The Akron area will have three athletes competing for the United States of America in the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing, China.

The athletes are: basketball player LeBron James, swimmer Mark Gangloff and javelin thrower Kim Kreiner. The trio all competed and represented USA in the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Greece.

Gangloff won a gold medal in the 2004 Olympics as a member of the 400-meter medley relay and placed fourth in the 100-meter breast stroke. James won a bronze medal on the basketball team.

James graduated from St. Vincent-St. Mary High School in 2003 and currently stars for the Cleveland Cavaliers in the National Basketball Association.

Gangloff graduated from Firestone High School in 2000 and Auburn University in 2005.

Kreiner graduated from Mogadore High School in 1995 and earned a degree from Kent State.

The Akron Beacon Journal wishes the trio good luck in Beijing!!!

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)

Football

Mogadore 34, Garrettsville 31

Varsity Letters Player of the Game: Mogadore senior running back Cody Destro carried the ball 21 times for 172 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Wildcats (4-1, 1-0) over Garrettsville (2-3, 1-1) in a battle between last season’s Portage Trail Conference County Division co-champs.

Destro had touchdown runs of 57, 3 and 1 yards to help Mogadore defeat the Wildcats for the second consecutive season.

Mogadore senior running back Ryan Brodie also had 15 carries, 96 yards and a rushing touchdown.

“With Cody’s size, he is going to wear teams down a little bit,” Mogadore coach Matt Adorni said. “Hopefully he’ll be able to open up the outside a little bit for Brodie.”

Here is a preseason look at Portage Trail Conference County Division football for the 2007 season. In this post, you will find players (and any all-star recognition they received in the league last season) to watch from each team and my predictions for the upcoming season.

MOGADORE (11-3 overall, 6-1 in the PTC County last season; PTC County co-champs)

Top players: Senior RB-LB Cody Destro (first-team PTC County offense, second-team All-Ohio and first-team all-district in Division VI), senior Sean Holland (second-team defense).

GARRETTSVILLE (7-3, 6-1; PTC County co-champs)

Top players: Senior OL-LB Chris Taylor (first-team offense), junior OL-WR-K Caleb Schwan (first-team special teams), senior WR-DB Kenny Vanek (second-team offense), senior WR-OL Kyle Hartman (second-team offense), junior John Hartman (second-team defense), senior RB-LB Brad Mast (second-team defense).

WINDHAM (7-4, 5-2)

Top players: Sophomore RB-WR-DB Jay Lugo (honorable-mention PTC), junior Kyle Cooper (honorable-mention PTC).

STREETSBORO (5-5, 5-2)

Top players: Junior RB-WR-DB Cory Lanterman (first-team offense), junior DB-WR Mike Edwards (first-team defense), senior John Cushman (second-team offense), senior Doug Tackett (second-team defense).

WOODRIDGE (3-7, 3-4)

Top players: Senior DL-OL Andy Jenkins (first-team defense), senior QB-DB Dave Krusinski (second-team offense), senior WR-DB Josh Jones (second-team offense).

ROOTSTOWN (2-8, 2-5)

Top players: Senior RB Corey Devitt (first-team offense), senior DL-OL Joe Farrah (second-team defense).

EAST CANTON (1-9, 1-6)

Top player: Senior RB Mike Wheeler (second-team offense).

WATERLOO (0-10, 0-7)

Top player: Senior Joe Adelman (honorable-mention PTC).

Here are my 2007 preseason predictions for the PTC County Division.

1. Mogadore

2. Garrettsville

3. Windham

4. Woodridge

5. Streetsboro

6. Rootstown

7. East Canton

8. Waterloo

Here is my explanation for my picks: I expect the top three teams from last season to finish in the same order again. I think defending co-champs Mogadore and Garrettsville could easily tie for first again. But if I had to pick one over the other, I give the slight edge to Mogadore because it’s running back Cody Destro’s senior season, and I think Wildcats coach Matt Adorni will get the most out of Destro in his last high school season. I also think the bottom three teams from last season will finish in the bottom three again. The only difference I’m predicting from last year, is Woodridge’s improvement. I think the Bulldogs will finish fourth and have an outside chance of sneaking into third. There is a lot of buzz around the league about Woodridge senior quarterback Dave Krusinski and the Bulldogs senior class.

Let me know what you think. How do you think the teams will finish in the PTC County Division?