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June 9, 2005
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June 9, 2005 |
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sports
Following a well-tested strategy Borchers wins state title in 1600 Sam Borchers was running on autopilot. Instead of thinking, he spent most of the 1600-meter race keeping an eye on the 14 other competitors as they ran four times around the Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium track at Ohio State. By the start of the 1600 finals on Saturday in the Division III state track and field championship, he had mastered a simple strategy: to stay close to the front of the pack of other runners through the race’s first three laps, then take off on the fourth and final lap. He had used the same approach in his previous two meets, the district and regional championships, and had spent the last seven days before the finals going over this approach. He had been training for months for this race. He knew what to do. As Borchers neared the end of the third lap, the strategy that he had devised with coaches Vince Peters and David Johnston came into play: he remembered that it was time to take off. A sophomore at Yellow Springs High School, Borchers went into his kick, taking the lead with about 200 meters left in the third lap. He sprinted around the track during the final lap, leaving behind his competitors and winning the 1600, becoming the first athlete from YSHS to win a state track title since 1997 when Andrew Pierce won the 400-meter dash and led the Bulldogs to their seventh team championship. Borchers finished in 4:17.55, just over two seconds ahead of Heath Armstrong, a junior from Gorham Fayette, and over three seconds in front of Andy Morgan, a sophomore from Cortland Maplewood. Peters said that Borchers ran an “extremely smart race.” “He was patient, he didn’t let the bumping and shoving that was going on bother him,” Peters said. And with 800 meters left in the race, Peters said, “he didn’t sit, he got going.” The coaches were able to “mesh” Borchers’s strengths with his competitors, Peters said. “And Sam was…able to execute it and put his own experiences to work and won,” the coach said. A more meaningful victory Yet Borchers said that his title is not his most significant accomplishment from the track and field championship. Placing fourth as part of the YSHS 3200 relay team, he said, “was a bigger deal and is something I will cherish more because it was a team” victory. The relay squad, which also included seniors David Warren and Jeremy Upton and sophomore Evan Gerthoffer, ran on Friday, finishing in 8:08.10. The time set a new school record, beating the previous record of 8:10.30, which was established in 1993, also in the state championship. YSHS coach John Gudgel said the 2005 relay team’s race at the championship was its best this year. Warren Lordstown won the 3200 relay in 7:59.75, ahead of Maria Stein Marion Local and Gates Mills Gilmour Academy. David Warren also ran in the 3200, or the two mile, on Saturday, finishing 15th in 10:23.13, his second-best time ever. Warren was in the top eight through the first half on the race, but faded as the race went on. YSHS collected 15 team points to finish tied in 13th with Marion Local and Shadyside. Findlay Liberty-Benton won the boys’ title with 49 points, ahead of Fairfield Cincinnati Christian (28 points) and Columbus Grove (26). Jefferson, the defending state champs, finished tied in ninth place. Stepping up to the competition Borchers has been running since he was a fifth-grader and has competed for Yellow Springs teams since entering the McKinney School in seventh grade. Last year, as a freshman, he made it to the regional competition in the 3200, finishing seventh. At the start of the 2005 track season, Borchers said, his goal was to go to states and to medal, or place in the top eight. He admitted, however, that he thought “winning was out of reach.” He had reason to be optimistic. He was coming off a great cross-country season in which he placed eighth in the state finals as an individual, leading the YSHS team to fifth place in the Division III championship. Over the last month, Borchers improved in the 1600, as the competition got better. He set personal best times in that race in districts, regionals and states, improving by over five seconds in each race. Gudgel called this type of improvement “remarkable.” Gudgel said that Borchers has three qualities that make him a great runner: he’s got endurance, stamina and an “incredible amount of speed.” The finals of the 1600, however, did not start well for Borchers. He was second to last during the first lap, during which time he was hit with an elbow and was shoved into the middle of the track. He admitted he was “a little bit discouraged.” “To come back from that, that’s not coaching, that’s desire,” Peters said. However, Borchers kept running his race, making steady gains on the other runners, as he moved to the front of the pack. Peters reported that Borchers’s splits during the first three laps were 66.9, 66.9 and 65. It’s his time on the fourth lap, 58.6, that shows why Borchers won the race. Peters said that Borchers is able to run a “strong half mile.” The difference is Borchers has the ability to run faster in the second half of the mile. Borchers said that running the day before in the 3200 relay gave him more confidence for the mile run on Saturday. “Running with the four by eight made it so I could say, ‘these guys were beatable,’ ” he said. He could not sleep Thursday night but could Friday “because I was more relaxed from the four by eight,” he said. Surprisingly, Borchers said that the state race was physically easier than the regionals, which took place at Piqua High School, the week before, when, he noted, he found it harder to keep pace with the pack. He credited his coaches and teammates as being instrumental in his success. He also expressed appreciation for Yellow Springers who would congratulate him after meets. “Half the battle of long-distance running is mental warfare,” Borchers said. It helps “that I have so much encouragement,” he said. “I don’t think I would have even qualified for state without everybody’s support,” Borchers said. Peters is “so good at maximizing my running style,” and developing his workouts, Borchers said. Johnston, who also ran track as a student at YSHS, runs with Borchers during practice, and is able to keep up with Borchers in practice, giving him a good training partner. Peters said that Johnston is key to Borchers’s success because he can push Borchers in practice. Gudgel said that Borchers’s success is “a direct result of the whole team concept. He’s the first to admit he wins because of his teammates, coaches, parents.” Looking toward next year Borchers will stay busy this summer, running for the Miami Valley Track Club, which Peters organizes, in Junior Olympic competition, and swimming for the Sea Dogs, the summer swim team in town. With two more years remaining in his high school career, he hopes to earn a scholarship so he can run in college. He’ll get a two-week break between Junior Olympics and the start of the cross country training season. He has high expectations for the cross country team next fall, but emphasized that he hopes many of his teammates from last season return. “We could have such a good season if the runners come back,” said Borchers, who’s also has a goal to win a state title in cross country. He’s also looking forward to defending his title in the 1600 next track season, when he also hopes to place at states in another event. By his senior year, Borchers said, he hopes to break the ultimate mark for a distance runner: breaking the four-minute barrier in the mile. “That would be phenomenal if I got it,” he said. Full schedule of baseball What an exciting week. Graduations, promotions, parties and lots of baseball. The Yellow Springs Major League youth baseball program had a full schedule of games last week, starting with a night game on Tuesday, May 31. The Yankees beat the Cubs, 14–7, with the result in doubt until the Yanks pulled away in the final inning. Lucas Donnell had a shaky first three innings until he settled down to shut out the Cubs in the fourth. Anthony Pettiford was 3 for 3 and scored 3 runs; Conor Stratton singled, walked twice and scored 3 runs; Ian Wimberly reached safely each time up and scored twice; Eamon Papania played exceptional defense; and Addison Pettiford was 2 for 3. The Cubs actually pulled to within 3 runs by the middle of the third with some timely hitting by Sam Morrison, Chris Johnson, John Shaw, SJ Scott, Tyler Fox and Alexis Onfroy-Curley, but went quietly in the bottom of the fourth to end the game. Onfroy-Curley took the loss for the Cubs. The Athletics and the Reds played a home-and-home series on Saturday and Sunday. On June 4, the A’s beat the Reds, 11–6. Cody Evans got the win and Austin Bailey got the save. The A’s scored 6 of their 11 runs in the second inning on singles by Lucas Blanchard-Glueckert, John Michael Malone and Aaron Fletcher. Jamie Kitzmiller tripled to clear the bases. In the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader, the Yankees defeated the Cubs, 14–4. Lucas Donnell got the win, and Kyle Click got the loss. In Sunday’s first game, the Reds beat the A’s, 10–6. Will Turner pitched a very good game but took the loss. Patrick Adams, Alex Nickels, Katie Nickels, Jerimiha Stubblefield and Brandon Semler turned in excellent defensive efforts. Cole Honeycutt pitched a complete game for the Reds, giving the rest of the team’s beleaguered staff some much-needed rest. The Reds showed flashes of the Reds of old with timely hitting from Matt Finn, Ethan Brown, Joe Fugate and AJ Wagner. Kevin Sykes-Gilbert came off the disabled list to solidify the defense at shortstop. In Sunday’s second game the Yankees beat the Indians, 10–4. If you’re at the pool this weekend take a break and come down the hill to watch the teams play. The games are closer this year, the defense tighter and the pitches truer. The games start at 5 p.m., on the weekends, 7 p.m. on Wednesdays. Baseball team loses opener The Yellow Springs Bulldogs’ first home game against Cedarville on Saturday, June 4, was exciting down to the last out. The boys played well and hard, but, unfortunately, lost 12–11. Starting pitcher Jack Daily was strong for three innings but began to struggle as the heat of the day took its toll. Reliever Ethan Brown pitched another three strong innings, keeping the Bulldogs within sight of Cedarville. Neither pitcher was helped by untimely errors in the infield. The Bulldogs’ bats were aggressive, with singles from Brown, Tarren Finch, Daily and Asa Casenhiser. Jarrett Moon got 2 hits, including a double. Hitting, in addition to several walks from Cedarville pitchers, kept men on base and allowed the Bulldogs to score in every inning. Base running errors proved to be a big factor in the loss with the final out of the game coming on an attempted steal of third base. The Bulldogs will play at home, at Gaunt Park, at 7 p.m. every Tuesday and Thursday in June, except June 28. The boys’ basketball teams host the team’s concession stand. Football team meeting A meeting for all YSHS and McKinney Middle school students interested in playing football this fall will be held Friday, June 10, 4:30 p.m., in the Morgan Building weight room.
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