Hey everyone! This is my column that’s running in the Akron Beacon Journal Friday, but it’s posted on Ohio.com now, as you can see. Thanks to everyone who submitted votes for their favorite high school nicknames. If there are other crazy nicknames from out of state, post them so we can all get some laughs. Thanks again!

The high school girls tennis season continues this week with district competition.

The Division I district tournament at Oberlin College features two singles players and one doubles unit from the area. Firestone’s Christine Coffman and Jackson’s Trisha Conlan are top seeds in singles, and Revere’s Natalie Robson and Brittany Miller are a top doubles tandem.

The Oberlin district will be played on Thursday and Saturday.

The Division II district tournament at Weis Park in Canton features a singles player and two doubles groups from the area. Canton South’s Morgan Murray is a top seed in singles. Walsh Jesuit’s Nancy Joyce and Cristin Reed and Canton Central Catholic’s Lauren Coggins and Hannah Lindesmith are top doubles units.

The Canton district will be played on Wednesday and Saturday.

Canton South junior WR Jerald Robinson (6-2, 175) is one of 17 Ohio football players in the 2010 class to be nominated for the U.S. Army All-American Bowl game. Robinson is one of 400 players nationally to be nominated for the game.

Robinson, who has orally committed to play at Michigan, is the only local player on the list. Solon junior DL Darryl Baldwin is also on the list.

The official roster won’t be decided until December. The game is Jan. 9, 2010 at the Alamodome in San Antonio. It will be televised live on NBC starting at 1 p.m.

It’s been just over a month (Feb. 9) since Canton South junior WR Jerald Robinson (6-2, 175) made an oral commitment to play at Michigan.

Despite the high-profile commitment, South coach Moe Daniska said Robinson was able to re-focus on the current high school basketball season within the past month.

This summer, Robinson’s offseason football workouts will be the same as the rest of his teammates. He will be working out in the Wildcats’ lifting/conditioning program three days a week on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday.

“Jerald is a level-headed young man who is very excited about the opportunity to play football in Ann Arbor after he graduates,” Daniska said in an e-mail this week. “He understands he needs to continue working hard and doing the same things he did to earn the opportunity.”

Daniska said Robinson has done well to not worry about 2010 – knowing that he wants to be prepared when it arrives.

“His current focus is to get himself and his teammates ready to have a successful season at Canton South next year,” Daniska said.

The Malone College baseball team seems to be peaking at the right time. With just six games left on the season, the Pioneers are riding a 13-game winning streak and look to wrap up the American Mideast Conference this weekend in a doubleheader at Mount Vernon Nazarene.

The Pioneers are 33-9 and ranked No. 20 in the latest NAIA Coaches’ Top 25 Poll. They won the National Christian College Athletic Association Division I Championship in 2006.

The roster is peppered with plenty of local players like Chris Mandeville (Tuslaw), Zach Winkhart (Canton Central Catholic), Ryan Baechel (Glen  Oak), Adam Boudler (louisville) and Zac Barson (Canton South) just to name a few. Here is the complete roster and here is complete statistics for the season.

When it comes to track, it’s always about who ran the fastest, jumped the highest or threw the shot or the discus the farthest. But sometimes there are stories, GREAT, INSPRATIONAL STORIES, that don’t have to do with who won.

For instance, I remember watching the local news in the fall, I think it was, and there was an amazing story about a young lady (she may have been from the Youngstown area), who was competing in the state high school cross country meet and was almost near the finish line. Then came a gruesome sight. She broke her leg on the course and fell to the ground.

But this young lady had the courage and fortitude to crawl and limp her way to the finish line, despite being in obvious pain.

It was a story of incredible self-will. This young lady needed medical help, but she didn’t want it. She was withering with pain but she wanted to finish that race, and if you watched the video, you couldn’t help but get a little emotional, knowing she was in a world of pain. But watching her will her way to that finish line, regardless of the pain she was experiencing, was breathtaking and moving.

The yound lady gave a great television interview a few days later and it was great to see she was doing well and was in good spirts. I think she even joked that all she was thinking about, when she went down, was that she wasn’t going to be able to dance at her sister’s wedding later that night.

I witnessed another incredible story, but it didn’t involve injury. A few years ago I was covering a regional track meet at Ravenna and the Copley girls were favored in this particular relay event. As the race began, Copley was right there, as expected. But during one of the exchanges, the baton was dropped and the team was out of the race.

The young lady who dropped the baton was devasted. I mean, I had never seen an athlete more distraught. What I found out later was that the young lady was only a sophomore and there were two seniors on that relay team. The sophomore felt she had blown it for the seniors because it was their last chance to make it to state.

She was on the infield of the track, as the race was still going, slumped over an emotional ball.

She just shuddered and shook as she cried.

Then, former Copley standout Carrie Dyer, who was a senior and on that relay team, ran to the young runner to comfort her.

Then the rest of the realy team followed.

To me, that was one of the most inspirational stories I had ever witnessed.

The sophomore was heartbroken. But she was heartbroken because she cared about her teammates and wanted to perform at her best so that it would help the seniors.

It didn’t happen. But when it didn’t happen, the seniors weren’t mad, bitter or upset. They showed support for their younger teammate because they loved her. And in the end, winning didn’t matter.

So, with that, I’m asking readers to post any inspirational stories you witnessed, in track or any other sport, that didn’t involve someone winning.

A story where someone overcame odds to get where they are. Or a story about teammates helping one another.

Those are the most compelling stories.

High School Football Playoff Schedule

Note: These are probable playoff matchups according to www.joeeitel.com and the matchups have changed several times on Saturday, which means they might be different on the website on Sunday. Official OHSAA playoff pairings will be released Monday.

Friday’s Games
(All games 7:30 p.m., unless noted)

Division II, Region 5
Firestone (7-3) at Tallmadge (9-1)

Division II, Region 7
Lake (7-3) at Louisville (8-2)

Division III, Region 9
Field (9-1) at Walsh Jesuit (8-1)
Cortland Lakeview (8-2) at Aurora (9-1)
Ravenna (8-2) at Mentor Lake Catholic (6-3)

Divison III, Region 11
Poland Seminary (7-3) at Northwest (10-0)
New Concord John Glenn (8-2) at West Branch (8-2)
Canton South (6-4) at Dover (7-3)

Divison V, Region 17
Northwestern (9-1) at Waynedale (8-2)

Saturday’s Games
(All games 7 p.m., unless noted)

Division I, Region 2
GlenOak (6-4) at Brunswick (10-0)
Toledo St. John’s Jesuit (6-4) at North Canton Hoover (8-2)
Perrysburg (8-2) at Nordonia (9-1)
Wadsworth (9-1) at Toledo Whitmer (8-2)

Division IV, Region 13
CVCA (9-1) at Stuebenville (10-0)
Tusky Valley (8-2) at Canton Central Catholic (9-1)
Lake Co. Perry (9-1) at St. Vincent-St. Mary (8-2)

Division VI, Region 21
Columbiana (7-3) at Mogadore (9-1)

It’s time to take a look at what Stark County’s two-sport star Devon Torrence has been up to. Torrence, a Canton South graduate, was drafted by the Houston Astros in June. He will also play football for Ohio State University.

Torrence’s younger brother, DeVoe, is a senior running back/linebacker for Massillon. DeVoe Torrence is the Beacon Journal preseason defensive player of the year and an Ohio State recruit.

The Beacon Journal’s Marla Ridenour wrote a story about Devon Torrence’s summer of minor-league baseball and his role with the Buckeyes.

The high school football season is almost here.

The first games of the 2007 season in the Beacon Journal’s coverage area are Garfield at Archbishop Hoban and Dover at Canton South. Both games are scheduled for Thursday, Aug. 23.

The Beacon Journal’s high school football preview section will be released on Aug. 22.
As the season approaches, I plan to post predictions each of the area leagues, players to watch and other football-related items.

If you have any questions about the upcoming football season (whether it’s about a team, player, coach, league, game or anything else), please feel free to leave a comment on this blog. I will reply.

Stay tuned for plenty of football material.

The football season is approaching, so I compiled a list of high school seniors from the Beacon Journal’s five-county coverage area who are listed as prospects on www.scout.com. There are several area players who are not on this list who will surely play in college. Nonetheless, this should give you some names to look for this season.

Here are the players, the positions they are being recruited at and their high schools (click on the player’s name for more information from scout.com and make sure to scroll down the player’s bio page to see which colleges have made offers):

DeVoe Torrence/running back/transfered from Canton South to Massillon Washington/committed to Ohio State University

Johnny Adams/wide receiver/Buchtel

Steve Yoak/linebacker/Archbishop Hoban

Will Fleming/safety/Archbishop Hoban

Eric Magnacca/safety/Perry

Whitney Mercilous/defensive end/Garfield

Larry Dawson/running back/North

K.J. Herring/runnning back/Massillon Washington

Jeff White/running back/Alliance

Carlin Isles/running back/Jackson

Kameron Alexander/running back/Buchtel

Dominic Surace/fullback/Twinsburg

Jordan Bell/wide receiver/Barberton

Chris Edwards/wide receiver/Wadsworth

Teddy Robb/wide receiver/Northwest

Justin Ray/offensive line/St. Thomas Aquinas

Reggie Comeaux/offensive line/Massillon Washington

Grady Spidell/offensive line/Buchtel

Kevin Dahl/linebacker/North Canton Hoover

David Whipple/safety/Canton South

Matthew Vick/safety/Perry

Steve Schott/kicker/Massillon Washington

Steve Yoak