Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy coach Jason Spodnik confirmed that a trio of Royals seniors will continue their acadmic and soccer careers in college.

Blake Berkey, Alex Sosler and Danny Thompson were pivital players for a CVCA team that won the Division II state championship and compiled an 18-1-3 record.

The Beacon Journal previously reported Thompson’s decision to play at Messiah College in Grantham, Pa. Thompson, a midfielder, scored both goals in the state final, had 17 goals for the season and was named the Beacon Journal Boys Soccer Player of the Year.

Berkey, a midfielder, is headed for Gordon College in Wenham, Mass. Sosler, a goal keeper, is bound for North Carolina Wesleyan College in Rocky Mount, N.C.

Spodnik said Sosler holds the all-time state record for career shutouts with 53.

The Archbishop Hoban boy’s volleyball team continues to excel this season. Last Thursday the Knights beat Walsh Jesuit to advance to the State Semifinals 11 a.m. Saturday at Hilliard Davidson High School in Columbus. The Knights beat the Warriors in three straight sets 25-18, 25-151, 25-11.

If Hoban should win they will play in the Division II state final 5 p.m. Sunday.

The Revere club Rugby team put together a decent showing in its first Northeast Ohio High School Rugby Division II Championship. The team started three hours later than when they were scheduled and began their first round game against Canton “flat” coach Keith Bull said.

The Minutemen still were able to play to a 3-3 tie at half before falling 6-3 in a close game. They then won their second game of the season in the losers bracket as they beat Copley 17-13. Revere then lost to St. Edwards 22-8 to finish in sixth place out of eight teams.

In today’s story Senior Captain Brandon Rotili said one of the main reasons he had an interest in the sport of rugby is because of a New Zealand teams ritual dance. Rotili said they incorporated the All Black’s Haka into their soccer games at Revere. For those of you who are interested in what the Haka actually looks like check out the video below.” alt=”New Zealand All Blacks’ Haka”>

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.

Al Huge has been selected to become the next varsity football coach at Nordonia High School. He formally will be announced at a news conference at 2:15 p.m. Tuesday.
Huge (pronounced Hew-gee), a former player at Nordonia, previously has been the Knights’ defensive coordinator.
He succeeds Jason Hall, who resigned in early April to become the varsity coach at Massillon High School.
At the time he resigned, Hall said he recommended Huge to become his replacement.

It was a long day of softball for the St. Vincent St Mary softball team. The Fighting Irish played three games in the Elyria Classic Tournament, winning two. The Fighting Irish lost to Midview 7-2 in the first game.  

Senior Olivia Mathews made it all worth while in the second game. The senior hit a game-winning grand slam home run to cap a seven run seventh inning rally and help the Fighting Irish defeat Oberlin 9-7

Mathews added a triple in third game. St. V-M beat North Olmsted 9-2 in their final game of the day.  

Manchester High School junior Ashley Harbarger pitched a perfect game Friday and led the Panthers to a 1-0 softball victory over Dalton in the Champions Challenge at Loudonville.

Harbarger recorded seven strikeouts and also contributed as a hitter by getting a single. She improved her season record to 8-4 and the perfect game was her first in her high school career.

Harbarger’s performance outshined a solid effort by Dalton senior Andrea Arney, a University of Akron softball recruit. Arney, the Bulldogs top pitcher and hitter, struck out five batters and her record this season is also 8-4. Dalton has won the past two Division IV state championships.

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.

Although boy’s high school volleyball still falls behind other states — like California, Illinois and Pennsylvania – it is headed in the right direction.

In fact is quite incredible to see the steps that people like Scott Ebright, the executive director of the Ohio High School Boys Volleyball Association, and Hoban coach Matt Mihelic, who doubles as president of the OHSVBA, have made for the sport.

Those two, along with many others, have helped develop an entire association that runs concurrently to what the OHSAA does, making for a seamless transition for when or if boy’s volleyball becomes a sanctioned sport in the state of Ohio. You can check it out the hard work for yourself at this site. 

Boy’s volleyball is much more fast-paced and athletic then I thought it would be. Ebright described the sport to me as “explosive.” While I am not willing to go that far yet, I would say that it is an exciting sport that the fans seemed to get into at Hoban High School.  Watching senior Jojo Sokol go above the net and scorch kills past St. Edward’s defenders was a sight to see in itself.

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.