Category Archives: Sports

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. 

Sports, Sports Opinion

Pro Sports With Gabe

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Gabriel Chaney / Staff Writer

     NBA is making some blockbuster trades this year. 

     The main trade everyone seems to be talking about is the three-team trade that included the Utah Jazz, Los Angeles Lakers and the Dallas Mavericks. 

     Big names were moved around such as Anthony Davis and Max Christie to the Mavericks.  The Mavericks also received a 2029 first-round pick. The Lakers received Luka Dončić, Maxi Kleber and Markieff Morris. 

     The Jazz got Jalen Hood-Schifino, a 2025 second-round pick from the Clippers and the Mavericks 2025 second-round pick. Many people believe the Lakers benefit more from this trade, but diving deeper it’s not as good as it seems. 

     The Lakers gave up Anthony Davis who is averaging 25.7 PPG, 11.9 RPG and 2.1 BPG. Davis is a key piece to the Lakers puzzle, and losing him will loom large. When healthy, Davis is a top-five defender in the NBA; he is also a great rebounder. 

     The Lakers received Luka, who is averaging 28.1 PPG, 8.3 RPG and 7.8 APG. Luka is an offensive mastermind, and where he struggles on the defensive side of the ball, he is a mediocre defender. Luka has also played in just 22 games this year due to injury. The Lakers defense will be struggling without Davis. 

     The Jazz received Jalen Hood-Schifino who has played in only two games this year and is averaging 2 PPG, 0.5 RPG and 0.5 APG. The Jazz seem like the overall loser of this trade. The Mavericks getting Davis is a huge piece, and with the addition, they could very well make it deep into the playoffs this year. The winner of this trade is the Mavericks as they push for a championship with Davis. 

     The next trade was another three-team trade that involved the Chicago Bulls, Sacramento Kings and San Antonio Spurs. The Spurs received De’Aaron Fox and Jordan Mclaughlin. The Kings got Zach LaVine, Sidy Cissoko in three first-round picks and three second-round picks. 

     The Bulls received Zach Collins, Tre Jones, Kevin Huerter and a first-round pick. The Spurs new lineup looks scary as they pair Fox and Chris Paul in the backcourt. The duo of Fox and Victor Wembenyama will be scary and make the Spurs a deep playoff team. The winner of the trade is definitely the Spurs as they added a key player to the roster. 

     The Kings also improved by adding LaVine to team back up with Demar DeRozan. LaVine also joins Domantas Sabonis, Malik Monk and Keegan Murray making the Kings lineup a lot more fierce. The Bulls add size in Zach Collins and a great 3-point shooter in Kevin Huerter. Tre Jones has been a not-so-great bench piece for the Kings, but moving him to the Bulls alongside Josh Giddey and Nikola Vučević might just unlock his full potential. 

     The winner of the trade is the Spurs, but all around, it’s a fair trade for every team involved. Overall the power rankings have shifted significantly due to these trades, which heavily influences the outcome of the playoffs.