Category Archives: Sports

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Girls and Boys’ bowling teams find success despite hardships

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By Halah Anwaar, Social Media Manager

     Both bowling teams have had a strong season marked by consistent scores and steady improvement. With hard work in practice, translating to results in matches, the team continues to compete with confidence.

     With bowling there are specific factors that stand out to individuals, motivating them to keep playing. These interests can vary from person to person and for junior Olivia Kolczynski, who has been bowling competitively for three years.

   “Within bowling there are a lot of different types of people, and us as a team definitely get together well. Most teams we compete against are also incredibly kind and supportive. I also like that bowling is a less physical sport and more mental,” Kolczynski said.

     With every new season comes different obstacles. The team can push past those obstacles by building resilience, supporting one another, and staying focused on shared goals. 

     “I would say our biggest challenge this year is focusing. Many of us on the team lose focus fast due to either others on the team or just the general environment of the alleys. We overcome this by making sure we focus on the approach and just zone out the environment by focusing on our mechanics and making good shots,” Kolczynski said.

     A type of play the team encounters during the season is something called a Baker game. Baker games are a team format where five players combine to bowl a single 10-frame game, with each player responsible for two frames in a specific rotation. Teamwork is the most important aspect along with skill, but this year, the players are struggling.

     “Teamwork is really important. I want to bring back team chants and reactions for strikes and spares to boost morale. We do well individually, but Baker games are where we struggle the most, so improving teamwork there is key,” senior captain Dillin Rogers said.

     Growth is a given when working hard. With a sport, growth for an individual as well as for a team can come in various different forms. Senior Olyvia Janka, who has been bowling with the team for the past two years, believes that the team has seen improvement. 

     “The team has grown to not only bowl better, but also to communicate with each other better and be there for each other,” Janka said.

     Boys’ head coach, Paul Tucholski, explained how this season he wants to focus on growing the students to have more confidence in themselves. The bowling team is suffering a bad mental wave where they allow past frames which affects how they play. Tucholski hopes to fix that.

     “I want them to listen to the coaches, not what other team members think. I want my team members to always forget what they did in the last frame and focus on doing better in the next one,” Tucholski said.

      Along with Tucholski, Rogers agrees there is an issue with team work, stating the problem does not come from dislike of players, but they themselves getting upset which brings down team morale.

     “Some players have big egos and get upset about being benched, which affects the whole team,” Rogers said.

     Being a team captain can mean a lot of different things. For Kolczynski, it means being a helping hand for her team.

     “As a captain, I help organize the team together for matches and tournaments, figure out lineups for bakers and assist in ways the coaches need such as giving advice, going to assist in JV events and just being a reliable person for the team,” Kolczynski said.

     Progress can be a key factor to performing better in sports. Players can not only improve upon skills but also in their mindset. Junior Violet Shall believes this has greatly affected their team.

     “I see a lot of improvements especially in the structure of the team, last year felt unstructured due to coaching changes and a lack of people. This year we have way more people and everything moves more smoothly,” Shall said.

Feature, Sports

New coaching rule brings major changes to winter sports season

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Trevor Ing / Editor-In-Chief

     At the beginning of every school year, teachers may retire, and teachers step up and take higher roles or new teachers are hired in replacement. The same goes for coaches of different sports. 

    This year, Stow saw the addition of five new sports coaches. Girls’ and boys’ basketball, girls’ soccer, baseball and bowling. 

     Recently, there has been a huge emphasis on high school sports. A student’s coach can quickly become the most important teacher they have, and when that teacher walks the hallways of their own school, it may mean more to the student than expected.

     Many of these coaches have been at Stow for many years, so what brought about this change?

     When figuring out the right person for the job, the Athletic Department first needs to figure out what exactly they want to have as a priority. Recently, the school has introduced a new emphasis on hiring coaches who are teachers at the school before reaching out to the community. 

     “We emphasize that if they’re walking the halls, we want to get them coaching,” Athletic Director, Cyle Feldman said.

     With the coaching contract being one year, the athletic department had enough time to communicate and decide on teachers in the building who would be better suited to fit the needs of the student athletes. In Feldman’s mind, “you always are looking for what’s best for kids.”

     A huge component of the change was that each coach needs to understand what’s happening in the classroom as well as on the field. For example, there was a problem with volleyball matches ending late, which caused many athletes to be unable to get all their work finished without sacrificing the much needed sleep to recover from a big game. A teacher in the building has better understanding and is able to communicate much better to other teachers if problems like this occur.

     “If somebody’s walking our halls, we want them to be able to see our kids during the day and have an influence on them, mentoring them and communicating with them,” Feldman said.

     One big coaching change that received a lot of attention was the replacement of Bob Podges, the previous girls’ basketball coach, who had been coaching for 32 years. Math teacher Andrew O’Keefe will be taking Podges’ position as the new girls head coach. O’Keefe has been coaching at CVCA for the past eight years. O’Keefe posted a 137-65 record in eight seasons as CVCA’s girls’ basketball coach, winning six league titles, three district championships and four Coach of the Year honors.

     Similar to O’Keefe, Podges coached 12 league Players of the Year, named Ohio High School Basketball Coaches Association Division I Coach of the Year back in 2017, earned league Coach of the Year 12 times and was named the All-Ohio Northeast Inland District Division 1 Coach of the Year three times.

Continued on website…

     So this begs the question, why not continue the contract of a coach who has such an incredible legacy? 

     According to Feldman, it came down to two things. The first being the emphasis on having a coach be one of the administrators in the school to better mentor their athletes, and the second being how much of a relationship O’Keefe was building with the younger generation.

     “One of our big goals in all our programs is aligning with the youth, and Kimpton, and the early returns on coach O’Keefe are great,” Feldman said.

     A big problem with basketball, along with other sports at Stow, is how many students are advancing CVCA or Walsh instead of the Stow because of athletics. One of the reasons students were going to CVCA instead of Stow was because they knew about O’Keefe prior to going to high school.

     While coaching at CVCA, O’Keefe felt a disconnect between himself and the community at Stow. At the time, both head coach positions were taken at Stow, so O’Keefe didn’t see a path where he would become the head coach while working under Coach Dave Close. He was given the opportunity to become a Head Coach at CVCA and took it despite it not being his home school.

     “I remember my first pep rally after getting hired at CVCA, and I just stood there in the gym, and I was just like, ‘man.’ It just wasn’t the same for me. It was hard because I wasn’t coaching here anymore,” O’Keefe said.

     O’Keefe also felt how much he lost with not having his athletes in his classroom. He felt like a huge part of how he coaches was gone because he lost that ability to connect.

     “I lost that relationship that gets developed in the gym. I think it’s completely different than the classroom because in the classroom, kids are working on something that they have to do; whereas in the gym, they’re working on something that they love,” O’Keefe said.

     When administrators gave O’Keefe the opportunity to become the new girls’ head coach, he stepped up for the job hoping to follow Podges’ legacy the best he could.

     “They saw me as a qualified candidate, and they asked me if I’d be interested in applying for the position, and I did,” O’Keefe said.

     Besides the controversy, O’Keefe is excited for this year and thinks the team will perform well. O’Keefe was not just handed the job solely because he was a teacher who applied.

      “I’m really excited to be back. I think the girls are excited, I think families are excited, and we’re looking forward to the season,” O’Keefe said.

Source: Stohion/ Maya Cooper

Girls basketball coach Andrew O’Keefe coaches the 11/15 scrimmage. 

Sports

Boys’ Cross Country Season Recap

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By Mira Woodward / Business Manager

      Last year the cross country team got 17th place at states, but this season they worked to be the first time since the ‘70s to repeat state visits.

     Chase Schumaker a freshman on Varsity, has been running for three years. Chase Westover, a sophomore on JV, has been running for four years. Henry Wisniewski, a junior on Varsity has been running for five years. Tristan Roach is a senior and captain on the Varsity team who has been running for six years. Trevor Ing is a senior and captain on Varsity who has been running for four years.

     Improvements are not made overnight: They take hard work and dedication. For Ing, this means putting in the work during practice and outside of it.

     “It’s showing up to practice every single day,” Ing said, “but it’s more than that. It’s the 22 hours that you’re not at practice, making sure you’re eating well, making sure you’re sleeping well and making sure there’s not a bunch of distractions stressing you out, making you have no energy for practice.”

     Injury is a struggle that can be very common for athletes. Depending on the severity of the injury, it may prevent runners from competing. Learning how to overcome this setback is a crucial part of being an athlete.

     “I got put out of a couple of races because my knee started bothering me, but I overcame it by continuing to show up to practices and doing strength and exercises with coaches,” Westover said.

     Running can be mistaken as only physically tolling, but a 2019 study by “Deconstructing Stigma” shows that thirty-five percent of athletes have mental health concerns. 

     For some student runners, one of the biggest challenges is being mentally there or focusing enough during their races.

     “I kept saying I was slow or I kept giving up on myself before things even started. So overcoming that mental block and getting back into it was a huge problem that I had to overcome,” Ing said.

     An important thing about improving as a team is being able to rely on each other, not just during a race but outside of Cross Country. Some would even say that it is more than friends, but a family.

     “I enjoy being with the team a lot. It’s a good spirit that we have, and it’s like a second family basically. I feel that I’m able to enjoy my life better when I can show up to practice and be with guys that I’m comfortable with,” Westover said.

     Leaving a team behind can be hard for a senior to do, especially if they are a captain. Roach feels that the team is in a great position right now to where he feels comfortable leaving the team in the hands of the underclassmen.

     “We have a lot of young talent right now,” Roach said, “and they just need to understand where the team is at and how to improve it. If they step up, then I think the team can be in a really good place next year.”

        Being a captain of the boys cross country team is a big responsibility. Captains can be a junior or senior but must be interviewed for the position. Ing and Roach are two senior captains this year.  

     “It’s been great so far,” Ing said, “seeing everyone improve and then knowing I had a small part in that makes me feel so much better, and honestly, it makes me faster myself.”

     For Roach, being a captain involves leading workouts, stretching and most importantly, helping out his teammates and coaches.

     “I wanted to be a captain to help my teammates and really just help the coaches do their job and make this group a better place to be. Talking to people and seeing if they’re doing all right as a team,” Roach said.

     For most of the underclassmen, Ing and Roach seem to be who they most look up to on this team. They know how to push their teammates to be their best selves and Wisniewski felt this personally.

     “I look up to Tristan Roach and Trevor Ing. They have always pushed me and always told me I can do better. I didn’t always believe them, but I see now that they were right, they saw the potential in me,” Wisniewski said.

  For a lot of members of boys cross country, this team holds a special place in their hearts. For Ing specifically, this feels more like being a part of a family.

     “I couldn’t ask for a better team to be with. If I had another chance to redo it, I would do the exact same thing I did now,” Ing said.

     For others, this team is a great way to keep not only yourself in check but cheering on your friends as they improve alongside you.

     “Being on this team gives you some responsibility, because it’s you. If you want to get a personal best that’s all up to you. I love having that responsibility on myself and it’s overall really fun,” Wisniewski said.

     Boys cross country has had a great progression over the season and hopes to continue to make the school proud at states this weekend.

     “We’ve accomplished some amazing goals and we’re looking to having a repeat state visit,” Ing said.

     Luckily, this year the boys cross country team was able to pull off the back to back state qualification with them placing 5th at the D1 Cross country regional competition. Vaugh Hamilton was the MVP of the race surging ahead and clutching up passing a bunch of people to place 4th on the team. Seniors Trevor Ing and Tristan Roach lead the team with a 5th and 6th place finish to help carry the team to states. 

2024-2025, Front/Home, Sports

Boys Volleyball

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Courtney Katzenmeyer / Editor

     Boys volleyball kicks off their season in spring. Coach Ramierez and Coach Sheri are working hard to get their players ready for the upcoming games this season. 

     The team is playing a tournament in Columbus, which is exciting for the players. 

     “One thing I’m looking forward to is going to Columbus for a tournament this year.  It’s our first time doing this, and we’re playing many top teams in the state,” senior Campbell Tawney said. 

     There are more teams being added to the game schedule this year. 

     “One thing I’m looking forward to this season is the change to our schedule, we added a lot of top teams in the state to our schedule so seeing how we perform against them is very exciting,” senior Alex Kulkhe said.

     Some of the teams they will be playing are ranked as the top in the state. 

     “There are a few games I’m nervous for, we’re playing Saint Xavier, Saint Ignatius, and some Olentangy teams, who are all top ten in the state,” Kulkhe said.

     The players get along quite well on and off the court. Many of the players are friends during season and after. 

     “The best part of the team is the environment, we all have fun and get along with each other pretty well, but when the time comes we lock in,” Kulkhe stated.

     Seniors on the team do not have many set-in-stone traditions like some of the other sports, but they do have something new the players enjoy: “One tradition we have is the seniors design the team shirts.  It’s a newer tradition that started recently, but hopefully it’ll continue to be passed on,” Tawney said.

     The team lost several seniors last year, but that does not mean they became a weaker opponent. 

     “I really want the team to prove ourselves to everyone else. We lost a lot of seniors and the starting lineup, and I think a lot of teams think less of us now. I want to prove we are still good enough to compete with them,” Kulkhe said.

     Seniors on the team share similar feelings about this season being their last. 

     “One thing I’ll miss about the team is definitely the relationships I have with all the guys and the coaches: They’ve all been a big part of my life for the past couple of years, so I’ll be missing that for sure,” Kulkhe stated.

     The seniors are hopeful for the last season being together. 

     “I’m really excited for my senior year. It’s going to be fun to play with the other seniors one last time and see what we can accomplish,” Tawney said.

     The volleyball team has their first game at St. Ignatius, a tough opponent, as they were state runner-up last season. The team is very optimistic and excited to play St. Ignatius, and they are excited to see what they accomplish.

     An eventful and thrilling season is ahead for the team with new opponents and a larger variety of ranked teams. The players are striving to accomplish their goals this season and make new improvements every practice.