Yellow Springs High School hurdler Julie Roberts breaks ahead of the pack at the Bulldog Invitational held on Monday this week. Roberts took first place in both the 100-meter and 300-meter hurdles. (Photo by Dylan Taylor-Lehman)
May 11, 2017 Bulldog Sports Round-up
- Published: May 11, 2017
TRACK AND FIELD
Monday evening was the perfect day for a track meet, a mix of clear blue skies, warming sun and the cheers of dedicated Bulldogs fans. The meet was the Bulldog Invitational, originally scheduled for Friday, but bad weather forced it to be rescheduled for Monday. Nevertheless, all schools were on deck, as were volunteers such as Yellow Springs resident Reggie Baxter, who staffed the event and kept it running smoothly.
Baxter was working the long-jump pit, where, with rake in hand, he smoothed over the sand between jumpers. His daughter Kelly Baxter is currently a senior and runs on the YSHS track team, and he said that he wanted to take advantage of being in the world of high school sports before Kelly went off to college next near. As a retired coach and high school administrator, he made a career of being involved in school activities, but with all of his kids leaving home, it seems like he will finally be full-time retired. But that doesn’t mean it will be easy for him to take a step back.
“I enjoy coming and watching the kids participate in sports,” he said. “You can’t help but want to step up and just try to make it good for the kids. You get in that public service frame of mind and don’t want to stop.”
The meet was staffed by another set of volunteers, who manned the critically important concession stand. Wendy Ricks-Hoff has been doing it a while and knows how much food to get ready for each event. She starts getting supplies ready the day before and starts cooking at 3 p.m. the day of. The weather plays a large part in what people get, and she has to make adjustments accordingly.
Money raised at the concession stand benefits a different high school class depending on the quarter, she explained. The junior class reaped the proceeds from spring quarter, which will be used to host school activities. The junior class paid for prom this year and is responsible for homecoming next year.
Thanks to the work of the volunteers, the sand was smoothed over, hotdogs were at the ready and dozens of hurdles were raised and lowered to their required heights. Although rescheduled, the Bulldogs’ lone home meet went off without a hitch and resulted in some noteworthy achievements by the home team athletes.
The girls’ squad swept up a number of first place finishes, basking in home field advantage and coming in first place overall among nine teams. The boys had some good finishes but ultimately came in last place.
Julie Roberts came in first in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 17.28. Ayanna Madison came in first in the 100-meter sprint, with a time of 13.51, while Stacia Strodes came in fourth with a time of 14.21. The girls 4×400 relay team, consisting of Madison, Roberts, Olivia Brintlinger-Conn and True Hall, ran the baton all the way to first place, finishing in 4:30.62. Dani Worsham strode to first place in the race walk, covering 800 meters in 4:23.42.
Out on the field, Payden Kegley took second in the pole vaunt, launching herself 7´6˝. True Hall jumped 4´8˝ to take second in the high jump. Amani Wagner and Jasmine Davidson took second and third in the shot put, throwing a heavy metal ball 33´0.5˝ and 32´4.5˝ respectively. Amani Wagner easily took first in the discus, throwing the UFO-like platter 108´6˝, 22 feet further than the second place finisher.
The boys took a number of spots in the 3200-meter race, with Sam Wildenhaus, Zach Lugo and Eli Capasso taking second, fourth and sixth places, respectively. James Browning took first in the high jump, leaping 6´2˝ to the top. Joe Plumer ran and jumped 18´5.5˝ and earned himself second place in the long jump. James Browning likewise earned a first in discus for the Bulldogs, throwing the disc 126´8˝.
Mother nature and rainstorms intervened to wash out two Yellow Springs softball games last week, but the rains quit long enough to allow the Yellow Springs softball team to host Dunbar in their Senior Night game on Wednesday, which started with a pregame ceremony for the seniors.
The ceremony augured good things for the Bulldogs, as senior Hannah Morrison pitched a complete game shut out in a 10-0 win over Dunbar. Morrison was overpowering in her final home appearance as she gave up two singles and struck out 13 batters to get the victory, said coach Jimmy DeLong, making for a “fitting end to her career to finish her home career with an overpowering, shut-out performance.”
The offense gave Morrison all the support she needed. Victoria Willis, Kadie Lafferty, Hannah Morrison, Gracie Price, and Elly Kumbusky all singled and scored a run for the Bulldogs in the first inning, giving them a lead that was never challenged. Hot hitting Kumbusky again keyed the offense as she had three hits, four RBIs and two runs scored, while Price had three hits and two RBIs and Morrison had two hits and a walk to go along with two RBI’s and two runs scored.
“This team knows how to score runs,” DeLong said. “Our team has been hitting all year. We have averaged over 8 runs a game this year. Both Kumbusky and Morrison have over 20 RBIs for the season.”
With the regular season now concluded, the team’s focus shifts to the Sectional Tournament. Yellow Springs received a number four seed in the tournament and took a bye into the second round. On Thursday, May 11th, Yellow Springs will play the winner of the Catholic Central/Southeastern game.
DeLong explained his strategy in scheduling Bulldog participation in the tournament: “I took the bye knowing we would have a tough second round game, but also knowing if we won that game it would vault us into the sectional finals championship game.”
“We’re a good enough team that we can compete with anybody,” he added. “I am looking forward to the challenge.”
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