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Thursday, December 31, 2009
Springfield sports stories of the decade
There’s no way of deciding which story is the biggest in Springfield, Ohio and its surrounding area over the past 10 years.
But it’s really fun to talk about. Below, we’ve listed some of the biggest stories over the last 10 years.
What do you think was the biggest story of the decade? Feel free to discuss in the comments section.
Wittenberg Men’s Basketball national championship runner-up finish in 2005-2006: The Tigers were 30 seconds from becoming the Division III national champions in 2006, but a 3-pointer by Virgnia Wesleyan’s TonTon Balenga dashed the Tigers’ hopes.
Bluffton bus crash: Heading to a spring break baseball tournament in 2007, the Bluffton University baseball team’s bus fell off an overpass, killing six people, including four baseball players. Two area athletes, Southeastern grads Mike and A.J. Ramthun, were injured in the crash.
The death of Jason Collier: On Oct. 15, 2005, Catholic Central grad and Atlanta Hawks player Jason Collier died because of a sudden heart rhythm disturbance caused by an abnormally enlarged heart. Collier, who played at both Indiana and Georgia Tech, led Catholic Central to the D-IV state title in 1996.
Wittenberg football: The Tigers ended the decade the way they started it — in the D-III regional finals. In 2009, the Tigers went 12-1 before falling to eventual national champion Wisconsin-Whitewater in the round of 8. In 2000 and 2001, the Tigers lost to eventual national champion Mount Union.
The closing of North-South and the opening of Springfield High: The closing of North and South High led to the opening of a unified Springfield High School in 2007. In 2009, the Wildcats advanced to the Division I football playoffs for the first time in combined school history.
Graham wins nine straight state titles: No team was more dominant than the Falcons over the last 10 years. They won every D-II state title, and were named the National Champions in 2008 and runner-up in 2009. During that streak, David Taylor became the 18th wrestler to win four straight state titles.
Catholic Central boys win two state soccer titles, Greeneview wins in 2005: The Ohio Heritage Conference is no slouch in boys soccer. Catholic Central was dominant this decade, winning two state titles. In 2001, the Irish beat Gates Mills Hawken 3-2 for its first D-III state title. They repeated the feat in 2007, again beating Hawken 2-1 in overtime on a goal by Anthony Canestraro. In between those titles, Greeneview got in the act, beating Youngstown Cardinal Mooney 3-1 in a shootout for the 2005 D-III title.
Catholic Central football advances to state semifinals: The Irish advanced to the D-VI state semifinals in 2007 led by fullback/linebacker Brian Wagner and quarterback Brendan Kelly, but fell to eventual state champion Newark Catholic. Several other area teams — Southeastern, Mechanicsburg and Shawnee — also advanced to the regionals finals, but couldn’t win the elusive state football title for the area.
Cedarville University women’s basketball team, Brittany Smart NAIA D-II all-time scoring leader: Led by former Southeastern coach Kirk Martin, the Yellow Jackets averaged 27 wins per year over the last nine seasons. Led by eventual NAIA All-Time leading scorer Brittany Smart, a Shawnee High School graduate, Cedarville was the NAIA Division II National Runner-Up in 2004 and 2005. Smart’s 3,236 points is the top mark all-time in NAIA Division II and she remains the Ohio college women’s basketball career scoring leader for all divisions. In 2008, the Jackets won the NCCAA national title in 2008.
Baseball, softball state prominence: The diamond was generous to the Springfield area with several schools playing in the state finals, but none could get over the championship hump. The Triad softball team placed second three straight seasons in 2006 through 2008, while the KR softball finished second in 2002 and 2003. The Triad baseball team was second in 2004, while KR was second in 2007 and advanced to state in 2008. The Northwestern (2000), Urbana (2006) and West Liberty-Salem (2008) softball team also advanced to state.
Koehler dominant in the pool for Catholic Central: Koehler won the state championship in the 500 free in 2003 and 2004 and also captured the 200 free title at the state meet in 2004. He placed eighth in the 1,500-meter freestyle at the 2004 Olympic Trials and was a 2002 and 2003 All-America selection in both the 200-yard and 500-yard freestyles. At the 2003 Speedo Junior Championships, he won the 500-yard, 1,000-yard and 1,650-yard freestyle events before becoming an All-American at Indiana University.
Rick White pitches in World Series in 2000, plays for 13 MLB teams: The Kenton Ridge High School grad and professional relief pitcher pitched well for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, spending two and a half seasons as a key part of their bullpen, before being traded to the New York Mets in 2000. The Mets acquired White and outfielder Bubba Trammell in exchange for pitcher Paul Wilson and outfielder Jason Tyner. The Mets advanced to the World Series that season, but lost to the New York Yankees in five games. White is tied for the record for most organizations, playing for 13 during his MLB career.
Hermanson wins World Series with White Sox: Hermanson, a KR grad, served as the closer for the White Sox during most of their 2005 championship season, saving 34 games before losing his job to rookie Bobby Jenks in late September when he injured his back. Hermanson had a 2.04 ERA at the time of his injury, though still earned a World Series ring.
Ivan Harris plays in National Title game for Buckeyes: The Springfield, Ohio native played at Oak Hill Academy before playing at Ohio State University, where as a senior, they fell to the back-to-back national champion Florida Gators. He went on to play pro ball in Finland, but now plays for the Erie BayHawks of the NBA Developmental League.
Graham’s 49-game winning streak: The Falcons boys basketball team won 49 straight games from 2007-2009, going 20-0 in both the 2007-2008 and 2008-2009 regular seasons. Graham advanced to the D-II state semifinals in 2008, falling to Toledo Libbey and Ohio Mr. Basketball William Buford.
The death of Jack Bowsher: The ARCA legend, whose 58-year racing career included 10 national championships as a driver and team owner, died on April 8, 2006, at 75. He won three consecutive ARCA national driving titles in 1963, 1964 and 1965 when he amassed a record 54 series victories in three seasons. Bowsher also won the Daytona ARCA 250 in 1966. He also prepared cars for the likes of A.J. Foyt, Benny Parsons, Mario Andretti, Bobby & Al Unser and David Pearson.
2001-2002 Southeastern football, basketball, baseball: It was a banner year for the Trojans. The football team went 12-1, falling to eventual state champ Marion Local in the D-VI regional final. The basketball team went 20-0, earning the D-IV AP state poll championship before falling the regional finals to Russia. The baseball team also went to the regional finals, falling to St. Henry.
The death of Amy Marton: The Northwestern High School goalkeeper was diagnosed with cancer as a sophomore in 2005, but played through her chemotherapy treatments, proving that “Impossible Is Nothing” She died in 2007, but remains an inspiration to the entire Warriors community.
Countless cross country, track and field titles: The Springfield area has been dominant on the track, bringing home several state titles this decade. South’s Cassandra Lloyd won the D-I state title in the 100 hurdles in the last sporting event of South High School. Springfield’s Josh Bass won the long jump title last fall, becoming the first state champ for the combined school in any sport. Several other individuals won titles including North’s Vince Corner, Yellow Springs’ Sam Borchers, Greenon’s Jordan Stafford, Catholic Central’s C.J. Carroll, West Liberty-Salem’s Nate Bratka among others.
KR Bowling: The Cougars bowling squad won the school’s first team state title in any sport in 2009, taking home the OHSAA state bowling title.
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