Racing Back Across The Country

Across the country for more cross country.

BELFAST — When junior Frances Blank crossed the finish line at number 21 in Saturday’s Eastern Regional Cross-country Class B Championship, she clinched the team title for the Mount Desert Island Trojan girls.

Led by the second place finish of senior Heather Spurling, the Trojans packed five runners into the top 21 and that was enough to give them a two-point 68-70 edge over the John Bapst Crusaders and their third consecutive Eastern Maine Class B championship trophy.

Sophomore Brianne Dunn of the Ellsworth Eagles posted the best girls’ time of the day, regardless of class, as she took an early lead and never looked back to win the Class B individual title in 19:32.31.

Several other Hancock County teams and individual runners also turned in strong performances on Saturday.

Ellsworth senior Ben Chapman was runner-up in the Class B boys’ race, finishing 12 seconds behind champion Sam Seekins of Erskine Academy with a time of 16:51.88.

In the team competition, Caribou took the Class B title with 57 points, followed by Ellsworth with 89 and the MDI Trojans in third with 128.

In Class C, the George Stevens Academy Eagle girls placed a close third in Class C, finishing just four points behind the champion Orono Red Riots with 65 points.

The Ellsworth American - Ellsworth’s Brianne Dunn, MDI Girls Are EM Champs

Brianne Dunn of the Ellsworth Eagles takes the lead early in the girls’ Class B race on Saturday at Belfast. Dunn never trailed in winning the individual title.—STAFF PHOTO BY HUGH BOWDEN

As was the case a week earlier at the Penobscot Valley Conference championships, it was the tight pack of the Trojan girls that gave them the winning edge in the Class B competition.

Behind Spurling, who finished in 19:50.79, were sophomore Kailyn Russell, ninth in 20:42.36; junior Mackenzie Curtis, 17th in 21:16.94; senior Kymry Brooks, 19th in 21:26.08; and Blank, 21st in 21:28.38.

Not far behind them were junior Lily Madeira, 27th in 21:43.90, and junior Jessica Swanson, 30th in 21:59.23.

In addition to Dunn’s championship run, Ellsworth’s Eagles, who placed fourth in the 13-team field with 96 points, got strong performances from sophomore Hayley White, who was 10th in 20:45.63, and junior Rosie Vachon, who was 11th in 20:47.95.

Behind them were sophomore Sara Lyons, 40th in 22:26.98; freshman Mallory Nightingale, 42nd in 22:33.29; freshman Lauren Barkhouse, 67th in 23:50.94; and freshman Stephanie Phippen, 83rd in 25:27.46.

For the Bucksport Golden Buck girls, who were 11th with 265 points, senior Liz Beeson led the way, placing 26th in 21:39.41. She was followed by freshman Nelly Winship, 39th in 22:20.48; senior Angie Johnson, 57th in 23:22.65; freshman Avalon Langevin, 76th in 24:45.11; and freshman Katie Bridges, 97th in 29:46.03.

In the Class B boys’ race, finishing behind Chapman for Ellsworth were senior Jeremiah Roper, 11th in 17:32.71; senior Brian Batson, 22nd in 18:16.54; junior Dakota Hellum, 26th in 18:27.91; freshman Stephen Kirby, 32nd in 18:37.72; junior John Carlin, 51st in 19:20.24; and junior Kyle Ouelette, 71st in 20:15.76.

Sophomore Sam Swann led the MDI Trojans, placing 19th in 18:07.44. He was followed by freshman True Muzzy, 20th in 18:12.16; senior Gavin Willow, 25th in 18:25.75; junior Peter Logue, 29th in 18:32.51; senior Paul Burnell, 40th in 18:58.46; sophomore Cameron Klausky, 42nd in 19:01.88; and junior Jeremy McQuinn, 50th in 19:19.67.

In Class C:

Senior Allegra Pellerano led the GSA girls, placing seventh in 22:10.35. She was followed by sophomore Mindy Carter, 18th in 24:09.72; freshman Lakota Bowen, 28th in 24:54.85; sophomore Tierney Hally, 35th in 25:11.13; and freshman Ramsay Williamson, 36th in 25:17.94.

For the GSA boys, who placed sixth with 151 points, senior Nikos Christ finished 11th in 18:26.60. He was followed by sophomore Kalle Bailey, 16th in 18:53.97; sophomore Josh Bowden, 43rd in 21:08.67; sophomore Jacob Reiley, 55th in 21:56.00; and freshman Matthew Ahern, 56th in 22:01.28.

For the Sumner Tigers, who were 14th with 348 points, freshman Taylor Lee was 71st in 22:56.86, freshman John Sandiego was 73rd in 23:19.59, freshman Xavier Tracey was 84th in 25:15.61, junior Chris Light was 87th in 26:20.90 and freshman James Singletary was 91st in 29:24.42.

Boys’ and girls’ teams from Ellsworth, MDI and GSA all qualified for the upcoming state championships on Saturday, Nov. 1, which also will be held at Belfast’s Troy Howard Middle School.

Races are scheduled as follows: Class C boys, 11 a.m.; Class C girls, 11:45 a.m.; Class B boys, 2 p.m.; Class B girls, 2:45 p.m.

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Runners Push Barriers

I find it interesting that no matter where you are in the country so many high school sports take place in the same season, no matter how varied the seasonal climate is.  From New England to Hawaii fall is the time for cross country.

Oahu runners to push BIIF harriers

Oahu runners to push BIIF harriers
JENKINS, KEITH BACK TO DEFEND TITLES
by Wayne Joseph
Stephens Media

Friday, October 31, 2008 9:27 AM HST
The Honolulu Marathon/Hawaii High School Athletic Association cross country state championships take place Friday at Hawaii Prep, with the girls’ three-mile race starting at 9 a.m. and the boys’ at 9:45 a.m.

The two-time defending state boys champion, Bryce Jenkins of Leilehua, and the girls defending champ, Kristin Ali Keith of Mililani, will headline 200 boys (52 schools) and 200 girls (55 schools), respectively.

Juliana Besenbruch of Maryknoll, the 2006 state champ, and other talented harriers will vie for top honors on a difficult, hilly course at HPA.

Big Island Interscholastic Federation runners may have an advantage over the rest of the field because of two previous meets held at HPA, including the BIIF championships on Oct. 24.

“I think that our kids have a chance at doing well at states, primarily because this is like a home course for us,” Hilo coach Bill McMahon said.

The BIIF’s team champions, the HPA girls and the Honokaa boys, lead the Big Island representatives.

In girls competition, Ka Makani and Hilo have the best chance of breaking into the top 10.

“We have three seniors running, and we want their last experience running for HPA to be fun,” HPA coach Michael Franklin said. “Of course, there’s nothing more fun than running fast,”

The Honokaa boys, along with runner-up Hilo, have the individual front-runners and possible depth to break into the top five.

Tialana Greenwell, the two-time BIIF individual champion, will have her hands full running against a host of talent, but she is expected to place somewhere in the top 10.

Honokaa’s Tialana Greenwell, the two-time Big Island Interscholastic Federation cross country champ, is expected to finish in the top 10 at the state cross country championships on Friday. - Laura Shimabuku | Special To West Hawaii Today

Among the leaders for the girls is La Pietra’s Haley Abing, the defending Interscholastic League of Honolulu champion. Also in the field is King Kekaulike’s Bailey Massenburg, the state champion in the 800- and 1,500-meter runs and the Maui Interscholastic League cross country champion.

In addition to Greenwell, Ka’u’s Jana Larson, the BIIF runner-up, will contend for a top 10 finish.

For the boys, Hilo’s Mark Turner, the BIIF champion, has the experience on hills to place somewhere in the top five.

“It looks as though (Turner) is one of about five or six boys with a good shot at the individual title, but anything can happen at states and usually does,” McMahon said.

Honokaa’s Jake Shiraki is also expected to be in the top 10.

Hilo and Honokaa have the firepower to compete for top five spots provided they bring their fifth runner across the finish line somewhere in the top third of the field.

For the girls, watch for Punahou to make a run at Mililani for the state crown. The Buffanblu’s top five all finished in the top 16 last week to upset favored Kamehameha-Oahu for the ILH crown.

The girls from Waimea won the Kauai Interscholastic Federation crown, and its lead runner, Caralyn Broyles, could be a front-runner.

And don’t count the HPA girls out just yet.

“We know our course, we know how we want to run it, and we will run our race,” Franklin said.

For up-to-date results, visit http://www.kautech.com/results.

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Cross Country and Across The Country

I am still working my way through the list and finally get my second high school sports story of the day.  I know there are those who don’t necessarily consider this important news, and certainly nothing to blog home about, but it is.  This is the sort of thing American can still have pride in.  As our industry collapses, our politicians lie to our faces, and the government does some despicable acts around the world, our children continue to show promise.  They are the one who we can be proud of.  it doesn’t matter if they are your kids, your kin, or even from your town, when any kid accomplishes something it should give the rest of us hope that there is an upcoming generation who could still set things right in the world.

Yamnicky, Sara surprise at State Open- The New Haven Register - Serving Greater New Haven, CT

Yamnicky, Sara surprise at State Open

Bunnell’s Lauren Sara was the area’s surprise top finisher as she finished fourth at the State Open Cross Country Championships Friday at Wickham Park in Manchester. (Peter Hvizdak/Register)
Saturday, November 1, 2008 6:21 AM EDT

By Chris Hunn, Register Staff

MANCHESTER — A top 25 finish was a realistic goal. Squeezing into the top 10 was a possibility.

But when Bunnell junior Lauren Sara was the fourth girl to cross the finish line at the State Open Cross Country championships at Wickham Park Friday, it may have left some scratching their heads, including her coach, Dave Johnson.

“It’s a big surprise,” Johnson said. “When she came out of the woods at four, I was very pleased, but stunned.”

Sara was, too. Her time of 19 minutes, 5 seconds was 20 seconds better than her time a week earlier when she finished second in the Class L championships over a 3.1-mile course.

“I wasn’t expecting this,” said Sara, who finished 54th at the State Open last year.

Immaculate’s Moira Kenny won the girls’ race in 18:45. Glastonbury easily won the team championship, beating out Guilford 38-94.

On the boys’ side, the top area finisher may have been just as surprising. Shelton senior Robert Yamnicky (16:22) came in fourth. Battling knee tendinitis for most of the season, Yamnicky was the Gaels’ No. 2 runner behind Southern Connecticut Conference champion Richard Stoliker, who placed sixth (16:25).

That duo led Shelton to a second-place finish with 116 points. Danbury won the boys’ title with 86 points. Danbury’s Tucker Schaefer won the individual title with a time of 16:01.

The Gaels were the first of five SCC teams to place among the top seven. Shelton earned its second straight berth in the New England championships,

which will take place next Saturday at Derryfield Park in Manchester, N.H.

The top six teams and top 25 individual finishers from the State Open move on to the regional meet. Amity, Hand and Xavier will also represent the SCC on Nov. 8.

“Running in the SCC kind of prepared us for this,” said Hand coach Tim Geary, whose Tigers earned the school’s first berth in the regional meet. “The whole season was very competitive. We push each other.”

Yamnicky said it was a strong push at the beginning and a kick at the end which led him to a fourth-place mark. Along with the Shelton senior, Cheshire sophomore Sean Mueller earned a spot in the regional meet, placing eighth and leading the Rams to a seventh-place finish.

Ryan Laemel came in ninth, Adam Trofa finished 16th, and Michael Bhatt placed 24th to land the Spartans a third-place finish.

“We wanted to come out and run the race of our lives, but it didn’t work out as we planned,” Laemel said. “Coming in third is a disappointment, especially after beating Shelton all year.”

Dan Nestor came in 17th to lead Hand. His brother, Sean, finished 42nd, and after missing five weeks with an injury, junior David Cotton stepped into the third spot and came in 66th. Ryan McGuire of Notre Dame-West Haven rounded out the boys’ top area finishers as the Wickham Invitational champion placed 22nd.

In the girls’ race, the Spartans will be the only team joining the Indians from the SCC in New Hampshire.

Annelies Gamble finished 19th to lead the Spartans.

“The keys were our front three running together,” said Amity coach Chris Dickerson of Gamble, Jane Depgen and Paige Pallotto. “Then, our fourth (Noa Kupfer) and fifth (Kara Doolan) girl ran very strong. No one had a bad day. They were really focused on getting to New Englands.”

Hand’s Sarah Cotton continued to put the finishing touches on a stellar freshman campaign, coming in 12th (19:32). Cheshire’s Irene Kalbian finished 14th, and Kathleen Elliott placed 21st to lead the Indians and round out the area finishers in the top 25.

While Cotton, Kalbian and Elliott looked to be the among the favorites from the area, it turned out to be Sara’s day. She doesn’t appear to carry the speed or prototypical build of a cross country runner, but that didn’t matter Friday.

She got out, set her pace and didn’t let up, Johnson said.

“She’s like a machine,” Johnson said. “Off the course, she’s one of the goofiest, funniest, nicest kids you’ll meet. But when that gun goes off, she’s absolutely relentless.”

Chris Hunn can be reached at chunn@nhregister.com.

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Jonesboro High School Rallies Past Marion

Here is another tragedy of the day this is the first local newspaper to lead off on a Saturday morning with a story about the local high school football team.

Jonesboro Sun

JHS rallies past Marion

By Ben Cowens
Sun staff writer

JONESBORO — Twenty-two senior football players were introduced before Jonesboro’s contest with Marion and all but the injured Nick Gregory — who cheered from the sidelines — dressed out and ran out of the tunnel at Cooksey-Johns Field.
For the Hurricane, it was a special beginning to All Hallows Eve. The ending offered an even greater treat.
Senior A.J. Steele caught three touchdowns — including two in the fourth quarter — and senior D.J. King earned a sack to help stall Marion’s final drive and preserve a come-from-behind 35-34 victory.
As the Hurricane (7-2) moved its record to 5-1 in 6A-East conference play, Mountain Home finished off Little Rock Parkview. The combined result guaranteed Jonesboro a bye into the Class 6A quarterfinals to go with the home playoff game it had already secured.
“That was on everybody’s mind,” JHS quarterback Carter Callahan said of the bye. “Coach said before the game, ‘You want that first-round bye to have a good game here at home for all your friends. You better go out and work for it.’ And that’s what we did.”
Jonesboro needed nearly all 48 minutes to successfully fulfill its part of the equation. Marion controlled the tempo of the contest with its various running formations and never turned over the ball. It scored 28 unanswered points spanning the second and third quarters and took a 34-21 lead into the final 12 minutes. The Patriots (5-4, 2-4) missed their final extra point attempt to go up 14 and simply couldn’t hang on.
“They got tired,” Marion coach Mark Uhiren said of his players. “We made mistakes mentally and physically, didn’t tackle when we needed to.”
The shoddy tackling didn’t help on A.J. Steele’s second touchdown catch. On a third-and-10 from midfield and staring at a 13-point deficit, Callahan found Steele over the middle for about 20 yards. But the 6-1 senior shed the initial tackle and two others on his way to the end zone. The score and ensuing Callahan extra point trimmed the deficit to 34-28 with 10:37 to play.
The score galvanized Jonesboro’s defense, which immediately forced Marion into a punt after it gained just 11 yards in six plays.
The Hurricane needed only five plays to regain the lead. Clay Jones caught a 28-yard wide-receiver screen on third-and-10, then Steele, who caught four passes for 111 yards, came open late on second-and-goal and lunged to pick Callahan’s pass off the turf for a touchdown. The final extra point proved to be the final margin.
“They never gave up,” JHS coach Randy Coleman said. “They’ve been in that situation before. It’s not like we haven’t been down at halftime before. We just keep chipping away at it.”
Despite trailing by two scores, Jonesboro resisted the urge to rifle the ball into a Marion secondary that was clearly keying on the pass. Instead Wright, who finished with 113 yards on 20 carries, and Daniel Rodely helped soften the defense.
A notoriously slow-starting team, Jonesboro came out blazing early. Callahan had 100 of his 226 passing yards on the first two drives of the game. He hit Steele for 18 yards on a fade and Kowan Wright finished off the second drive with a 1-yard run for a 14-0 advantage — the first of two 1-yard scores for the junior.
Marion settled in, however, and used a bruising rushing attack and some well-timed passing to pull ahead. The Patriots ran 50 times for 235 yards, led by DeKendrick Smith’s 115. Junior Jonathan Millikin attempted just eight passes, but connected on six of them. He threw for 140 yards and two touchdowns. His second score to Justin Carlow ended the run of 28 points and gave Marion a 34-21 advantage with 1:38 to play in the third quarter.
“We’ve got to cut out the big plays,” Coleman said. “We gave up some yards, especially in the second quarter … but in the second half, we came back and made the big stops when we needed them.”
No stop was bigger than on Marion’s final drive. Trailing by one, the Patriots picked up 20 yards on four plays to move the ball to its own 36. As Millikin dropped back to pass on second-and-10, King swallowed him up for the Hurricane’s only sack of the evening. Marion picked up six on third down, but on fourth-and-10 with just over two minutes remaining, the Patriots attempted a fake punt that fooled no one and the ball — and the game — went Jonesboro’s way. After a difficult first half, the Hurricane allowed just one scoring drive in its final four series.
Callahan finished 12-for-25 on the evening with three touchdowns and two interceptions, including one that Azell Marshall returned for a second-quarter touchdown to give Marion a 28-21 halftime lead.

bcowens@jonesborosun.com

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Guam Goes for Girls

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Sharks clinch No. 4 seed | guampdn.com | Pacific Daily News

Sharks clinch No. 4 seed

By Brett Maluwelmeng • For Pacific Daily News • October 18, 2008

The Simon Sanchez Sharks and the St. John’s Knights found themselves in an interesting position last night.
Advertisement
Proline

The winner of their final regular season match would host the loser in the Independent Interscholastic Athletic Association of Guam Girls’ Volleyball League playoffs. In the end, the Sharks walked away from St. John’s gym with a 25-18, 25-18 victory to earn the home court advantage and fourth place overall.

“When the environment is comfortable for (the Sharks), they play a much better game,” Sharks head coach Reggie Cruz said. “Teams have a tough time playing us at home. St. John’s is a good team and we beat them there. We also beat (the George Washington Geckos) there.”

Both teams finished the regular season 9-7, but the Sharks won both matches against the Knights to finish as the higher seed. Their quarterfinal matchup will begin at 6:30 p.m. at Simon Sanchez gym on Tuesday.

In last night’s match, the Knights got rolling to an early 4-0 lead with the help of a Kristi Hammond kill. The Sharks came right back to knot the score before later taking a 13-9 lead after the Knights committed four consecutive unforced errors.

Setter Helen Chung recorded a kill and Morgan Crisostomo added an ace to help the Knights later cut the deficit to 14-13, but tough jump serves by Regina Shiroma helped to keep the Sharks ahead before Ashley Camacho earned a kill off the tape to end the set.

The second set saw more of the same back-and-forth action as a kill by Annalyn Benavente gave the Sharks a bit of breathing room at 7-5. Adrianne Blaz earned a kill off the defense and setter Shylah Salas nailed an ace to put the Sharks up 13-8 and force Knights coach Chris Shepherd to call a timeout.

Crisostomo came out of the break with two kills after a Sharks service error, but Blaz and Benavente both had kills in a run that put the Sharks up 17-12. The Sharks then finished the job, with the last three points of the set coming off kills from Blaz, Benavente and Justine Laanan.

Benavente and Blaz each had five kills and three digs to lead the Sharks. Laanan added three kills, Shiroma had three aces and Salas earned 11 assists and four digs.

Hammond, Crisostomo, and Sydney Cowan had two kills each for the Knights.

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Oregon Volleyball On Fire

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Corvallis Gazette Times: High School Sports

CV volleyball sweeps CHS
By Raju Woodward

Gazette-Times Reporter

Motivated by a five-game loss to Corvallis on their homecourt back on Sept. 23, the Crescent Valley high volleyball team returned the favor on Thursday night by sweeping CHS in a Mid-Willamette Conference match at Spartan Gym.

Just how determined were the Raiders (12-4, 10-2)? After getting off to quick starts and finishing strong in the first two games, they battled back from seven-point deficits twice in the third game to earn the win.

Game scores were 25-19, 25-17 and 25-22.

“Most times when we have fallen behind this year, we have stayed to our gameplan and executed and come back and persevered,” CV coach Corey Barton said. “We’ve had a lot comebacks and we did tonight.

“It makes me proud as a coach to know that my team has enough confidence to not let things get them down.”

After CHS (5-7) went up 11-4 in the third game, the Raiders came alive. A pair of kills followed by two aces by Sammi Brandstetter pulled them to within three, 11-8.

The teams went back and forth before the Spartans went on a 5-0 run to take a 19-12 lead.

But once again, CV pulled together and came right back with four straight kills to make it a 19-16 game, three of them coming from Janelle Batista.

After a service error extended the Spartans’ lead 20-16, the Raiders went on a run of their own and finally took a 21-20 lead on Kacie Melton’s ace.

A senior setter, Melton has come up big for CV in recent games and Thursday was no exception.

“It was awesome,” Melton said. “I never thought I would get to come in and serve to get us back into the game.”

Added Barton: “She works so hard in practices and she goes in and played a critical role for us. We saw that against West Albany, we couldn’t defeat them without her doing what she did, and once again tonight, she did it again.”

An out by the Raiders tied the game at 21, but CV went up two on a Batista kill and a CHS error. The Spartans got a kill to make the score 23-22, but that was the closest they would get. Ali Cook had a kill that was followed by a CHS error, giving the Raiders the win.

Batista finished with 15 kills to lead Raiders, with seven of them coming in the first game. Cassie Daneke added eight blocks, while Brandstetter and Hanna Lorenz had six digs apiece for CV. Lorenz also finished with 29 assists.

It was a disappointing finish for the Spartans, who kept battling despite trailing big in the first two games.

In game one, they battled back from a 21-11 deficit and able to pull within four at one point. In the second game, CHS fell behind by nine before making a comeback.

“They definitely didn’t give up,” CHS coach Amy Wright. “I think they got better each game. CV did a good job, though.”

Mallory Hummer had four kills to lead the Spartans, while libero Tamiko Perry had a strong all-around match with 22 digs and eight aces. Perry was the catalyst for CHS during their comeback bids.

Crescent Valley hosts Woodburn and Silverton next week, with the later match deciding the MWC title.

“Every match for us right now is critical for a league championship, which we are going after very seriously,” Barton said.

CHS is at South Albany and hosts Woodburn to finish the MWC season. The Spartans are still in the hunt for a playoff berth.

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Pennsylvania Cross Country Runner

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Indiana Gazette > News

Woodrow, Miller repeat as Conference champs

Hannah Miller, left, led the field to the cross-country title.
By RICK WEAVER, rweaver@indianagazette.net
Published: Friday, October 17, 2008 10:28 AM EDT
MARION CENTER - Alex Woodrow did not want a repeat of last year’s Heritage Conference meet. The diminutive Marion Center sophomore made sure of that, besting defending champion Max Penrose of Laurel Valley by 19 seconds en route to the boys’ championship on Thursday at Marion Center Community Park.

Laurel Valley junior Hannah Miller became the first athlete to win three successive conference cross country championships, winning the girls’ race in 19 minutes, 49 seconds. She defeated Homer-Center’s Alyssa Taddie by 39 seconds.

Woodrow, the two-time Indiana County Invitational champion, won the 3.1-mile race in a personal-best 17 minutes, 7 seconds. Unlike last season, when he looked back over the final 50 yards and wound up losing by less than a second to Penrose, Woodrow left no doubt as to how the race would play out or conclude.

Woodrow stalked Penrose over the first mile. Once they traveled a ¾-mile stretch through the woods for the first time, Woodrow made his move.

*
“We went up the hill and I could tell he was slowing down a bit,” said Woodrow. “Hills will really tire you out. I just started up the hill and got closer and closer. And when we came to the downhill (portion) I kept up the same momentum that I used uphill and I blew by him.”

“It’s nice to see all that work paying off,” Marion Center coach Chris Peters said. “He was able to run a smart race and a gutsy race there at the end.”

Penrose admitted he started out too quickly.

“I started a little bit faster than I probably should have,” said the Laurel Valley senior, who won the 2007 boys’ championship after Woodrow fell short in a lunging attempt to nip him at the finish line. “And then I struggled to hold that pace.”

Miller had little difficulty outlasting Taddie, the talented Homer-Center senior who placed third at least year’s conference meet.

“Down the hill at the entrance I thought, maybe, she might come up against me because she’s a better sprinter than me,” Miller said.

Miller set and kept a comfortable between herself and her nearest rival, however.

“She has really a good stride and she keeps pounding it out,” Taddie said.

Marion Center won both team championships, the fifth time the Stingers have pulled the Heritage sweep. Woodrow led four Stingers among the top 10 as they amassed 43 points, seven fewer than Blairsville and 14 more than Laurel Valley.

The Stingers also continued their stranglehold on the girls’ championship, placing four in the top 10 and totaling 38 points, 18 better than Homer-Center. Marion Center is the only school that has won the girls’ team championship in the nine years the conference has staged its championship meet.

“The team race is what the sport is all about. And we love getting first place,” said Peters. “It’s two races in one. You want the first place and you want the first place for the team. We approach it as a team sport and they run as a team all year long.”

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Another Chance To Give Attention To High School Girls This Time in Orgegon

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Corvallis Gazette Times: High School Sports

CV volleyball sweeps CHS
By Raju Woodward

Gazette-Times Reporter

Motivated by a five-game loss to Corvallis on their homecourt back on Sept. 23, the Crescent Valley high volleyball team returned the favor on Thursday night by sweeping CHS in a Mid-Willamette Conference match at Spartan Gym.

Just how determined were the Raiders (12-4, 10-2)? After getting off to quick starts and finishing strong in the first two games, they battled back from seven-point deficits twice in the third game to earn the win.

Game scores were 25-19, 25-17 and 25-22.

“Most times when we have fallen behind this year, we have stayed to our gameplan and executed and come back and persevered,” CV coach Corey Barton said. “We’ve had a lot comebacks and we did tonight.

“It makes me proud as a coach to know that my team has enough confidence to not let things get them down.”

After CHS (5-7) went up 11-4 in the third game, the Raiders came alive. A pair of kills followed by two aces by Sammi Brandstetter pulled them to within three, 11-8.

The teams went back and forth before the Spartans went on a 5-0 run to take a 19-12 lead.

But once again, CV pulled together and came right back with four straight kills to make it a 19-16 game, three of them coming from Janelle Batista.

After a service error extended the Spartans’ lead 20-16, the Raiders went on a run of their own and finally took a 21-20 lead on Kacie Melton’s ace.

A senior setter, Melton has come up big for CV in recent games and Thursday was no exception.

“It was awesome,” Melton said. “I never thought I would get to come in and serve to get us back into the game.”

Added Barton: “She works so hard in practices and she goes in and played a critical role for us. We saw that against West Albany, we couldn’t defeat them without her doing what she did, and once again tonight, she did it again.”

An out by the Raiders tied the game at 21, but CV went up two on a Batista kill and a CHS error. The Spartans got a kill to make the score 23-22, but that was the closest they would get. Ali Cook had a kill that was followed by a CHS error, giving the Raiders the win.

Batista finished with 15 kills to lead Raiders, with seven of them coming in the first game. Cassie Daneke added eight blocks, while Brandstetter and Hanna Lorenz had six digs apiece for CV. Lorenz also finished with 29 assists.

It was a disappointing finish for the Spartans, who kept battling despite trailing big in the first two games.

In game one, they battled back from a 21-11 deficit and able to pull within four at one point. In the second game, CHS fell behind by nine before making a comeback.

“They definitely didn’t give up,” CHS coach Amy Wright. “I think they got better each game. CV did a good job, though.”

Mallory Hummer had four kills to lead the Spartans, while libero Tamiko Perry had a strong all-around match with 22 digs and eight aces. Perry was the catalyst for CHS during their comeback bids.

Crescent Valley hosts Woodburn and Silverton next week, with the later match deciding the MWC title.

“Every match for us right now is critical for a league championship, which we are going after very seriously,” Barton said.

CHS is at South Albany and hosts Woodburn to finish the MWC season. The Spartans are still in the hunt for a playoff berth.

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North Carolina Volleyball

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The Sampson Independent > Archives > Sports > Lady Leopards face Midway in tonight’s finals

Lady Leopards face Midway in tonight’s finals
Photo by Billy Todd Raider Kelly Blackmon serves the ball to put the ball into play. The Lady Raider volleyball team defeated Hobbton Tuesday night to advance to the Super Six volleyball tournament championship game against the Lady Leopards tonight at Lakewood.
By Billy Todd
Published:
Wednesday, October 15, 2008 1:52 PM US/eastern
ROSEBORO-SALEMBURG — The semi-finals of the Super Six Conference volleyball tournament took place on Tuesday night with the Lady Leopards of Lakewood and the Midway Lady Raiders set to play in the championship tonight at the tournament location of Lakewood High School.

The first match had the Lady Spartans from Union pitted against the No. 2 seeded Lakewood squad. The Lady Leopards won in three sets scoring, 25-10, 25-10 and 25-14. The win for Lakewood makes for a rematch of last year’s Super Six volleyball tournament championship.

Leopard head volleyball coach, Sheila Davidson stated, “It is going to be a repeat of last year’s championship except in reverse. Last year we were the regular season champions and the defeated us in the conference tournament.” This year Midway finished as the regular season conference champions and coach Davidson is hoping to pay back the Lady Raiders in tonight’s championship match.

The second match of Tuesday’s semi-finals had the Hobbton Lady Wildcats playing the undefeated Lady Raiders. Midway won in three sets, 25-10, 25-19 and 25-7.

Hobbton head volleyball coach, Russell Jones commented saying, “We just could not get anything started tonight. Midway has a good team and they just would not allow us to score more than one point before their defense would score the side out. I was proud of my girls and their efforts. They have performed well for Hobbton this season.”

Midway and Lakewood will serve up the ball at 7 p.m. tonight in the Super Six Conference volleyball tournament championship at Lakewood High School. With two such strong teams, it should prove to be an exciting game.

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Megan Cull New Jersey Athlete of The Week

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HHS ATHLETE OF THE WEEK: Megan Cull
Wednesday, October 15, 2008 9:34 PM EDT

Megan Cull leads the HHS girls’ soccer team in scoring this season.

Photo by Elane Coleman (fstop1.com)
Quick Facts: Hillsborough High senior Megan Cull is a two-sport standout at Hillsborough High. Soccer is her primary sport but she is a fine lacrosse player in the spring season. Cull is a team captain for the Lady Raiders and leads them in scoring this fall.

Coach LeeAnn Wyble Says: “She’s one of the best center mids in the area but she gets overlooked. She has vision and she can pass, shoot and defend. She has a lot of weight on her shoulders.”

Favorite Athlete: Jeremy Shockey because he makes things happen.

Favorite Team: New York Giants. My entire family loves them, and I grew up watching them and going to the games, which are a lot of fun.

Favorite Class/Subject: Environmental Science is my favorite course this year because we learn a lot about animals.
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Favorite Food: Tacos!!

Favorite TV Show: Gossip Girl is my favorite show because while it is unrealistic, it’s nice to go to a fantasy world for an hour.

Favorite Movie: The Goonies, it’s a classic.

Favorite Musical Group: I have a lot of favorites; it’s too hard to pick just one. I like different kinds of music depending on what I’m in the mood for, but if I had to pick I really like Rihanna, Third Eye Blind and Say Anything.

Favorite Book: To Kill a Mockingbird – we read it in school and not a lot of people liked it, but I thought it was amazing.

Best Role Model: My Poppy is my biggest role model. He started off with nothing and worked his way up. Everything he does is for his family and it makes me want to work hard like he did.

Biggest Athletic Moment: Last year’s game vs. Somerville was one of my favorites. It felt really good to score those goals and then eventually win it in the end to give them their first loss.

Mia Hamm or Heather O’Reilly: Mia Hamm, she’s classic.

Offense or Defense: Offense!

Goal or Assist: That’s a tough one, maybe I’m greedy, but goal.

Grass or Turf: Turf – I love giving through balls and they work better on turf.

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College Homecomeing in Kentucky

.The Morehead News - Main Street storefronts to be decorated for Homecoming

Main Street storefronts to be decorated for Homecoming
By Vanessa Overholser - Staff Writer

Storefronts along Main Street will be decorated in Red, White and MSU (Morehead State University) Blue during the Community Storefront Decorating Contest Oct. 16.

Student Activities Coordinator Terri Roberts said it is a new addition to MSU Homecoming for 2008.

“We mailed letters out to Main Street businesses encouraging them to decorate their storefronts around the theme of our parade ‘Red, White and MSU Blue’ (a patriotic theme),” Roberts said.

The time span for the contest was from Oct. 1-16. This contest is like the one that is done for the Hometown Holiday where businesses decorate their storefronts.

“It is a way to tie community businesses with the Homecoming Parade we are having Thursday at 6 p.m.,” Roberts said.

The idea for the contest came about during the Homecoming Planning meeting, she said.

“We thought we would start it this year and see how it goes,” she said. “The contest is just for Main Street Businesses. Maybe next year we will expand it.”

The Homecoming Parade will begin at MSU Support Services Complex and it will end at the main entrance of MSU across from the old Jerry’s lot.

Roberts said the contest would be very beneficial for the university.

“I think it will show the student body that it is a city wide celebration and it is not just exclusive to MSU,” she said.

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Idaho Girls Volley Hard

Blackfoot Morning News - Panthers roll MV

Panthers roll MV
Thursday, 16 October 2008

By Ryan Collingwood

MORELAND - After Tuesday night’s pummeling of SEIC foe Marsh Valley, Snake River left little doubt who the Mecca of the respective 3A conference is this fall as the Panthers rolled to a 25-17, 25-7 and 25-17 sweep on Senior Night.
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Morning News - Ryan Collingwood
Snake River’s Linsdsay VanOrden (4) floats one over the Marsh Valley defense during Wednesday night’s Senior Night battle against SEIC foe Marsh Valley. The Lady Panthers swept the visiting Eagles in three sets.
After being down 2-0 in the first game, the Lady Panthers turned the tables in the bat of an eye, leading 10-4 before concluding the would-be 25-17 match, while junior setter Rachael Williams’ 13 consecutive serves in the second game proved to be the catalyst in the 25-7 ousting.
“Rachael pretty much won that second game for us,” Snake River assistant coach Johnna Lund said. “ We had more service errors tonight than we usually do, though.”
In the third set, the Panthers showed a case of complacency, being down as much as four before a late run would propel a mimic score of the first game, 25-17.
Though futile, the Lady Eagles drew first blood in each of the three sets.
“All year we have kind of started our games out slow,” Lund noted. “ But after that we show up.”
For the duo of seniors who played their final game at the net within the confines of the Moreland based school, Lindsay VanOrden and Jessica Porter relished the triumph.
“It was good to get a win on senior night,” said VanOrden, who recorded five kills on the evening. “It was a good win and now we’re looking forward to American Falls then districts.”
Porter agreed.
“Everyone played a great game,” Porter said. “It was good to go out on a win at home.”
While the upperclassman were in a state of reminiscence, it was six-foot sophomore Eden VanOrden who stole the spotlight with a team high 12 kills.
With the win, Snake River (21-9, 4-1) is a game away from attaining a regular season title and locking up the No. 1 seed going into the SEIC district tournament in Marsh Valley on Tuesday. Bear Lake, who split with Snake River this season, would be second in conference having lost the overall match total to the Panthers followed by American Falls and Marsh Valley tentatively.
Snake River travels to AF today at 6 p.m.