The George Auten Invitational was conducted in mostly rain at Ellet High School, yet North won the boys title and Firestone won the girls crown.

North won the boys meet with 155 points and Firestone (118) edged Ellet (117) in the girls meet.

North senior Troy Burgan was the boys meet high-point scorer with 32 points after winning the 110 meter hurdles and the 300 hurdles. Burgan also placed second in the long jump and fifth in the high jump.

The Vikings won two relays: the 3,200 (Steve Triola, Davon Coman, Shaun Cummings and LaRue Wimley) and the 400 (DeMonte Powell, Lase Brooks, Antuan Logan and Larry Dawson).

Brooks, a senior, also won the 100 and 200.

“We had prom last night and had everyone show up today in the rain, which was nice,” North coach Tom O’Neil said. ‘”They are an extemely dedicated senior class.”

Firestone senior Nia Johnson won the 3,200 and the Falcons won two relays: the 800 (Julie Kostura, Monique Ransome, Courtney Carter, Rachel White) and the 1600 (Alex Olmedo, McKenna Morton, Courtney Carter, Kachay Hullum).

“Our team has worked very hard this season and they are very deserving of this victory,” Firestone coach Malia Milec said. “I am confident that they will continue their success.”

Kenmore’s Shanequa Williams won the girls 100, 200 and 400.

Ellet, Archbishop Hoban and Firestone rounded out the top four teams on the boys side. Hathaway Brown and North placed third and fourth on the girls side.

Three Firestone football players will be continuing their careers in college next season, and two at the same school.
Trevor Kennedy, who was a first-team All-City performer at quarterback, will play at Mercyhurst (Pa.) College, along with receiver Jeffery Brantley. Meanwhile, Ross Davis, a running back for the Falcons, will be a preferred walk-on at the University of Akron.

The three players helped the Falcons (7-2, overall and 6-0 in the City Series) win the outright City championship for the first time since the school opened in 1963 and started playing in 1964.

The City Series baseball teams will not have a four-team playoff at the end of the regular season. One veteran City coach said there may have been the perception on the outside that the reason the league did away with the playoff system several years ago was because the district was going through financial difficulty, which forced cuts in extracurricular activities.

The district passed a levy which helped bring back those extracurricular activities that were cut. But Ellet coach John Sarver said the levy had nothing to do with the elimination of the playoff system.

Sarver said it all started a few years back when the basketball teams decided to drop the four-team playoff system and instead just play the championship game between the top two teams. That change was implemented because the basketball teams, in putting together schedules each season, had to factor in the possibility of playing in the semifinal and/or championship games. That meant coaches could only schedule 18 games (OHSAA rules allow for 20 regular season games) in case they made it to the City playoffs. But if a team didn’t make the playoffs, they would have only played 18 or 19 games during the regular season.

So the baseball teams decided to follow suit and drop the playoff system, allowing the coaches to schedule two additional games in place of the two dates they would have reserved for the playoffs.

Incidently, OHSAA rules allow 27 regular season baseball games.

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.

Firestone boys basketball coach Jerry Laria and Kenmore girls basketball coach Yontami Jones will be honored as the Coaches of the Year during the Summit-Portage Touchdown Club’s annual awards dinner April 20th.

Also, Firestone senior guard Ramel Mitchell, the City Series Player of the Year the past two seasons, and Kenmore junior guard Andola Dortch, who also was the City Series Player of the Year this past season, will be honored as Players of the Year.

Mitchell, a 5-foot-10 guard who was a first-team Division I All-Ohio selection, averaged 19.2 points a game and helped lead the Falcons to the regional semifinals for the second consecutive year. Mitchell has several Division II offers but his dream is to play at the Division I level. Word is that he has an offer to be a preferred walk-on at Kent State. I’m hoping that works out for Mitchell because he’s such a dynamic all-around player, the only downside is his height.

If things don’t work out for Mitchell at Kent State, he could still transfer to a Division II school and play right away. But Mitchell isn’t looking at that scenario right now.

Dortch, meanwhile, averaged 22 points a game this past season and was a third-team Division I all-state performer. She led the Cardinals to the regional semifinals where they lost to Boardman. The Spartans made it to the state Final Four.

Dortch, 5-7, is a legitimate Division I recruit and has several Big Ten, Big East and MAC schools interested. What sets her apart is that she has outstanding ball-handling skills, she has a consistent outside shot and she can penetrate and finish strong at any time.

Eric Mitchell is beginning his first season as Firestone boys track and field coach.

Mitchell took over after Matt Beaven resigned. Beaven, who coached the Falcons boys team the last two seasons, left to focus on his family and job at the University of Akron.

Mitchell is also the football coach at Warrensville Heights and teaches in the Brush school district.

The Canton Timken boys basketball team will play Toledo Whtimer tonight at 7:30 p.m. at Rhodes Arena in a Division I regional championship game at the University of Akron.

The winner of tonight’s game advances to Columbus for the state final four at Value City Arena on the campus of Ohio State University.

Timken, 24-0 this season, is seeking its first appearance in the state final four since 1960.

Timken and Whitmer have had to wait to play this game, orginally scheduled for Saturday, due to the heavy snowfall that recently hit Northeast Ohio.

Timken has defeated Massillon Washington, Jackson, Perry and Firestone so far in the tournament.

Senior guards Johnie Davis and Christian Alston and junior forward Chaz Moore led the Trojans past the Falcons this past Thursday.

If Timken wins the regional title it will mark the fifth consecutive season the Canton district winner will qualify for the state final four. GlenOak advanced to state in 2007 and Canton McKinley advanced to state in 2004, 2005 and 2006. McKinley won state titles in 2005 and 2006.

Firestone senior Leeanna Hoover won the Division I girls state diving championship Thursday morning in Canton. Her teammate, senior Bethany Haver, placed second.

Walsh Jesuit senior Tia Marquinez placed ninth in the Division II girls diving championship.

The boys diving championship is scheduled to start tonight at 7 p.m.

Look for a story in Friday’s Akron Beacon Journal about the state diving meet.

This morning, I attended a banquet for the Jack Greynolds Memorial Classic.

At the banquet, the late Jack Greynolds was honored for the impact he made in Northeast Ohio. Greynolds compiled a 549-121 record in 29 seasons as a head boys basketball coach at Revere and Barberton. He led the Magics to a state title in 1976.

The third annual Jack Greynolds Memorial Classic is scheduled to feature seven boys basketball games Dec. 28-29.

Here is the schedule: (Friday, Dec. 28) Copley vs. Medina 5:15 p.m., Green vs. Jackson 7 p.m. and GlenOak vs. Warren Harding; (Saturday, Dec. 29) Norton vs. Wadsworth noon, Revere vs. Kenmore 1:45 p.m., Manchester vs. Northwest 3:30 p.m. and Barberton vs. Firestone 5:30 p.m.

Click here for more information about the Jack Greynolds Memorial Classic.

Several of the coaches whose teams will be competing in the showcase were at the banquet. Firestone coach Jerry Laria brought his senior point guard Ramel Mitchell with him.

I talked to Mitchell about the Falcons’ 3-0 start and his plans for college. He said he is receiving interest from Kent State University, but he is still undecided about which college he will attend.

I think Mitchell would be a good fit in KSU coach Jim Christian’s system. I think Mitchell is one of the best high school guards in the area, and perhaps the best pound-for-pound local player.

Ta-myra Davis, a 2006 Firestone graduate, has transferred to Wright State to continue her basketball and academic career.

Davis will have three years of eligibility remaining with the start of the Raiders 2008-09 season. She played her freshman season at Youngstown State.

Davis, a 6-foot-1 forward/center, appeared in 24 games for the Penguins and averaged 3.9 points and 4.3 rebounds while shooting 50 percent in field goal attempts.

Davis led Firestone to the City Series title as a senior, averaging about 17 points, 15 rebounds and three steals per game. She was named City Series Player of the Year that season and was a Division I Special Mention All-Ohio and a first-team all-district selection.

The Falcons won City Series titles in each of her four seasons and she amassed over 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds in her high school career.