Springfield Tennis Team Places Sixth At NLL Tournament
BY ANDREW ROWER — MIRROR SPORTS
Springfield placed sixth at the Northern Lakes League tournament on September 23 and 24.
“We went in sixth and came out sixth, but sixth place is two spots better than last year,” said Springfield coach Gina Ciminillo.
The Blue Devils had the misfortune of drawing an eventual first-place opponent, two second-place finishers and two third-placers in their respective opening rounds, but did get two second-round victories.
The first came from senior Hayley Takats at third singles.
After dropping her opener to Northview’s eventual second-place finisher Jacqueline Leizerman 3-6, 0-6, Takats came back to post a 6-3, 6-0 win over Rossford’s Gillian Appt.
Unfortunately, though, Takats went on to lose her third match to the fourth-place finisher, Southview’s Dani Gilbert, 4-6, 1-6.
“Hayley started out very well against a very good player but just ran out of gas,” Ciminillo said.
Springfield’s second doubles team of junior Sara Bauer and sophomore Caitlin Houser dropped their opening match to the eventual third-place Anthony Wayne duo of Emily Dellinger and Justine Kaseman 2-6, 0-6.
After a well-earned 6-2, 2-6, 6-1 second-round comeback win over Maumee’s Caitlin Jaynes and Allison Erford, though, the Blue Devils tandem lost a 2-6, 3-6 third-round match to the fourth-place Northview team of Nicole Maloney and Lenise Romberger.
“We had them on the ropes in the first set, but we let it get away from us,” Ciminillo said.
At first singles, Blue Devils junior Jamie Donaldson suffered a shutout loss to Southview’s eventual second-place finisher Sara Haidar before dropping her second match to Rossford’s Hanan Saleh, 1-6, 3-6.
“Sara Haidar complimented Jamie on how well she played in the second set and how much she had improved from a couple of weeks ago when we played, so that was nice,” Ciminillo said. “Jamie’s got the toughest job on the team, playing everybody’s best every day. Jamie is a good player.”
Springfield freshman Taylor Smith managed a 2-6, 1-6 score against Northview’s eventual third-place finisher Yelena Zhernovskiy in her first match and dropped her second to Rossford’s Dalila Saleh in a tough three-setter, 6-3, 5-7, 4-6.
“Taylor was up 4-1 in the third set, but she also just ran out of gas,” Ciminillo said.
The first doubles team of senior Linda Tran and junior Stacey Breedlove had the tallest of the Blue Devils’ orders on the day, drawing the eventual Northview championship team of Grace Ramsdell and Jessica Coyle for their first match.
After losing to the Wildcats duo by a score of 0-6, 1-6, Tran and Breedlove closed things out with a tough 4-6, 4-6 loss to Maumee’s Erin Hite and Sam Robinson in their second and final match.
“Our first doubles team did not have their best day,” Ciminillo said.
Perrysburg won the tournament with 24 points and Southview placed second at 21.
Northview next took third with 18 points and was followed by Anthony Wayne (15) and Bowling Green (12).
Rossford tied Springfield with 7.5 points and Maumee finished with two.
The final league standings were the same, except that the Blue Devils edged the Bulldogs out of sixth place by four points.
Tran and Donaldson each received honorable mention from the league for Springfield.
Springfield Runners Earn First League Win By Splitting Tri-Match
BY ANDREW ROWER — MIRROR SPORTS
Springfield’s boys cross country team earned its first Northern Lakes League win of the season last Tuesday as the Blue Devils split with Rossford and Perrysburg in its final tri-meet of the season.
SHS 26, Rossford 29
Perrysburg 19, SHS 44
Senior Casey Edwards paced Springfield on the day with a third-place time of 18:01 and junior Adam Rieger followed closely behind with a 10th-place time of 18:25.
Freshmen Walter Bockert and Alex Gearig also finished in the meet’s upper half by taking 15th and 24th with times of 19:44 and 21:01, respectively.
“Walter had a pretty good race,” said Springfield cross country coach Marty Perlaky.
Freshman Nick Dorris, junior Greg Rieger and sophomore Chad Brown next finished in a tight group that saw times of 21:31, 21:42 and 21:43, and freshman Tommy Calderon and senior Zach Watson crossed the finish line at 23:12 and 23:38.
Additionally, junior Eric Byler finished with a time of 24:44 and freshman Tom Miller rounded things out at 26:15.
Hudson Invitational
Four days later, the Blue Devils finished eighth out of 11 teams at the Hudson Invitational.
This time around, Alex Rieger took Springfield’s top spot with a 14th-place time 17:38 and Edwards placed 24th at 18:08.
“It was a little bit of Rieger getting better and a little bit of Casey not feeling very well,” Perlaky said. “We had our seeding meeting on Sunday and 16 kids from our district race will qualify for regionals. Our two kids could be fighting over one spot.”
Bockert and Gearig next finished just out of the meet’s upper half with times of 19:08 and 19:31, and the trio of Greg Rieger, Dorris and Brown closed out the Blue Devils varsity race at 20:16, 20:36 and 21:20.
Greg Rieger’s time proved to be his best of the year, while both Dorris and Brown set personal records.
Senior Steve Wong joined Ahlers, Byler, Calderon and Miller in competing in the tournament’s open race.
Like Dorris and Brown, Ahlers finished the day with a personal record time.
“Hudson is a tough course,” Perlaky said. “To have that many kids PR is a real testament to what we’re trying to do as a team.”
Girls
The Springfield girls team narrowly missed its first conference win in the league finale last Tuesday as it dropped both races in the tri-meet with Perrysburg and Rossford.
Perrysburg 19, SHS 43
Rossford 26, SHS 29
As she has done for the entire season, freshman Katie Ott led the Blue Devils on the day with a second-place time of 21:28.
“Katie had a very good race,” Perlaky said.
Junior Amber Thomas and freshman Morgan Edwards followed with 11th- and 13th-place times of 23:22 and 23:25, and junior Vidhi Patel also finished in the meet’s upper half with a 21st-place time of 24:59.
In addition, sophomore Jennifer Brandeberry crossed the finish line with a time of 25:12 and junior Jerelle Rollins ended up closing things out at 32:49.
Hudson Invitational
Springfield went on to place 10th out of 13 teams at last Saturday’s Hudson Invitational.
Ott again led the team, bettering 83 other competitors with a ninth-place time of 20:33.
Ott’s personal record time bumped her up to eighth place on the Blue Devils all-time list.
“I think the big thing for Katie was just to see some improvement,” Perlaky said.
Edwards also set a personal record in the meet, taking 38th with a time of 22:28 – 22nd on Springfield’s all-time list.
“Morgan is showing what she’s really made of,” Perlaky said.
Patel and Brandeberry followed up at 24:56 and 25:20, and junior Melanie Johnson and senior Naomi Matanick wrapped things up with times of 28:23 and 29:28, respectively.
The Blue Devils will travel to Bowling Green State University on Saturday to take part in the NLL championships.
No matter what happens in the team standings, Ott, Edwards and Rieger all figure to compete for individual all-league honors.
“Katie had a PR on Saturday, so if we can keep on improving all week long I think first-team all-league is a definite possibility,” Perlaky said. “The pressure is kind of on Casey because he has Adam banging on the back door right now.”
Maggie Adams, Springfield Golfers Narrowly Miss Districts
BY ANDREW ROWER — MIRROR SPORTS
Springfield’s girls golf season came to an end last Tuesday at Detwiler Golf Course when the Blue Devils narrowly missed a district qualification by just two places.
Sophomore Maggie Adams paced Springfield by tying for the day’s 16th-best score of 97.
Adams bettered 54 other golfers in the tournament and ended up coming just one place shy of an individual district qualification.
“Maggie has made such a name for herself this year that a lot of other coaches can’t even believe that she’s only a sophomore,” said Springfield coach Shannon Brazzil. “She’s definitely paving the way to be a huge thing in Northwest Ohio high school golf.”
Junior Katie Zaborski and senior Sarah Dean followed closely behind Adams with scores of 102 and 104.
“Katie turned it on strong toward the end of the season,” Brazzil said. “She did a very nice job.
“The sky is the limit for Sarah. She is an athlete and is academically gifted as well. She’s just so talented in whatever she does that she is going to be able to do whatever she wants to do, and she is going to go far.”
Junior Anna Szalkowski rounded out team scoring with a 108.
Fellow junior Jani Bockert also competed for the Blue Devils on the day, ending up with a 119.
“Jani came through with a score we really needed at the NLLs and Anna came through with a score we really needed at sectionals,” Brazzil said. “To know that these girls are academically strong in the classroom and not only compete in one varsity sport but two (soccer) – they did do a nice job.”
Bowling Green’s Caroline Powers and Ashland’s Rachel Thompson tied for individual medalist status on the day with identical scores of 76.
Findlay’s Stephanie St. Jean next shot a 77 and was followed by St. Ursula’s Megan McKernan and Notre Dame’s Molly Sterling at 80 and 83.
St. Ursula’s Shannon Martin then came in with an 86, Ashland’s Mary Burgess and Northview’s Brooke Darah shot 87s, Ashland’s Anna Lesher had an 88 and St. Ursula’s Mallory Fuller was the last golfer to finish under 90, ending up at 89.
Ashland won the tournament with a team score of 341 and St. Ursula (347), Findlay (382), Northview (385) and Perrysburg (389) earned the remaining four team spots at districts.
Whitmer (396) edged Springfield out of sixth place by 15 strokes and Celina (413), Southview (422) and Notre Dame (424) rounded out the day’s top 10.
The Blue Devils also bettered Wapakoneta (438), Anthony Wayne (444), Clay (447), Central Catholic (496) and Start (558).
“We beat some talented teams,” Brazzil said.
Springfield posted team averages of 199.3 (nine holes) and 397.7 (18 holes) this year and ended up beating 18 of the 37 teams it played.
“If we take what we shot last year and compare it to what we shot this year, we have made up so many strokes as far as team averages,” Brazzil said. “I do think we fared well. I was very happy with the way we finished.”
