By Tom Nader

Publisher and Editor

Ravenna High School announced Lauren Calhoun as its new high school girls basketball head coach on Wednesday.

LAUREN CALHOUN

Calhoun, who is a Ravenna graduate and the school’s all-time career scoring leader, had been coaching the Ravens’ middle school girls basketball teams. She is currently a high school Social Studies teacher at Ravenna.

AURORA STILL RUNNING STRONG

The Aurora girls cross country team won the Boardman Division II Regional championship on Saturday.

Audrey Miller won the individual regional title with a time of 17:46.30, while all of Aurora’s runners placed in the top 50 to earn the top team spot on the podium by 72 points over runner-up Avon.

TOURNAMENT SUCCESS

GIRLS SOCCER

For the first time in school history, the Aurora girls soccer program can be called district champions!

The Greenmen defeated Rocky River, 1-0 in overtime with a Golden Goal, to capture the title.

Aurora advances to a regional semifinal matchup, which will be on Tuesday vs. Revere at 7 p.m. at Parma’s Byers Field.

BOYS SOCCER

The Rootstown boys soccer team captured its third consecutive district championship on Saturday with a 5-1 win over Kirtland.

It is the Rovers’ sixth district title in program history.

The Rovers advance to a Division V regional semifinal game against United. That game is scheduled for Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Berkshire High School’s Great Lakes Cheese Stadium.

VOLLEYBALL

The Mogadore volleyball team won a Division VII district championship on Thursday by defeating Southington Chalker 25-17, 25-8, 25-14.

It is the Wildcats’ first district title since 1985.

Next up for Mogadore will be its Division VII regional semifinal vs. Campbell Memorial, which is scheduled for Nov. 5 at 6 p.m. at Mansfield High School.

CAREER NUMBER FOR PASTOR

Rootstown boys soccer senior Zach Pastor tied the program’s career scoring record during Saturday’s district-final victory over Kirtland.

Pastor now has 258 points in his career, with 104 goals and 50 assists.

The Rovers’ senior is now tied with Michael Boland (2001-04), whose 258 career points came on a program-record 106 goals and 48 assists.

Rootstown’s next game is Wednesday in a regional semifinal vs. United.

CAREER NUMBER FOR MULLALY

Rootstown senior Blake Mullaly finished his career as the all-time kicking points leader in Rovers football history.

During his four-year career, Mullaly totaled 151 kicking points.

YOUTH SUPER BOWL WINNERS

   • The Windham Bombers youth JV football team won the NOYFL Super Bowl last week, defeating Mathews 26-6 for the title.

It was the team’s second consecutive Super Bowl championship win.

   • The Mogadore Wildcats’ Mighty Mites youth football team won the Northeast Ohio Youth Football League Super Bowl championship on Sunday, defeating Field 52-28.

The Mighty Mites team roster includes: Michael Reed, Colton Pickering, Deacon Otto, Beau Robinson, Braxton Hamilton, Kayson Long, Anthony Eddy, Grayson Dannemiller, Rex Petit, Wade Sanders, Leo Lancaster, Rowan Smith, Giovanni Logan, Chase Seeley, Lawson Collins, Landon Williams, Colt Berish, Colton Deegan and Kenneth Boylen.

The Cats finished the season with an 8-1 record and outscored opponents 342-156 throughout the year.

   • The Field Falcons’ varsity youth football team won the Northeast Ohio Youth Football League Super Bowl championship on Sunday, defeating Rootstown 40-8.

The Varsity team roster includes: Rylan Peterson, Cole Farmer, David Duma, Jack Smith, Harrison Waldeck, Jackson Gustafson, Johnny Walker, Lucas Williams, Jax Swab, Oliver Farwell, Titus Schrenk, Lincoln Mull, Joe Sedon, Grayson Bashlor, Axel Wittensholder, Mason Few, Steven Berry, Brock Robbins, Aidin Vanderink, Kylie Wallace, Colin Fields, Colton Stanley, Zachary Jordan, Cruz Favorite and Grayson Dailey.

The Super Bowl win was the team’s third during their youth careers. This season, they finished an undefeated 8-0 and outscored opponents 325-59.

   • The Field Falcons’ JV youth football team won the Northeast Ohio Youth Football League Super Bowl championship on Sunday, defeating Springfield in a close 6-0 victory that included a goal-line stand to close out the game to secure the triumph.

The JV team roster includes: Jagger Marchette, Blake Smith, Jackson Williams, Blake Hudnall, Dominic Dillon, Austin Vanderink, Rylan Barnes, Nash Gardner, Cyrus Waldeck, Liam Miller, Brock Duma, Mason James, Raiden Jackson, Easton Knapp, Jaxson Miller, Johnny Meyers, Eli Summerlin, Abel McEwen, Leland Lindsey and Tre Wilson.

The Falcons finished the season with a 7-2 record, outscoring their opponents 149-37.

ALL-DISTRICT VOLLEYBALL

Nineteen Portage County high school volleyball players were honored as members of the Ohio High School Volleyball Coaches Association’s All-District team that was announced on Wednesday.

Leading the way was Aurora’s Aubrey Verdova and Mogadore’s Kaitlyn Clester, who were named the Players of the Year in their respective divisions.

Also, of note, Aurora head coach Katie Cicione was named the Coach of the Year in Division III and Rootstown head coach Dana Kern was named the Coach of the Year in Division V.

Other honorees included:

DIVISION III FIRST TEAM

• Aubrey Verdova, Aurora, senior
• Kaylie Liepins, Aurora, junior

DIVISION III SECOND TEAM

• Gigi Goedert, Aurora, sophomore

DIVISION III HONORABLE MENTION

• Whitley Rockhill, Aurora, senior
• Presley Courtad, Aurora, junior
• Natalie St. John, Kent Roosevelt, senior

DIVISION IV FIRST TEAM

• Riley Docherty, Field, junior

DIVISION V FIRST TEAM

• Sophia Byers, Rootstown, junior
• Ella Hayn, Rootstown, sophomore
• Tenley Korosec, Garfield, junior
• Leila Evans, Southeast, senior

DIVISION V SECOND TEAM

• Macy Davis, Crestwood, senior
• Abby Hayes, Crestwood, senior
• Charlee Hill, Garfield, senior
• Sophi Smith, Rootstown, senior
• Payton Soltis, Garfield, junior
• Neena Truex, Southeast, senior

DIVISION V HONORABLE MENTION

• Jordyn Allen, Ravenna, senior
• Jackie Blasiole, Crestwood, senior
• Leah Hill, Garfield, junior
• Elise Kennedy, Southeast, senior
• Olivia O’Neill, Rootstown, junior

DIVISION VII FIRST TEAM

• Kaitlyn Clester, Mogadore, senior
• Emma Butler, Mogadore, senior

DIVISION VII SECOND TEAM

• Gracie Shull, Mogadore, senior

FOOTBALL HISTORY FOR CRESTWOOD

For the first time in school history, Crestwood football had three different players all rush for at least 800 yards in the same season.

Sophomore Nick Hess ran for 1,072 yards, junior Michael Kalista rushed for 872 yards and junior Chris Mory totaled 802 yards.

The trio ran behind strong offensive-line play by Jaxon Gill, Josh Hardt, Cade Honeycutt, Austin Rivera, Trent Forson and Chase Thompson.

“Truly, though, we ask everyone to block, including our skill guys,” head coach Jack D’Amato said.

That group included Everett Baynes, Jake Devlin, Tyler Devlin and Tye Berquist.

D’Amato also was sure to point out the importance of senior James Lancaster.

“None of our offensive success would have been possible without James,” D’Amato said. “We asked James, early on this season, to make a move to our H-Back position from our Running Back position. He sacrificed his own stat line for the good of the team and was the lead blocker on all of our carries.”

HALL CALLS FOR TWO

Jessica Bolanz and Kristi Opfer will be inducted into Hiram College’s William Hollinger Athletic Hall of Fame on Saturday during Homecoming festivities at the school.

Bolanz (Class of 2014) is a Waterloo High School graduate and was a four-year letter winner for the Terriers. She earned All-North Coast Athletic Conference honors as a junior and senior. She remains the program’s all-time leader in career home runs with 24 and ranks second in career RBI with 120 and slugging percentage at .595. Since graduating, she has built a career in the restaurant industry.

Opfer (2012) is a Garfield High School graduate and was a four-year letter winner for the Terriers. She earned Second Team All-NCAC honors in 2009 and First Team All-NCAC honors in 2010 and 2011. Opfer helped lead Hiram to the 2010 NCAC regular-season championship and an NCAA Tournament appearance in 2011. She remains among the program’s career leaders in attack percentage, ranking second at .314. Opfer currently serves as a senior client services associate at Flexjet.