October 25, 2007

sports

Andy Peters approached the finish line alone to win the Bulldog Invitational cross country meet on Tuesday, Oct. 16.

Bulldog sports roundup

Harriers advance to regionals
On Tuesday, Oct. 16, the Yellow Springs High School boys cross country team won its own cross country meet, the 22nd Annual John Bryan Invitational. Senior captain Andy Peters led the Bulldogs toward the team title with a first-place finish in a time of 16.41.4, as the team placed four runners in the top 10 finishers. Sophomore Alexis Onfroy finished third in 17:26, with Brock GunderKline a close fourth in 17:28. Other Yellow Springs finishers were: Jacob GunderKline, sixth; Nerak Patterson, 18th; Birch Robinson-Hubbuch, 27th; Anthony Pettiford, 35th; Nick Thompson, 44th; and Lonya Clark, 47th.

Allie Berry placed fifth in the girls race in a time of 21:08. Yellow Springs girls did not have a team entry, as one of their five runners was unable to make the race. The other Yellow Springs finishers were Hannah Kumbusky, 18th; Stephanie Broelingen, 38th; and Kelly Miller, 87th.

The District Championships were held on Saturday, Oct. 20, in Englewood and Peters again led his team to victory, this time with a time of 16:51. Onfroy also had another strong outing, finishing third in 17:07.

According to coach Vince Peters, the race was tightly contested early on with a lead pack that included both Andy Peters and Onfroy. At the start of the second loop the group started to thin out, he reported, with only Derrick Lillard from Anna, and Chad McCarthy of Tipp City Bethel hanging at the front with Peters. Onfroy had slipped to fifth. Shortly after the two-mile mark, Peters pulled away from the competition. Onfroy finished strong, grabbing third and almost catching second-place Lillard.

Brock GunderKline passed several runners at the end to place 15th overall in 17:42. Patterson, grabbed 22nd in 18:12. Jacob GunderKline, recovering from a hip injury he suffered playing on the soccer team, placed 28th in 18:27 to complete the team’s scoring. Anthony Pettiford and Birch Robinson-Hubbuch placed in the top half of the 103 runners by finishing 41st and 42nd respectively. With the win the Bulldogs brought their record to 151 wins and 20 loses.

The team’s next race will be the Southwestern Ohio Regional Finals on Saturday afternoon on the flood plains of the Great Miami River in downtown Troy. The boys will race at 1 p.m.

The girls team placed 13th out of 33 teams at the District Championships. Ninth-grader Allie Berry was the squad’s top finisher placing 48th overall in the field of 155 runners with a time of 22:05. Hannah Kumbusky placed 61st in 22:51. German exchange student Stephanie Broelingen placed 79th in 23:51. Elizabeth Gonder finished 100th in a time of 24:51. Kelly Miller placed 118th in 26:33. The team is composed entirely of girls who are in their first year of running cross country.

Boys soccer advances in tourney
The Yellow Springs boys soccer team topped Xenia Christian 3–1 Saturday night, Oct. 20, to advance in the post-season tournament.

Kevin Sikes-Gilbert put the local squad up 1–0 against Xenia Christian midway through the first half when he chased down a Ben Armstrong shot that trickled through the goalie’s legs and was slowly rolling towards the goal. Sikes-Gilbert got to the ball a half-step ahead of two defenders who were trying to clear, and booted it in. Two minutes later a shot by James Butler was blocked, but dropped. Alexis Onfroy was there to finish the loose ball, giving Yellow Springs a 2–0 lead. Two minutes later it was Sikes-Gilbert again finding the twine with a line-drive to the far post, assisted by Onfroy. Early in the second half, Xenia Christian scored to deny Yellow Springs the shutout, but they would never threatened again.

The team was scheduled to play West Liberty Salem Tuesday night, Oct. 23, too late for the results to make the press deadline. According to coach Jim Hardman, the winner of that game will play the winner of the Dayton Christian/Cincinnati Seven Hills match-up in one of the District semifinal games on Saturday, Oct. 27, at Winton Woods at 5 p.m. Should the ’Dogs prevail in the District semifinal, they will play for the District championship on Tuesday, Oct. 30, at Hamilton High School at 7 p.m. against the winner of Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy/Reading/Cincinnati Summit/Cincinnati Mariemont, Hardman said.

Basketball begins

The boys basketball season for McKinney School and Yellow Springs High School begins on Monday, Oct. 29. Varsity practice starts at 3:30 p.m., followed by JV and freshman practice at 5 p.m., both in the YSHS gym. Seventh grade practice begins at 6 p.m., followed by eighth grade practice at 7 p.m., both at the Morgan Building gym.

Coaches will hold a mandatory parent meeting for all five teams on Thursday, Nov. 1, at 6 p.m. in the YSHS cafeteria.

Players who have not yet signed up are encouraged to do so by e-mailing varsity coach Brad Newsome at coachbnewsome@yahoo.com. Charlie Green will coach the JV and freshman teams.

Game and scrimmage schedules will be announced in future issues of the News.

Crickets basketball program to begin

The Crickets basketball program for girls and boys in first through third grade starts Friday, Nov. 2. The program is aimed at providing instruction on basketball fundamentals to prepare kids for recreational or traveling team programs. Hour-long sessions comprised of drills, games and scrimmaging will be held on Fridays, through Dec. 21, in the Bryan Community Center gym. Interested players can register at the beginning of the first session. There are no registration fees but donations are accepted. Contact Rich Miller (richmiller1@gmail.com, 767-2049) with any questions.