SPECIAL SECTION • THURSDAY, AUGUST 20, 2020SPECIAL SECTION • THURSDAY, AUGUST 20, 2020SPECIAL SECTION • THURSDAY, AUGUST 20, 2020

The CourierThe CourierSeveral volleyball veterans return

Courtney Rolf is anx-iously waiting for the 2020 volleyball season to get started.

And she has a gym full of players who feel the same way.

“We have a lot of veteran players,” said Rolf, beginning her first season as Findlay High’s varsity volleyball coach.

“If not all, then most of them have played varsity before. That’s one of our strengths. I really think that’s going to help.”

Rolf, a prep standout at Eastwood, a four-year letter winner for the University of Findlay and a former assis-tant and JV coach at Van Buren, got a bit of a late start as head coach. Bill Bonham had originally been hired to replace Justin Rohrer, Find-lay’s head coach in 2018 and 2019. But Bonham had to seek other employment when the COVID-19 pandemic closed everything down and left him without a position in the school’s security area.

Rolf was more than ready to assume her first head coaching spot, especially with a deep group of return-ing veterans helping ease the transition.

“We have one sophomore who might see some playing time. The rest are all juniors and seniors,” Rolf said.

“I like that experience. Not only does everybody get along and is willing to work, but when we’re putting new things out there they are taking it in and running with it.

“I can tell them something and they are athletic enough

and experienced enough that they’ll figure it out in a set or two. That’s been nice.”

Findlay graduated only two players — Jess Tre-mains and Claire Doepker — from last year’s 7-17 team. Tremains, an outside hitter, had 133 kills and 54 digs as a second-team all-Three Rivers Athletic Conference pick. Doepker (192 digs) received honorable mention all-league recognition.

Six seniors and six juniors headline Findlay’s 2020 roster, though. Ten of the 12 have seen varsity action, with eight playing 50 or more sets.

Shannon Klotz, a senior

outside hitter, returns after earning honorable mention all-league recognition during a junior year in which she had 107 kills, 30 ace serves and 160 digs.

Senior Sammy Vance (97 digs) had 80 kills and 38 blocks last season, senior Kelsey Shindeldecker (32 digs) had 87 kills, senior middle blocker Kirsten Sel-horst had 54 kills and 23 blocks before being slowed by an injury late in the season, and junior Aubrey Hucke had 57 kills, 16 blocks and 101 digs. Senior outside hitter Caitlyn Lentz had 15 kills, 23 ace serves and 66

digs in 65 sets played.Findlay returns its top

two setters in senior Kylie Britton (910 sets, 266 assists) and junior Ashley Robinson (684 sets, 211 assists, 56 digs).

Rolf sees the return of Kristen Scherger and Alexis Buddelmeyer as an added plus in terms of talent and experience. Scherger, a senior middle blocker, earned all-TRAC honors as a sophomore but missed most of her junior year due to an injury. Buddlemeyer, a junior outside hitter, missed the 2019 season with an ACL tear.

Rolf said Scherger, Bud-dlemeyer and Selhorst are healthy, motivated and look-ing to make up for lost time.

“They’ve been healthy; no problems,” Rolf said.

“This year they’re ready to come back and put two years into one since they missed all of last season.”

Completing Findlay’s var-sity roster are junior defen-sive specialists Rheanna Patterson and Kiley Geiser and sophomore setter Jillian Nicholson.

Findlay won’t trot out a tall team, but Rolf says there are ways to level the playing field.

“Our tallest is 5-foot-11, so we don’t have lot of height,” Rolf said.

“But our girls are super athletic, and with trying to run a faster offense I’m hoping they can play like they’re 6-3. Our defensive specialists are quick and our hitters can jump and they read things well. If we’re quick to the free balls, if we’re fast and sharp and can be scrappy, I think that can win us some games.”

2020 Volleyball Schedule

Sat., Aug. 22 at Spring-field, 11 a.m.

Wed., Aug. 26, Benjamin Logan, 6:30

Sat., Aug. 29 at Maumee, 11:15 a.m.

Thur., Sept. 3, Lima Senior (TRAC), 6

Thur., Sept. 10., Tol. Notre Dame (TRAC), 6

Sat., Sept. 12 at Perrys-burg, 11:30 a.m.

Thur., Sept. 17 at Oregon Clay (TRAC), 7

Sat., Sept. 19 at Coldwa-ter Tri-Match, 2

Tues., Sept. 22 at Fremont Ross (TRAC), 7:30

Thurs., Sept. 24 at Tol. Central Catholic (TRAC), 6

Sat., Sept. 26 at Spring-field Golden Spike, 9 a.m.

Tues., Sept. 29, Defiance, 7:30

Sat., Oct. 3 at Sylvania Southview, 12:30

Mon., Oct. 5, Anthony Wayne, 6

Wed., Oct. 7, Norwalk St. Paul, 6

Thur., Oct. 8, Tol. St. Ursula (TRAC), 6

Mon., Oct. 12 at Tiffin Columbian, 6:30

Thur., Oct. 15 at Toledo Whitmer (TRAC), 6:15

By DAVE HANNEMANSTAFF WRITER

Photo providedFINDLAY HIGH VARSITY VOLLEYBALL TEAM: Kylie Britton (10), Alexis Buddlemeyer (6), Kiley Geiser (14), Aubrey Hucke (9), Shannon Klotz (7), Caitlyn Lentz (1), Jillian Nicholson (15), Rheanna Patterson (4), Ashleh Robinson (2), Kristen Scherger (3), Kirsten Selhorst (11), Kelsey Shindeldecker (8), Sammy Vance (5). HEAD COACH: Courtney Rolf. ASSISTANT COACHES: Tyler Scherger, Amber Scherger

Girls golf program growing, improvingFindlay High girls golf

coach Brittany Holub did not have to bird-dog her players all over the links this summer.

Turns out, they were doing a pretty good job of that themselves.

“They worked really hard this summer,” Holub said.

“Some did FAGA (Find-lay Area Golf Association). But a lot of them took pri-vate lessons or got member-ships and went out together … a lot.

“They practiced a lot over the summer and it’s really been showing. Some of them have gone down 15 to 20 strokes over last year. It’s been amazing.”

Barely able to field a four-person team some years back, Findlay High now has the numbers to field both varsity and JV programs in girls golf.

And, with just one player graduating from last year’s squad and one senior on this year’s team, the future looks even brighter.

Junior Sydney Eynon and sophomore Libby Holman,

who both earned honorable mention all-TRAC recogni-tion in 2019, headline this year’s lineup. Junior Abby Powell and sophomore Casey Tate are also return-ing letter winners.

Cameron Heiserman is the lone senior on the roster, but has been slowed by an injury. Sophomores Baylee Shoemaker, Isabella Nigro and Audrey Aldoy have stepped up to help fill the void. Juniors Lauren Clay and Chloe Hughes and sophomores Lexi Leslie and Lydia Weigand complete the roster.

While Holub has seen a marked improvement in her players scores, she’s seen even greater strides in their maturity.

“Last year was kind of like our learning year, get-ting to know the game, get-ting to know each other,” said Holub, in her second season as FHS head coach.

“This year we feel we can really compete. They knew they had the ability, but whereas in the past they were a little more timid around some teams, now they want to post scores

that are comparable to those girls that are consistently shooting lower scores on better teams.

“They know the teams that are going to be chal-lenging them, and they want to be competitive with them.”

Holub says that with experience comes a pivotal factor needed in everyone’s game.

“I definitely see more confidence in my girls than last year,” Holub said.

“They’ve been on the team longer, they know what to expect, they know what competing in a match is going to look like … They are so much more prepared every time we show up at a course, and that’s big.”

Findlay will again be competing in two leagues, the TRAC as well as the Northwest Ohio Girls Golf League.

2020 Girls Golf Schedule

Aug. 5 TRAC No. 1Sycamore Spring GCPlaced 3rd, 402Aug. 8Eagle Invitational

Placed 7th, 444Aug.t 11Colonial Invitational

Colonial Golfers ClubPlaced 5th, 385Aug. 13TRAC No. 2 Eagles

LandingPlaced 3rd, 384Defiance Invitational

Eagle Rock GCAug. 14Celina Invitational

Lynx Golf CourseAug. 17Lady Trojans Invita-

tional Sycamore Springs GC

Aug. 18NWOGGL No. 1

Eagles LandingAug. 25FHS vs. Perrysburg

Sycamore Springs GCAug. 27FHS vs. Fremont Ross

Sycamore Springs GCSept. 2NWOGGL No. 2

Birch Run GCSept. 3NWOGGL Champion-

ship TBASept. 8NWOGGL No. 1

Bedford Hills, Mich.Sept. 10TRAC No. 3 Maumee

Bay Golf ClubSept. 15TRAC No. 4 Maumee

Bay Golf ClubSept. 16NWOGLL No. 2

Stone Ridge Golf ClubSept. 23TRAC ChampionshipStone Ridge Golf Club

By DAVE HANNEMANSTAFF WRITER

Photo providedFINDLAY HIGH GIRLS GOLF TEAM: Cameron Heiserman, Abby Powell, Sydney Eynon, Chloe Hughes, Lauren Clay, Libby Holman, Casey Tate, Alexis Leslie, Baylee Shoemaker, Audrey Aldoy, Isabella Nigro, Lydia Weigand. HEAD COACH: Brittany Holub.

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Boys golf boasts veteran squad, new coachRon Ammons may be

the new guy on the Findlay High coaching block.

That’s why he’s more than a little relieved to find there are a number of indi-viduals willing to welcome him to the neighborhood.

“Being a first-year coach, it is a comfort to know that you are a veteran team,” Ammons said.

“The guys have already demonstrated some vet-eran play during our open-ing matches, particularly against TRAC opponents.”

Findlay High returns most of the varsity lineup that a year ago finished in a tie with Toledo St. Fran-cis for runner-up honors in the Three Rivers Athletic Conference. Both schools finished with 49.5 points following regular-season play and tournament results.

Toledo St. John’s won the TRAC title, as it has every year since Find-lay brought home league crowns in 2011 and 2012. Findlay has finished behind St. John’s in a number of tournaments that included TRAC teams this season, but did post a season-best

score of 310 to place ahead of the Titans in the Walker Jones Classic held on Aug. 12 at the Shale Creek Golf Club in Medina.

Graduation did cost Findlay Harrison Hall, a second-team all-TRAC golfer. But the rest of the 2019 lineup is back for the 2020 season, a group headed by sophomore Nick Feighner and seniors Grant Lane and Justin Hartman.

Feighner posted Find-lay’s best scoring average a year ago, 82.6 strokes per 18 holes, and earned first-team all-league honors. Hartman, an honorable mention all-TRAC player last season, averaged 84.77 strokes and Lane, earning his third varsity letter this season, 86.2.

Junior Zach Harris, who lettered as a freshman and was honorable mention all-league a year ago when he averaged 86.82 strokes per round, also returns this season, along with senior Sam Crawford (89.0).

Seniors Danny Mon-inger and Keegan Faulkner and junior Jack Metz will also be in the mix for FHS this season.

Ammons said more than just the players have helped

him transition to the head coaching position, crediting

Dan St. Jean, the assis-tant golf professional at the Findlay Country Club, for his input.

“Truth be told, coach St. Jean is the golf heart-and-soul of this team,” Ammons said.

“I have learned as much from Dan, as have the play-ers.”

In addition to an impres-sive schedule playing many of the elite teams on some of the premier courses in the state during a 17-match regular season, Findlay will host one of the prestigious events on September 12 when some of the top teams in Ohio participate in The Trojan Invitational at Find-lay Country Club.

Findlay will then set its sights on the TRAC Cham-pionship on Sept. 21 and OHSAA tournament.

“We still have a chance to challenge at the very top of the TRAC,” Ammons said. “And we’d like to qualify the entire team for the district and take our chances.”

2020 Boys Golf Schedule

Aug. 5 TRAC No. 1/Irish Invi-

tationalAt Stone Ridge Golf

ClubPlaced fifth, 324Aug. 7TRAC No. 2/Knight

InvitationalHeatherdowns Gol f

CoursePlaced second, 319Aug. 8Steve Youman ClassicOakhaven Golf CoursePlaced 14th, 341Aug. 11Dublin InvitationalGolf Club of DublinPlaced 11th, 341Aug. 12Walker Jones Classic

Shale Creek Golf ClubPlaced seventh, 310Aug. 13Liberty Patriots Invita-

tionalKinsale Golf & Fitness

ClubAug. 15Moeller InvitationalWalden Ponds Golf

CourseAug. 17American Golf Associa-

tion InviteYork Golf ClubAug. 20Ashland Weiss Invita-

tionalAshland Golf ClubAug. 24TRAC No. 3/District

PreviewSycamore Springs Golf

CourseSept. 9TR AC No. 4/Clay

ShootoutEagles Landing Golf

CourseSept. 12Trojan InvitationalFindlay Country ClubSept. 19Bishop Watterson Invi-

tationalClover Valley Country

ClubSept. 21TRAC ChampionshipStone Ridge Golf Club

By DAVE HANNEMANSTAFF WRITER

Photo providedFINDLAY HIGH BOYS GOLF TEAM: Justin Hartman, Jack Metz, Sam Crawford, Grant Lane, Nick Feighner, Danny Moninger, Zach Harris, Lucas Schroeder, Ryan Clarke, Josh Meier, Reid Patterson, Matt Pinski, Keegan Faulkner, JJ Mihalik. HEAD COACH: Ron Ammons. ASSISTANT COACH: Mark Laux.

3 starters return to lead girls tennisLike all coaches, Sean

Swisher regrets the team concept, the inter-player contact, and the interscho-lastic competition lost to the COVID-19 pandemic.

But the optimist in him is always looking for a glass-half-full positive to take away from the situa-tion.

“You know, in a sense, it might have actually helped in a way because this is an activity where the girls could get out and do something,” said Swisher, Findlay High’s girls tennis coach.

“We did a good job working around it. We had a lot of protocol in place. We were taking tempera-tures when they arrived. We had Xs marked on the court where they could put their stuff to ensure social distancing. We have 28 girls on the roster and all summer long, three days a week, I’d say we had a minimum of 20 girls out here every night.

“They put in the work. I’m very happy with this group of girls because they showed up, they worked hard and they never com-plained. And no matter what your talent level is, that’s going to get you a long way.”

Swisher returns no

league champions or state qualifiers from last year’s team. And graduation cost him his No. 1 singles player (Megan Earhart), his No. 1 doubles team (twins Kelsey and Ashley Coleman), and half of his No. 2 doubles team (Miyu Uchiyama).

Depth and balance, tra-ditional strengths of Find-lay’s program, are again in abundance, though. This year’s top three singles players are all returning starters, and Swisher likes the competitive makeup of his two doubles teams.

Juniors Sydney Swisher and Mollie Quaid bump up a spot in the lineup this season. Swisher, who reached the No. 2 singles semifinals of the Three Rivers Athletic Conference tournament last season, replaces Earhart at No. 1 singles, with Quaid, fifth in the TRAC tournament at No. 3 singles, takes over at No. 2.

Senior Katie Short, half of last year’s No. 2 doubles team, steps in at No. 3 sin-gles this season.

Seniors Tara Spahr and Grace Miller wil l represent Findlay at No. 1 doubles this year, with juniors Maddie Barberree and Libby LaMaster team-ing up at No. 2 doubles.

“Our doubles teams may not have a lot of

match play experience, per se,” Sean Swisher said. “But Grace and Tara have played other sports and are great athletes and Maddie and Libby have been play ing doubles together since they were freshmen. Our Nos. 1 and 2 doubles teams are neck and neck most of the time. I’m very happy with the depth we have once again.”

Swisher also serves as Findlay High’s boys’ tennis coach, and after the cancellation of al l spring sports due to the coronavirus he taking an optimistic approach to the fall season.

“After what happened in the spring where you sat and analyzed it every day hoping and praying you’d get to play, now I just kind of take it day by day and hope that (cancel-lations) doesn’t happen.

“We’re prepared to play a full season. It’s not like in the spring where every sport was lumped together. We’ve been dubbed a non-contact sport, and if we can stay in that category I think we have a chance.

“The problem I see is these counties popping up red (Level 3, symbolizing high risk for exposure and spread of the coronavi-rus). When that happens it becomes more about the

school district rather than the governor saying what you can and can’t play.

“All we can do is con-trol what we can control, and all we can control right now is tomorrow, then the next day and then the day after that.”

2020 Girls Tennis Schedule

Fri., Aug. 7 at Bowling Green, 4:30

Sat., Aug. 8 at Ashland Invitational, 9 a.m.

Mon., Aug. 10, Perrys-burg, 4:30

Tues., Aug. 11 at Defi-ance, 4

Thur., Aug. 13 at Maumee, 4:30

Fri., Aug. 14 at Nor-walk, 4:15

Sat., Aug. 15 at Nor-walk Doubles Invite, 9 a.m.

Tues ., Aug. 18 at Celina, 4:30

Wed., Aug. 19, Sylvania Northview, 4:30

Thur., Aug. 20 at Lima Senior (TRAC), 4:30

Fri., Aug. 14 at Nor-walk, 4:15

Tues., Aug. 25, Toledo St. Ursula (TRAC), 4:30

Thur., Aug. 27, Fremont Ross (TRAC), 4:30

Tues., Sept. 1, Toledo Notre Dame (TRAC), 4:30

Wed., Sept. 2 at Elida, 4:30

Tues., Sept. 8 at Tol. Central Catholic (TRAC), 4:30

Thur., Sept. 10, Toledo

Whitmer (TRAC), 4:30Sat., Sept. 12, Fremont

Doubles Tournament, 9 a.m.

Tues., Sept . 15 at Oregon Clay (TRAC), 4:30

Wed., Sept. 16, Wapa-koneta, 4:30

Fri., Sept. 18, TRAC Tournament at Oregon Clay, 10 a.m.

Sat., Sept. 19, TRAC Tournament at Oregon Clay, 10 a.m.

Thur., Sept. 24 at Lima Central Catholic, 4:30

Mon., Sept . 28 at Springfield, 4:30

Thurs ., Oct . 1 at Ottawa-Glandorf, 4:30

By DAVE HANNEMANSTAFF WRITER

Photo providedFINDLAY HIGH GIRLS TENNIS TEAM: Katie Short, Tara Spahr, Grace Miller, Laine Shenise, Lydia Spaeth, Sydney Swisher, Mollie Quaid, Libby LaMaster, Madison Barberree, Sonoma Eynon, Izzy Miller, Emma Braden, Ava Hassan, Erin Likes, Lily Abell, Tabitha Cap, Ava Roach, Mia Kennard, Shelby Dale, Carly Tong, Keira Eller, Lily Korecky, Ellie Denike, Megan Gurney, Elaina Wintringham, Allie Detterman, Jillian Doll, Katy Rubiola. HEAD COACH: Sean Swisher. ASSISTANT COACH: Emma Miller.

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Next players up plan for girls soccerThe COVID-19 pan-

demic may have kept Jon Hayfield from shaking hands with each and every graduating member of Find-lay High’s girls soccer team this spring.

Might have kept him from having to ice down his arm afterwards, too.

One of the largest senior classes in Findlay High girls soccer history picked up its diplomas this spring. Over half of last year’s roster will have to be replaced, 13 play-ers in all.

Not once in his 2020 pre-season analysis did Hayfield mention the word “rebuild-ing” however. With a 16-15-5 slate in two seasons at Findlay and 181-122-38 career record, “reloading” might be a better term.

“This is a young, ener-getic group with several strong upsides,” said Hay-field, who was selected the 2019 TRAC Coach of the Year. “We do have to replace 13 seniors, (but) I feel we have the potential to be more attack minded than we’ve been for several years. We feel that we can take a serious step towards our first TRAC title, espe-cially after falling agoniz-ingly close last season.”

Findlay was 8-8-2 over-all last season, and 5-1-1 in the Three Rivers Ath-letic Conference. The Tro-jans tied Oregon Clay for second place in the league standings behind Toledo St. Ursula (6-1-0). Findlay actually led St. Ursula 2-0 late in the first half of their matchup. But the Arrows poured in three goals in

the final minutes of play to come away with a 4-2 win.

A deep and balanced team in 2019, Findlay aver-aged 3.5 goals per game and had 25 different play-ers score at least one goal. Despite losing those 13 seniors, 12 players who scored return, including senior midfielder Sophia Yu. A second-team all-TRAC selection, Yu’s 12 assists led the team and her 22 total points were second only to 2020 grad Kaelyn Couch (12 goals, 3 assists, 27 points), a first-team all-TRAC selection.

Also back are junior for-wards Paige Pinion (4 goals, 3 assists) and Emily Meier (4 goals) and sophomore forward Taylor Nichols (4 goals). Seniors Addie Fox, Lexi Coward and Haylea Couch also found the back of the net last season, along with juniors Ellie Copeland, Olivia Churchill, and Col-lette Seager.

A huge offensive plus this season is the return of senior forward Kaylee Brodine. Brodine scored 10 goals and earned honorable mention all-TRAC honors as a sophomore, but did not play soccer last season.

Hayfield will also be looking for offensive pro-duction from Van Stolick, Leah Sellers and Natalie Rakestraw, with junior Nevaeh Ametrano and freshman Nadia Yu helping in the midfield.

Graduation may have hit Findlay hardest on defense with the graduation on Alivia Benjamin, Madison Berry, Jordan Tracy and Jocellen Puchta. Benjamin was first-team and Berry

second-team all-TRAC on defense.

Another major loss was that of goalie Celia John-son. A first-team all-TRAC keeper, Johnson make 99 of the team’s 109 total saves a year ago.

Seniors Lauryn Gearig, who made 10 saves in spot varsity action last season, and Annie Judy and junior Hannah Domachowski will be looking to replace John-son in goal, according to Hayfield. Findlay returns one starting defender in Seager, an honorable men-tion all-league pick a year ago, and Hayfield feels there’s excellent depth and balance to call on in Couch, Rakestraw, senior Andrea Sewell, junior Lauren Nich-ols and sophomore Natalie

Copeland.“Our main questions

in need of answers will be defensively where we graduated three starting defenders who were three-year letter-winners,” Hay-field said.

“There will be a learning curve due to the newness of varsity soccer for this group. But there is skill, outstanding athleticism and an eagerness to learn that will alleviate the newness.”

Hayfield will be count-ing on a strong tradition as well as Findlay, entering its 40th season of varsity girls soccer, faces a chal-lenging schedule that not only included outstanding TRAC opponents, but last year’s Division I (Anthony Wayne) and Division II

(Mansfield Madison) state runners-up as well.

“We can’t afford to have off-nights against this level of competition,” Hayfield said. “(But) We feel we have the right pieces in place, with the right atti-tudes and a willingness to learn so that we can meet that challenge game-in and game-out.”

2020 Girls Soccer

ScheduleSat., Aug. 22 at Spring-

field, TBAWed., Aug. 26 at Sylva-

nia Southview, 7Sat., Aug. 29, Mansfield

Madison, 1Wed., Sept. 2, Toledo

Whitmer (TRAC), 7Sat., Sept. 5, Anthony

Wayne, 7

Wed., Sept. 9 at Tol. Notre Dame (TRAC), 5:30

Wed., Sept. 16 at Oregon Clay (TRAC), 7

Sat., Sept. 19 at Sylvania Northview, 7

Mon., Sept. 21 at Perrys-burg, 6:30

Wed., Sept. 23, Tol. Cen-tral Catholic (TRAC), 7

Sat., Sept. 26, Thomas Worthington, 1

Wed., Sept. 30, Toledo St. Ursula (TRAC), 7

Sat., Oct. 3 at Ashland, 3Mon., Oct. 5 at Ottawa-

Glandorf, 7Wed., Oct. 7 at Lima

Senior (TRAC), 5Wed., Oct. 14, Fremont

Ross (TRAC/Sr. Night), 7

By DAVE HANNEMANSTAFF WRITER

Photo providedFINDLAY GIRLS VARSITY SOCCER: Hannah Domachowski (0), Sophia Yu (2), Colette Seager (3), Emily Meier (5), Taylor Nichols (6), Van Stolick (7), Nadia Yu (8), Emily Copeland (9), Addie Fox (10), Leah Sellers (11), Nevaeh Ametrano (12), Ellie Copeland (13), Lexi Coward (14), Natalie Copeland (15), Natalie Rakestraw (16), Paige Pinion (17), Haylea Couch (18), Kaylee Brodine (19), Lauren Nichols (20), Annie Judy (30), Lauryn Gearig (32), Andrea Sewell (40). HEAD COACH: Jon Hayfield. ASSISTANT COACHES: Jason Espinoza, Patrick Massara.

Boys soccer has key vets, big junior classKevin Shenise admits

it’s been a Catch-22 time for his Findlay High boys soccer team.

“Everything has been different,” Shenise said. “The way we approach each day, the things we have to check every day, the count, waiting for the governor’s speech to come out to see if we’re even going to be play-ing or not … it’s just been different.”

But there’s also one con-stant, a yearly time-honored ritual of sorts, that Shenise has been thankful for.

“We have 18 or 19 kids show up with a ball every day eager to play,” he said. “For their sake, I really hope the kids have a season.”

One of the three fall sports – along with foot-ball and field hockey - deemed high-contact by the OHSAA, that organi-zation continues to work with Ohio Governor Mike DeWine’s office and the Ohio Department of Health concerning the guidelines and protocols those sports must follow if they harbor hopes of full interscholastic competition this fall.

Among Ohio’s most suc-cessful soccer programs – Findlay’s 569 career wins are the sixth most all-time – Shenise will be counting on the next wave of talent to bridge the loss of some talented players from last year’s 9-7-3 team.

“Five kids graduated, and three kids who were on last year’s roster decided not to play, so we’re replac-

ing eight guys,” Shensie said.

“In some ways we’re young, but in other ways we’re not. We have six seniors, we have a huge junior class (21 among the varsity, JV Blue and JV Gold teams) and some sophomores who will help out, too. I think we’ll have guys step in – even the new guys – who will have a posi-tive effect on the season.”

Findlay may have grad-uated only five players, but four of the five were all-Three Rivers Athletic Conference selections. Jacob Gangle, a forward/midfielder, was a first-team all-TRAC pick, Nolan Clouse was a second-team defender, and midfield-ers Michael Copeland and Graham Hartman both received honorable mention all-league honors.

“Looking at the guys we lost, one of the biggest was Jacob Gangle,” Shenise said. “He was our second-leading scorer and one of our leaders defensively, along with our two center backs, Nolan Clouse and Michael Copeland.”

The cupboard is far from bare, though.

In senior forward/midfielder Carson Dale, Shenise brings back a first-team all-TRAC and second-team all-Northwest District selection and Find-lay’s leading scorer a year ago. Midfielder Andrew Allsop, whose nine goals were third on the team and helped earn him second-team all-league status, is also back and heads up a deep and solid junior class

that includes midfielders Ryan Shindeldecker, Nick Simmermeyer and Payton Hildebrand.

“With what we have coming back, I think we’ll be able to score some goals,” Shenise said. “Defensively, we have some things to work out.”

Shenise said there is “open competition” for the goal keeper job between juniors Zach Gremling, a varsity letterman, and Andrew Sorg and sopho-more Xochiel Galvan.

Returning lettermen Logan Johnson and Larkin Bowers and junior Payton Hildebrand will anchor the defense, along with Shin-deldecker and junior Ethan Ernst.

“Two of the four guys

we have back there will be new,” Shenise said. “How well they jell with the goalie and the other two defenders will be interesting to see.”

Shenise would love to see a preview of how the new faces blend with the veteran players, but the coronavirus scuttled those plans.

“The difficult part or me is having no scrimmages,” Shenise said.

“Really, not having a chance to see my guys going against someone else makes it difficult going into game one wondering how you’re going to look when the lights are turned on.”

Through it all, Shenise knows he can rely on the basics that have worked so well for the program over the years.

“I think one of the rally good things we have going is the flexibility we have with the players we’ve got,” he said.

“We have a lot of guys whom can play multiple positions. They’re all fight-ing for (playing) time, com-peting all over the place. It’s nice to have that flexibility because we always want to put the best guys on the field that we feel can give us the best opportunity to win some matches.”

2020 Boys Soccer

ScheduleFri., Aug. 21, Bowling

Green, 7Tues., Aug. 25 at Perrys-

burg, 6:30Thur., Aug. 27, Sylvania

Southview, 7Sat., Aug. 29 at Ashland,

7Tues., Sept. 1 at Toledo

Whitmer (TRAC), 7Thur., Sept. 3, Lexing-

ton, 7Tues., Sept. 8, Toledo St.

John’s (TRAC), 7Tues., Sept. 15, Oregon

Clay (TRAC), 7Thur., Sept. 17 at Spring-

field, 7Tues., Sept. 22 at Tol.

Central Catholic (TRAC), 7Thur., Sept. 24, Anthony

Wayne, 7Tues., Sept. 29 at Tol. St.

Francis (TRAC), 7Sat., Oct. 3, Wooster, 3Tues., Oct. 6, Lima

Senior (TRAC/Sr. Night), 7

Thur., Oct. 8 at Sylvania Northview, 7

Tues., Oct. 13 at Fre-mont Ross (TRAC), 7

By DAVE HANNEMANSTAFF WRITER

Photo providedFINDLAY HIGH VARSITY BOYS SOCCER: Zach Gremling (0), Andrew Sorg (0), Xochiel Galvan (0), Ryan Yarcusko (1), Payton Hildebrand (2), Haden Harris (3), Nick Simmermeyer (4), Larkin Bower (5), Marshall Frankforther (6), Carson Dale (7), Dillon Timbrook (8), Ryan Shindeldecker (9), Andrew Allsop (10), Davis Sprague (11), Ethan Ernst (13), Logan Johnson (21), Jadyn Barney (22), Ashton Cooper (35), Arda Dastan (45). HEAD COACH: Kevin Shenise. ASSISTANT COACH: Matt Feczer.

C4 TROJAN FALL SPORTS THE COURIER THURSDAY, AUGUST 20, 2020

FHS seeks TRAC cross country titleThey say “close” only

counts in horseshoes and hand grenades.

Findlay High cross coun-try coach Mark Gleason might slightly disagree.

“We were pushing for state last year but we came up just short,” Gleason said. “We were close, real close, and I hope our girls can feed off that.”

Findlay’s girls cross country team finished a close second to Toledo St. Ursula in last year’s Three River Athletic Conference meet, coming up just four points (45 to 49) shy of dethroning the defending TRAC champions.

Findlay did outpace St. Ursula in winning the dis-trict title, but then fell just short a second time, plac-ing fourth in a Division I regional field where only the top two teams qualified for state.

Rather than be discour-aged, Gleason feels Find-lay’s competitive showings in 2019 has only motivated a talented group of young runners.

“We were disappointed we finished second (in the TRAC) last year,” Gleason said. “But we stepped up in the district meet and, by taking St. Ursula to the wire, proved what we thought we could do. With three of our top four girls back, and our freshmen, the future is bright and I think it’s only going to get better.”

Gleason will have to replace Amanda Tremains, who was sixth in the run-ning of last year’s girls TRAC meet, and Francesca Bejarano, who finished 15th.

But three FHS runners cracked the top 15 as soph-omores – two-sport stand-out Colette Seager (soccer, cross country), Alli Ernst and Karlee Dittman – and all return. Seager’s fifth-place showing was Findlay’s highest finish in the girls’ race. Ernst finished ninth and Dittman 14th. Lindsey Cassata was 19th in the var-sity race as a freshman, and Larkin Warner, a senior this year, was 24th.

St. Ursula nipped Findlay by a single point – 29-30 – in

last year’s junior varsity girls race, but Findlay’s Anne Traver and Sami Dong, both juniors this year, finished first and fourth in that race. Sophomore Jessica Hughes (10th) and Elizabeth Laird (13th) also placed among the top 15.

Findlay’s boys placed fourth in last year’s TRAC standings, but also return their top three runners in seniors Luke Reuille and Cole Sprague and sopho-more Preston Perkins. The three ran as a pack in the 2019 league meet, finishing 18th, 19th and 20th respec-tively. Also back are junior Ty Cordonnier and senior Tyler Bihn from a group that lost only Greg Konecny and Zed Wilson from its top seven runners.

Gleason will also be counting on a talented group that won the TRAC boys junior varsity title a year ago. Five of the top six Findlay runners from that team are back in senior Adam Hellman, junior Ben-jamin Smith and sopho-mores Andrew Behrendt, Matthew Reuille and Zack Doepker. Behrendt placed third, Smith fourth and Hellman fifth in the 2019 JV championship.

“Our numbers are up,” Gleason said. “We have 43 boys out for the team, the boys are really buying into it and I think we’re trend-ing up. We’re strong top to bottom, and looking to be in that top two or three in the league.”

A six-time national qualifier in track and cross country during his years at the University of Findlay, Gleason is entering his 28th season as Findlay High head coach. He admits, though, that none of the previous 27 were like this one.

“I’ve never had a season start like this, though,” said Gleason, referring to the COVID-19 pandemic that canceled last spring’s track and field season and remains like a threatening cloud over this fall season as well.

“It’s definitely been interesting, but the kids are happy to be training. They just want to be out and compete, and every day we

feel blessed to be able to get another practice in.

“Nate (FHS AD Nate Weihrauch) has set up a really good system. The athletes are getting checked every day. They’re buying into it, because they know we have to take certain steps and precautions in we

want to compete.“Even up until about a

week ago, I felt, I thought there was maybe less than a 25 percent chance we would get the season in. Now, with the OHSAA and the gover-nor signing off on football, I feel there’s a good shot we will.”

2020 CROSS COUNTRY SCHEDULE

Sat., Aug. 29 at Norm Bray Invitational, 9 a.m.

Sat., Sept. 5 at Columbus Grove Invitational, 10 a.m.

Sat., Sept. 19 at St. Fran-cis Invitational, 10 a.m.

Sat., Sept. 26 at Owens Community College Invite,

9 a.m.Sat., Oct. 10 at Marion

Harding Invitational, 8:15 a.m.

Sat., Sept. 17, TRAC Championship at Fremont, TBA

Sat., Sept. 24 at District Meet, Owens CC, TBA

By DAVE HANNEMANSTAFF WRITER

Photo providedFINDLAY HIGH BOYS CROSS COUNTRY: Addison Anderson, Jacob Barnhart, Jonathon Barnhart, Brock Beard, Andrew Behrendt, Tyler Bihn, Christian Black, Alex Cleveland, Ty Cordonnier, Zach Doepker, Collin Gallagher, Adam Hellman, Santiago Hernandez, Josh Hirt, Paul Klein, Brayden Knisely, Nathan Leipheimer, Jayce Marcum, Aaron Miller, Ethan Mills, Micah Moyer, Darren Paige, Preston Perkins, Jimmy Phadphom, Adam Reddish, Adam Reimer, Alexander Reimer, Anderson Reimer, Anthony Reimer, Luke Reuille, Matthew Reuille, Payton Sheidler, Ben Smith, John Paul Smith, Cole Snyder, Jeremiah Spiceland, Cole Sprague, Jimmy Steffen, AJ Swain, Arata Uchiyama, Kadin Warner. HEAD COACH: Mark Gleason.

Photo providedFINDLAY HIGH GIRLS CROSS COUNTRY: Eryn Albert, Katie Aldrich, Paige Black, Lindsey Cassata, Natalie Copeland, Karlee Dittman, Sami Dong, Allie Ernst, Rebecca Heft, Jessica Hughes, Ella Kurpenski, Elizabeth Laird, Jenna Moyer, Ella Nelson, Colette Seager, Caitlin Smith, Anne Traver, Larkin Warner. HEAD COACH: Mark Gleason