Wednesday, August 23rd, 2006

Another shutout posted by Bulldogs

By Ryan Hines
The Celina girls tennis team recorded its second straight 5-0 victory in three matches to start the season as the Bulldogs shut out Sidney.
Celina is now 3-0 on the season.
Kelly Casad defeated Natsumi Watanabe, 6-1 and 6-0 in first singles, Erynn Piper cruised past Emma VanMatre, 6-1 and 6-0 and then Kendra Menchhofer rounded out the singles competition with a third straight win, 6-1 and 6-0 over Dezare Van Hook.
Erin Brooks and Jess VanTilburg combined in first doubles to roll past Heather Monsauret and Nikki Niswonger, 6-1 and 6-1 while the second doubles team of Alissa Westgerdes and Amber Jaeger didn't allow a point in a 6-0 and 6-0 triumph.
Sara Dorsten won her jayvee singles match 8-0 while Candy Kluver and Jess Wills played a doubles match and won 8-0.

BOYS GOLF
Cougars knock off area pair  
Coldwater and Parkway traveled to Willow Bend in Van Wert for a Tuesday tri-match with host Van Wert.
The Cougars, one of the favorites in the Western Buckeye League, pulled away to win the tri with a round of 146. Parkway was second with 163 with Coldwater third at 174.
Van Wert's scorching pace was set by medalist Tony Conn, who came up big with a 3-under 32 on the par-35 nine-hole match.
Ross Black paced Parkway with a 37. Trevor Krogman came up with a 38 while Levon Archer and Eric Shrider each carded 44s. Chris Roth rounded out the scoring with a 47.
Kurt Reithman paced Coldwater with a 37 with teammate Seth Kahle a stroke behind at 38. Justin Goubeaux shot a 49 with Ryan Kaiser and Alex Geier each adding rounds of 50.
Parkway hosts St. John's today at Deerfield.

GIRLS GOLF
Fort Loramie wins trimatch
The Fort Loramie girls golf team distanced themselves from a pair of Grand Lake area squads on Tuesday at Arrowhead. The Redskins won the trimatch with a score of 202 while New Bremen and Marion Local finished with scores of 221 and 244, respectively.
Fort Loramie's Tara Olberding was the medalist with a round of 44.
Becky Hartwig led New Bremen carding a 49. Jackie Scheer followed with a 54, Kim Nosek had a 56 and Emily Phlipot shot a 62.
Abby Hartings led Marion Local with a round of 53 and Steph Heitkamp added a 60 while Holly Bender and Brittany Reichert finished with rounds of 65 and 66.
Bulldogs beaten by Lancers
The Celina girls golf team fell to Lincolnview at The Woods on Tuesday, 216-235.
Lincolnview's Whitney Fries was medalist with a round of 47.
Ellen Bryan led Celina with a round of 57. Kelsey Moorman and Gina Everman each shot 58 while the tandem of Abby Welker and Tabitha Knous carded 62s.
Celina will host Defiance at The Fox's Den on Thursday.

CROSS COUNTRY
Icebreaker Invite
The Celina cross country teams traveled to Upper Sandusky for the second annual Icebreaker Invite which featured 15 schools. The Celina boys finished third while the girls placed eighth.
Marion River Valley (48 points) and Tiffin Columbian (58 points) took the top two spots in the boys race ahead of the Bulldogs' 118 points.
Isaac Niekamp led Celina with a fourth-place finish in a time of 17:52 with 96 runners competing in the race. Chris Johnson was 14th with a time of 18:38 and Luke Bonvillian crossed the line in 20th while Peter Starnes finished 38th in a time of 20:04.
Toledo Notre Dame Academy won the girls championship with 53 points, followed by Napoleon (85) and Upper Sandusky (86).
Celina, which finished with 231 points, was led by Melissa Roth, who completed the course in 21:21, good enough for eighth out of 99 runners. Heather Petrie also ran a top 20 time with a 19th-place finish in a time of 22:32.
The jayvee boys placed second in the team scoring as sophomore Eric Ballinger took third overall in a time of 20:13. Teammate Nick Siebert was fourth in 20:24, Nate Gunter ninth in 21:08 and Zach Besand 11th in 21:27. Tiffin Columbian won the jayvee race with 21 points while CHS tallied 44.
In the girls jayvee race, freshman Mickaela Sudhoff placed 21st in a time of 27:02.
The Celina Rotary Invitational, is Saturday at 9:30 a.m. at the Wright State Lake campus. The Invitational is Celina's only home meet of the season.
Additional online stories on this date
FORT RECOVERY - Get out the earplugs and lawn chairs. Ambassador Park is revving up for the invasion of Grand National truck and tractor pulling Friday and Saturday. [More]
An expected rise in Celina water rates for city and rural customers likely will put more pressure on Mercer County officials to build their own water system. [More]
Subscriber and paid stories on this date
A number of potential economic development projects are brewing, Mercer County Community Development Director Larry Stelzer told county commissioners Tuesday.
A Celina native will spend 30 years behind bars for the armed robbery of a St. Marys bank in May.
Travis Smith, 32, of Marion, was sentenced on Fri
NEW BREMEN - After being tabled several times and discussed at an executive session, New Bremen village councilors passed a step-pay plan Tuesday night that contains clothing allowances and licensing incentives.
ST. HENRY - High School Principal Frank Griesdorn said he expects to hear complaints because the St. Henry board of education approved charging for both high school and middle school sporting events.
COLDWATER-Students enjoyed a relatively smooth first day of school in the newly renovated and reconstructed school board members were told during the regular meeting Tuesday night.
More products added at 6,000-square-feet facility in Celina
The Fastenal Company has moved from its former location at the Galleria on Wayne Street to a new address at 443 W. Logan Street.
The new 6,000-squa
Whether printed on a football or plastered on a billboard, Celina resident Tina Pease says she can get the word out quick about local businesses, fund raisers and other activities.
The start of this year's football season is just days away, and though the playoffs are over two months away, some factors that determine who will make the postseason will be determined this weekend.
Without having to split time between athletic director duties and coaching anymore, Dan Otten is excited to give his full attention to the Celina cross country program.
COLDWATER - Coldwater cross country coach Dan Pohlman has plenty of experience on both his boys and girls teams for this season.
The Cavalier boys
The numbers game that has hampered some area cross country teams has cast its shadow at Fort Recovery.
The Indians will not have a boys harrier te
Marion Local's girls and boys cross country squads both return a great majority of their varsity runners from a year ago and look to show improvements over last year's showings.
As defending two-time state champions and with everyone from last year's squad returning for this fall, the most interesting battle in girls cross country in Division III will likely be the one for second place.
The New Bremen boys cross country team is hoping that the pack mentality that they used a season ago to postseason success will carry over to an even more successful 2006 season.
In a prepared statement for the media, St. Henry head coach Michael Eyink, who is starting his 18th season at the helm, said he had one word to describe his boys cross country team this year.
St. Marys cross country head coach has had talented teams in the past, but to have talent and depth, that's something the Roughriders' mentor hasn't seen in a long time.
Versailles cross country coach Mark Pleiman has plenty of runners to choose from between his boys and girls teams this season.
While the Tiger girl
The Celina golf program was hit hard by graduation a year ago as both Keith Vandeventer and Sue Grubaugh are searching for consistency among a group of untested varsity golfers.
The Coldwater golf teams have different expectations for the 2006 season.
For Jack Mescher's boys team, it will be a chance to move up the scale after an exceptional third-place showing at the Midwest Athletic Conference meet last fall.
While the Fort Recovery boys golf team looks to improve from last season's 10th-place showing at the Midwest Athletic Conference meet, the girls team will look to enhance individual scores with just four golfers out for the team.
The Marion Local boys and girls golf teams will start the season in markedly different fashions, at least from a numbers perspective.
The boys have a record 18 golfers out, with a few solid veterans mixed in with some young men getting their first taste of the game.
With an appearance in the state tournament last season, Aaron Homan's Minster Wildcats are thirsting for more of the same once again this fall.
If summer preparations are any indication of future success, Homan could very well field one of Minster's best teams yet.
There's an old adage in golf, drive for show, putt for dough.
What this basically means is that holes, rounds and eventually tournaments are usually won from the putting green.
The Parkway golf program brings back plenty of experience for this year's boys and girls teams.
Mike Schumm, who coached the girls team last season
The old saying goes, "There's a first time for everything."
Well in this case, it would apply to the St. Henry girls golf team that will be taking to the links for the first time in history this year.
According to head coach Kurt Kuffner, this season could be a special one for the St. Marys boys golf team.
Hard work over the offseason by a dedica
Both the Versailles boys and girls golf teams have some experienced players back this season as the Tigers' expectations are on the rise for this fall.
Expectations are always high for the Celina boys and girls teams and this year is no different.
The Bulldog boys are fresh off a Western Buckeye League title with nearly all starters back while the ladies' squad features a deep team sprinkled with talented athletes.
The St. Marys soccer program appears to be on the rise this season with experience and talent for both Roughrider teams.
Dave Ring's boys squad ret
The new tennis courts along with a successful summer program have the Celina girls tennis team thinking about contending in the Western Buckeye League.
St. Marys tennis head coach Brice Brenneman is hoping that his girls' team can take the experience from a year ago and take the next step this season.
With five starters returning for the Roughriders this year, Brenneman has cause for cautious optimism.