon won at second in 45 minutes, dropping only three games. Jesse Rothman, having learned at Northeastern to play his own game, handily won third singles with long, confident ground strokes. Keyes and Mori Rothman won first doubles, 6–2, 6–5. Rittenhouse and Paia LaPalombara lost at second doubles, 6–1, 6–3. Baseball team loses three Against Xenia, the Bulldogs took an early 1–0 lead on a Kilan Brown single. But the roof caved in in the third inning, when 5 Bulldog errors led to 11 runs. At Troy, the ’Dogs’ highlight came in the fourth when hits by Brown, Kyle Truitt and Clayton Wolfe scored a run. On the road against Southeastern, some questionable base running cost the Bulldogs’ several scoring opportunities. Highlights of the game included scoreless relief pitching by Jake Fulton and Cody Johnson. Truitt had 2 hits, and Alex Wambaugh hit a double. Softball team goes 1–2 The Lady Bulldogs put together an outstanding game in their win over Xenia. Bailey Linse had 2 singles, Jennifer Smith had 2 singles and a double, Megan Burrick had 1 single and 2 doubles, Lauren Miles had 3 singles and Elizabeth Winters and Olivia Dixon each had a single. Miles was the winning pitcher. Outstanding defensive efforts came from Miles, Smith, Burrick and Aiysha Walker. The team was forced to play its second game against Xenia at half roster due to illness and absence. Many players came off of the bench to play a good offensive game. Miles, Linse, Brittany Butler, Aiysha Walker and Olivia Dixon each had a single and double. Against Troy, Yellow Springs again played without a full roster. Linse pitched a tough game, and was aided by the strong defensive effort of catcher Jennifer Smith. The defense had a difficult time containing Troy Christian’s offense. Girls basketball coach told she will not return to team When Yellow Springs High School girls basketball coach Shirley Cummins received a letter from the school last month informing her that her services were no longer needed, she was shocked and hurt, she said. She said she had been given no indication by the administration that when the team’s 10–10 season ended in March that it would be her last. But according to several of the team’s players, throughout the season at least four to five meetings between Cummins, the team and YSHS Principal John Gudgel were held to discuss an ongoing conflict between the coach and the players. Cummins was not able to motivate the team, they said, and midway through the season, some of the players were initiating their own practices, separate from the rest of the squad. Cummins, a Warren Middle School teacher and sports lover, said she was committed to improving her team’s record and turning the girls program into a “serious” sport. The girls basketball coach for the past two years at YSHS, Cummins has coached basketball, volleyball, softball and track at the Yellow Springs and Warren schools since the mid-1980s and invests personally in trying to make girls sports something to get excited about, she said. Cummins said that the complaints cited in her dismissal letter — not holding basketball clinics, camps and preseason conditioning, not reporting scores to the media and not recruiting or retaining enough players to the basketball program — were false. She said the complaints were used as an “excuse” by the school to legitimize her removal and appease the team members who were disappointed with the way the season went. According to Cummins, when she tried to contact the school to discuss her concerns, Gudgel did not return her messages. YSHS athletic director Chris Rainey declined to comment to the News on what he called a personnel matter, and Gudgel also did not return calls seeking comment. Cummins brought her concerns to the Yellow Springs school board April 14, and though the board agreed to hear her, they agreed to hold their comments for a future executive session. The team’s main concern about Cummins was that she was ineffective in motivating the players to do well, both senior Evin Wimberly and sophomore Carly Bailey said. Cummins often compared the girls team to the boys team, and used negative statements to try to pump them up, Wimberly said. The girls resented her coaching style and instead of feeling motivated, many of the girls were dragged down, Bailey said. “The bottom line was it wasn’t fun anymore, and there’s no point in doing it if none of us are enjoying it,” Bailey said. Sophomore Alisha Lucas said the team was divided about the coach, noting that she herself had mixed feelings. She disagreed with the school’s accusations, saying that Cummins organized summer programs and spent a lot of energy trying to improve the team. But Lucas also said that Cummins was unresponsive to team members’ complaints that her practices were ineffective and inconsistent. The coach was not open to her players’ suggestions, and team members eventually felt she was unapproachable, she said. Still, Lucas disagreed with the way the school handled the dismissal by not responding to Cummins’s concerns. It was not necessarily fair that Cummins was let go because of the players’ complaints, she said. George Yelton, parent of player Jesse Yelton and the team’s volunteer bookkeeper, said it was unfair that the school let Cummins go because of the whims of some of the players and their parents. Cummins ran a tough program to make tough players in order to create a strong team, he said. Yelton said that the girls team has a chance of winning the Metro Buckeye Conference next year, but they need someone like Cummins to push the program forward, he said. “They’re not boys or girls, they’re athletes, and they have to behave like athletes and do what the coach says,” he said. “The boys teams are taken more seriously because they’re treated more seriously, but some of the girls don’t want to have anything to do with that.” But parent Chris Bailey, who also thinks the girls team has talent and the opportunity to win, thinks that the team needs a change. The players need someone who can be effective in motivating them to rise to their potential, he said. “What they need is someone who can motivate them, make them want to go to practice. That’s key, you gotta have that,” he said. “The team’s ready for a change. They could win the Metro Conference next year with no trouble at all.”
Boys hoops open gym Open gym for boys basketball is being held now through May 29 at Yellow Springs High School. For players in 5th–8th grades, playing times are Tuesdays, 6–8 p.m., and Saturdays, 4–6 p.m. For players in 9th–12th grades, playing times are Tuesdays, 8–9:30 p.m., Thursdays, 6–8 p.m., and Sundays, 3–6 p.m.
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