All-State Winners

Congratulations to the following Boy’s Cross Country Members on making the 2009 All-State teams:

 

Justin Roenigk (1^st team)

 

Colin Grandon (2^nd team)

 

Taylor Sanders (Honorable Mention)

 

Jeremy Rice (Honorable Mention for both All-State and Academic All-State)

 

Nathan Yates (Honorable Mention)

 

Ryan Kalmey (Honorable Mention)

 

 

Three NOHS soccer players named All-State

Congratulations to the following NOHS soccer players for earning All-State honors:

Meghan Klyczek (2^nd team)

Devan Costelle (Honorable Mention)

Brandon Causey (Honorable Mention)

Wet Conditions at Metro Meet of Champions

Matt Dombrosky, Andrew Beno and Jordan Yates show the muddy conditions Saturday at the Metro Meet of Champions on River Road.

 

 

Running with the Mustangs: A Homecoming of Sorts

By David St. Louis / October 25, 2009 10:08 AM

A Homecoming of Sorts 

The Mustangs headed north of the Mason-Dixon Line for their September 26^th meet to be hosted by Xavier University at Mt. Airy Forest in Cincinnati, Ohio.  The meet was the inaugural meet for the Queen City hosts, but unfortunately was run in the slop, as it had rained all week.  For coaches Drew LaMaster and Matt Weingardt, it was a chance to visit their old stomping grounds in more than one respect, as both had run Cross Country and Track for Xavier for all fours years, with LaMaster graduating in May of 2005 and Weingardt in May of 2008.   

The trek was laid out on a fairly flat course, heavily guarded between woods and the paved trail.  As mentioned before, it had rained all week, so the course was soaked, and turns were to be navigated with extreme caution.  An added twist to things was the discovery of a massive beehive on the course which unfortunately laid out sophomore Steve Terkula before the race.  It would turn out that the beehive was a little more than a mile into the race, and would actually sting several runners into the race and steer others around the visible swarm.  The bees were finally subdued after the race and all runners were safe after the race.  The boys were told to simply go out and compete, regardless of the conditions.  Despite six of their top seven boys being rested for the Midwest Meet of Champions, the Mustangs still expected to finish in the top 3-4 of the race as a team, and they did that in placing 4^th, led by sophomore Taylor Sanders in 10^th place.  Following Sanders to the finish line were junior Jeremy Rice (21^st place), Alec Horn (34^th place), Troas McWilliams (40^th place), Matt Dombrosky (44^th place), Ryan Kalmey (46^th place), and Erik Krohn in 50^th place.  In what proved to be a very close battle for the title, Elder (OH) won the meet with 43 points, followed closely by Anderson (OH) with 49 points, Oak Hills with 52 points.  The Mustangs beat out Roger Bacon (OH) 111-120 to place 4^th out of the six team field.  Rounding out the field for the Mustangs were Austin Wilkins (55^th place), Jack Murphy (57^th place), Zack Mitchell (61^st place), Brayden May (69^th place), Andy Powers (83^rd place), and Austin Roberts in 103^rd place. 

After the race, the team was led on an expedition to pay homage to the campus of Xavier University located off of the Dana Avenue exit off of Interstate 71.  On the trip, the boys were led to the newly renovated and very sharp looking Cross Country locker room, the O’Conner Sports Center, the Gallagher Student Center, the Cintas Center, and finally the “Grassy Knoll”.  Inside the Cross Country locker room were leader boards for every distance run in Cross Country and Track, as well as various pictures from races throughout the years.  Of special note was the picture of the 2004 Cross Country team at the Atlantic 10 Championships, in which LaMaster and Weingardt helped lead their team to a school-best 3^rd place finish.  Onto the newly renovated O’Conner Sports Center, the boys were led around to admire the new weight/work out room that is completely surrounded by windows.  This was built to encourage sunlight in and to maintain a positive attitude in your workouts.  After the tour of the freshly polished gym floor and the locker rooms, the boys moved onto the Gallagher Student Center. The Student Center was finished in 2002 and is a state-of-the-art facility.  In its several levels include a bank, business offices, bookstore, coffee shop, pub-style restaurant to hang out in before basketball games, a Subway, a Chinese Restaurant, Kinko’s, auditorium, and several other beautiful and convenient stores.  Each level is built so that it is wide open and you can look down to each level to see what is going on.  The boys also made sure and collected some XU gear so they could score some brownie points with the coaching staff. 

The second to last stop would be the Cintas Center, which is where the Xavier basketball and volleyball teams play their games.  The boys were particularly interested in this spot, as they often get to run their mouths to their coaches during basketball season about whether or not Xavier is a mid-major school, despite making the Sweet 16 and Elite 8 of the NCAA Men’s Tournament three of the past six years.  Coach LaMaster and Coach Weingardt still have season-tickets as well, so they showed the boys where they get to sit and enjoy their beloved Musketeers.  The Cintas Center is a beautiful facility that was finished in 2001, and contains approximately 20 luxury boxes, and holds 10,250 screaming fans, in what is almost always a sell-out crowd.  The Musketeers are part of the Atlantic 10 Conference and play against the likes of Dayton, Charlotte, UMass, St. Joseph’s, Temple, and several other perennial powers.  The boys were also led around the facility to see the well-kept and very up-to-date weight room, pictures of current/former athletes throughout the building, concession stand facilities, and to also peep down on the gorgeous and very tasty cafeteria.  Also, Xavier recently added a Hall-of-Fame exhibit, which houses pictures and memorabilia of some of Xavier’s finest student-athletes over the years. 

Last but not least, the boys were led down to the “Grassy Knoll.”  Coach LaMaster and Coach Weingardt spoke of blood, tears, sweat, and hard work in general on the hallowed ground.  The area is an 800 meter trek with rolling hills, a very sharp hair-pin turn, many trees, and a parallel trek to Victory Parkway.  It can be particularly tricky to navigate in snow and rain as well.  Of particular interest to the guys was the “Shoe Tree”.  Dozens of shoes by current and former XU Cross Country runners are tied together and thrown into the tree to give a picture of the tree almost growing the shoes as they hang down from various branches sticking out in all directions.  To answer the burning question and intrigue, yes the boys have created their own shoe tree at an undisclosed location somewhere in Oldham County. 

All in all, it was a day to get a race in against some stellar Southeast Ohio competition, but also to realize that there is more to life than running, and it never hurts to go back and pay respect to the things that have so positively influenced our lives, and will continue to play a huge part of our lives in the years to come, and to never forget the positive memories of the past. 

See you at the Midwest Meet of Champs.

Lady Mustang soccer players selected to All Region teams

Congratulations to the following Lady Mustang soccer players who were named to the All 8^th Region teams:

 

1^st team:

senior  Devan Costelle

senior Meghan Klyczek

 

2^nd team:

freshman Sloane Costelle

senior Allyson Cottrell

 

honorable mention:

senior Adrienne Bishop

sophomore Jordan Major

senior Kayla Martorana

junior Paige Napier

 

 

 

Trinity Meet

Running With the Mustangs: Trinity Times

By David St. Louis

September 19, 2009 marked the Trinity/Valykerie Invitational at E.P. “Tom” Sawyer State Park. The stage was set with mild weather and a loaded field. North Oldham senior co-captain, Justin Roenigk, is along to help recap his efforts. 

In a ritual that has been considered a head-scratcher to most of the running community, Justin Roenigk and the North Oldham cross country team consider the McDonald’s McSkillet and hot chocolate a sacrament of sorts: for Justin’s pre-race meal, that is. A late arrival to Lexington his freshman year left a McDonald’s as the only viable option for pre-race sustenance. A successful race ensued and the rest is history as Justin has routinely become a big-time racer for the NOHS squad, most notably placing 11^th in 16:55 in the 2008 AA State Cross Country Meet, helping to secure North Oldham’s first ever team title.  

Would a big-time race develop on this day? Two days prior, Justin wasn’t sure, as he tried to kick a sudden hip irregularity that week. Veteran focus, a senior drive, and the aforementioned McSkillet would not allow for a scratch and the early morning shake-out at NOHS calmed some nerves and escalated confidence. Justin recounts an uncharacteristically somber mood amongst the top seven on their warm-up. Coming off a disappointing Tiger Run and a “building block” of a Rumble Through the Jungle, he believed the Mustangs were ready to get after it on a promising morning at a home away from home, “Sawyer”.  

From the gun to the mile marker, Justin immediately negotiated a field of 300 runners in a blistering opening pace. When asked of the focus at this point, he simply mentioned, “gold jerseys and jersey’s I didn’t recognize”, alluding to St. X (the current leaders of KY) and the integrity of the out-of-state teams in attendance, including Carmel (IN), North Harrison (IN), Oak Ridge (TN), Anderson (OH) and Tupelo (MS). Justin stated, “If I could run with [these jerseys], I knew I would be in good company and I could set a PR”. Today, Justin would be running without one third of North’s front trio, Taylor Sanders, as he chose to sit out the race due to illness. He and Colin Grandon would have their work set out for them up front, by themselves.  

The theme of the race in Justin’s mind was repetition, notably thinking nothing but, “16:30, 16:30, 16:30…”. While cognizant of the coaching staff on the sidelines, Justin can and would rely on his veteran abilities to assess a race and adjust accordingly. A 25-second PR, sure, yet nothing would really prove to be out of the realm for the Mustangs on this day. “I wanted to use Sawyer’s course to my advantage and begin my kick about 600 meters out with the turn of the road. I felt good going into the pine trees (by the BMX track),” he testifies, “but I began to realize 16:45 may be more realistic”.  

A ferocious downhill kick brought relief to eyes that hadn’t seen a PR in ten months, as 16:44 flashed in front of Justin. It was immediate relief from early season races that weren’t real confidence boosters. While Colin Grandon ran away with a team-leading 16:08 PR on this day, it was a sign for Justin that the Mustangs were arriving to really compete, now.  

Certainly not to be disregarded were the rest of the Mustang roster who blistered Sawyer’s quick turns and state competition. All but four North Oldham runners would set personal bests on this day, as they wrote a very promising chapter to the 2009 season. Justin and the rest of the upperclassmen have come to expect racing results to match up with training as the season develops. We’ll see how the Mustangs show in Ohio for two weekends in a row… 

Colin Grandon  16:08 (:41 PR)

Justin Roenigk  16:44 (:11 PR)

Seth Fowler  17:09 (:46 PR)

Nathan Yates   17:12 (:18 PR)

Andrew Beno  17:23 (:33 PR)

Eric Taglieri  17:25 (:46 PR)

Jeremy Rice  17:28 (:13 PR)

Ryan Kalmey  18:06

Zack Mitchell  18:19 (:18 PR)

Matt Dombrosky 18:20 (:13 PR)

Troas McWilliams 18:24 (equaled PR)

Jack Murphy  18:32 (:47 PR)

Alec Horn  18:48

Brayden May  18:56 (:16 PR)

Jordan Yates  19:16 (:34 PR)

Steve Terkula  19:21 (:36 PR)

Andy Powers  21:15

Boone Lewis  29:52

 

 

 

Rumble Meet

Running With the Mustangs: Rumble Rumblings

By David St. Louis

The North Oldham Mustangs returned to action this past weekend for the 6^th Annual Rumble Through the Jungle.  As the host team, expectations are always high and motivation to put on a good show is never a problem. The guys really rose to the occasion, as they bounced back from a disappointing Tiger Run.  Overall, nine Mustangs set personal bests in a strong field that included St. X, Conner, South Oldham, Butler, and Walton Verona.  The field was the fastest the Rumble had ever seen, and the competition was fierce throughout as Trevin Petersen of Walton Verona set a blistering pace, that only Matt Hillenbrand of St. X was able to withstand by the end of the race. 

In the Varsity race, the Mustangs were led by Junior Colin Grandon (16:49) in 13^th place and Sophomore Taylor Sanders (16:59) in 16^th place.  Also, coming to play this week in the Varsity race were Andrew Beno (17:55), Seth Fowler (18:07), Alec Horn (18:11), and Eric Taglieri (18:16).  Colin and Taylor set the tone early as they mixed it up with the likes of Matt Hillenbrand, Daniel Thurston, Trevin Petersen, Stacey Eden, and Jacob McIntyre.  Although Colin and Taylor would both eventually fall back somewhat off the pace, they set the tone as “front runners” and got the Mustangs in position to score well.  Coach Drew LaMaster was particularly impressed with these two as well as the foursome of Andrew Beno, Seth Fowler, Alec Horn, and Eric Taglieri.  “Those four guys ran with each other stride for stride for the first two miles.  Each week, these guys have gotten better and have worked together to pass their opponents and move up further in races. It will be crucial to the depth and success of our team as we try and close the gap between our lead runners and our second pack.” 

Eric Taglieri said, “Altogether we were able to bounce back from the St. X meet, put on a good performance, and show others how good we can be.”  Beno, Fowler, Horn, and Taglieri all placed between 46^th and 59^th place.  Freshman Matt Dombrosky also ran a strong 18:33 in his first freshman race and fellow freshman Erik Krohn made his 5k debut in 19:02.  Seth Fowler added, ”Our second group of guys stepped up and used each other in a pack.  This pushed each of us to have a much better team score than the previous week at Tiger Run.”  The team placed 5^th overall in the meet as Coach LaMaster and Coach Weingardt like to encourage each runner on the team to score by splitting the squad. 

Alec Horn concluded the comments from the team by saying, “We didn’t plan the pack, but once we got out there and were right next to each other, we all worked together and pushed one another.  I knew I wasn’t going to lose Seth, Eric wasn’t going to let us out of his sights, and Andrew had the most legs at the end.  It was good the pack did come together because it produced a PR for Andrew, Eric, and I.  The team finally looked good and I can’t wait to see how much more everyone improves.” 

In the JV race, the Mustangs were led by sophomores Ryan Kalmey and Zack Mitchell.  Jeremy Rice also ran a strong race before falling off in his last mile.  Kalmey placed 14^th in 18:29, improving 37 seconds from Tiger Run, and Mitchell PR’ed in 18:37 and finishing a solid 18^th.  Rice ran 18:48 finishing 29^th.  Other solid performances included Austin Wilkins in a PR of 19:12, Jack Murphy in 19:19 in his first 5k, Jordan Yates in 19:50 in his first 5k, Steve Terkula in 20:01 (dropping 2:35 from last year), and Boone Lewis in 33:26 (dropping 6:19 off his time from last year).  The JV guys ran a smart race settling in towards the 800 meter mark of the race and continuing to move up the entire race before settling on a 4^th place finish.  This was also despite the fact that the teams were evenly split to encourage more internal competition. 

The focus of the Mustangs over the preceding two weeks before the meet was very strong.  The team felt as though they had let down themselves, their fans, and their coaches the way they ran at Tiger run.  Coach LaMaster remarked, ”I haven’t seen a team as focused as the guys were the past couple weeks.  They came in hungry each day and ready to work and I think that focus is only going to get stronger as the season goes on.  They know that Class AA’s level of competition has significantly improved and that they are going to be tested to the highest level each week.  Furthermore, with the Trinity Invitational and the Midwest Meet of Champs approaching on our schedule, we are going to have to sharpen our times up, or we are going to get blown out of the water by some of these teams we are going up against.” 

See you at Trinity next week.

 

 

 

North Oldham Lady Mustang Basketball Tryouts (Varsity / JV)

The NOHS Lady Mustang basketball tryouts are October 15^th from 5:00-8:00p and will be extended to Friday if necessary.  Each player interested must attend Try-Outs in order to be considered for the team.  Fall sport athletes are not permitted to participate in Try-Outs, but they must at least sign in at Try-Outs and choose a position to try out for.

 

In order to tryout for the basketball team this year, you must complete and submit all the following prior to trying out:

 

1. Completed Athletic Packet for NOHS
2. Updated Physical Forms
3. Sign Basketball Contract

 

Note: #1 and #2 above not necessary for Fall Sports Athletes

 

The coaching staff is extremely excited about the upcoming season.  We have a new state of the art gym, new locker rooms and are ready to get started!  See coach Martin, Grimm or Pfaff if you have any questions.

 

Go North!

North Oldham Lady Mustangs Senior Night

North Lady Mustang Soccer team recognized nine seniors in their last home game of the season against Male High School on Saturday night.  The Lady Mustangs took care of the Lady Bulldogs in an exciting 3-1 victory.  In the first half the Lady Bulldogs stuck first and went on top with a goal in the first 10 minutes of the match (Stephens).  But before the half could end, Megan Klyczek and Amanda Bryant each scored to retake the lead.  In the second half, the Lady Mustangs held the Bulldogs scoreless and Allyson Cottrell added one more goal to seal the victory.  All senior scoring!!

 

Before the game our nine Lady Mustang seniors were honored in a great NOHS Senior Night ceremony.  Our 2009 North Oldham Lady Mustang Seniors are (from left to right) Amanda Mattern, Kayla Martorana, Megan Klyczek, Caitlin Hickey, Allyson Cottrell, Devan Costelle, Amanda Bryant, Adrienne Bishop and Caitlin Banbury.

 

Congratulations Lady Mustang Seniors on a fantastic soccer career at North Oldham High School.  Good Luck in Districts and Regionals!!

 

 

 

Oldham Cup Day 3 results: NORTH retains the Cup!

Day 3 of the Oldham County Cup singles matches were cancelled due to the inclement weather which necessitated the closure of Nevel Meade golf course.

The Commitee then determined that there would be no opportunity to complete play so the tourney Champion was declared by using results from the first two days of match play amongst the competitors.

North had managed to win 5 of 8 possible points during the contests held the first two days - this proved to be enough of a margin for victory!

North Oldham is the Oldham Cup Champion for 2009!

Congratulations Coach Dunn, James Wistrom, Alex Foley, Austin Love, Kameron Shams, John Hellmann, Nolan Dunn, Larry Parella, Cash Cameron and Nick Ernst for an outstanding tournament.

FINAL TEAM RESULTS
NORTH 5.0pts.
OC        4.5pts.
SOUTH  2.5pts

 

Oldham Cup Day 2 results: Mustangs retain the lead!

Here are the results from the second day of matches in our defense of the Oldham Cup.

Today's format was alternate shot, with six matches held each with one point possible,

contested at Harmony Landing CC(holes 1-9):

 

Team points after Day 2:

NORTH   5.0 pts.

OC            4.5 pts.

SOUTH    2.5 pts.

 

Match results for Day 2:

Pairing 1(vs. SO): James W/Larry P (Won 3&2)

Pairing 2(vs. OC): Alex F/Austin L. (Won 5&4)

Pairing 3(vs. SO): Kameron S./Nolan D. (Loss 3&2)

Pairing 4(vs. OC): John H./Nick E. (Loss 3&2)

 

So, Day 2 was evenly split amongst the teams, with each team

earning 2 of the possible 6 points.

As always, it comes down to Day 3! Exciting stuff!

 

Here are the tee times/pairings for Thursday 9/24 at Nevel Meade:

 

1. 4:00PM  Brandon Walton (OC) v. Nick Ernst (NO)

                    Alec Carroll (SO) v. Justin Pierce (OC)

2. 4:08PM Zack Newman (SO) v. John Hellmann (NO)

                   Zach Jones (OC) v. Nolan Dunn (NO)

3. 4:16PM Larry Parrella (NO) v. Nick Fowler (SO)

                   Dalton Clark (OC) v. Brad Grieshaber (SO)

4. 4:24PM Kameron Shams (NO) v. Kyle Stewart (OC)

                   Austin Love (NO) v. Matt Wood (SO)

5. 4:32PM Tyler Potts (OC) v. Brady Gale (SO)

                    Alex Foley (NO) v. James Knezevich (OC)

6. 4:40PM Mac VanLenten (SO) v. James Wistrom (NO)

                   Dylan Underwood (SO) v. Taylor Riggs (OC)

 

Looking forward to seeing all of you FOCUSed on your jobs

tomorrow! We have a great opportunity to defend the Cup -

but it will require each of us to play our game tomorrow!

We can do it, guys! GO MUSTANGS!

 

See everyone tomorrow!

 

GO MUSTANGS!

 

Fairways and greens,

Coach Dunn

 

Field Hockey Represents North!!!

The NOHS field hockey teams battled their rival, South Oldham, at home last night. The junior varsity team battled back from a 2-0 deficit at half time to finish the game with a 2-2 tie. Congratulations Girls!! Goals were scored by juniors Lucy Gibson and Atalee Cummings.

 

The Varsity took the field last night ready to play, and never looked back. They went into half time with a 1-0 lead, goal scored by senior Taylor McAfee. The Lady Mustangs took the field after halftime unsatisfied with a 1 point lead and senior Katie Benyo scored quickly to give the team a 2-0 lead. North never gave South the opportunity to catch up and gladly celebrated their first victory over South Oldham.

 

The Lady Mustangs next home game will be Tuesday the 29^th against Holy Cross. We hope to see you there!!

 

Go North!!!!

 

Coach Ross

 

NOHS Swim Team Parents Host Open Water Swim

The parents of the NOHS Swim Team held their First Annual Open Water Swim fundraiser on August 22, 2009, in the Ohio River.  The event was sanctioned by the USA Triathalon, USA Swimming, and Masters Swimming associations.  There were over 80 participants, ranging in age from 11 to 55.    In the half mile event, the winner was Sydney Bratcher (age 13, female).  NOHS' own Mark Scherer (age 12, male) came in 4th, and Clayton Helsey (age 13, male) came in 5th.  In the 1.2 miie course, Clark Burckle (age 21, male) was the overall winner.  In the 2.4 mile course, Ben Grimes (age 16, male) was the winner.   To view the 200+ pictures, visit Snapfish at   http://www2.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=1841643007/a=26939708_26939708/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/   We would like to thank all our volunteers and sponsors: Blue River Cabinetry Cardinal Harbor Homeowners Association Downtown YMCA Harmony Elementary School Cross Country Team Java Brewing Company Kast-a-way Swimwear LaGrange Fire Department North Oldham Fire Department North Oldham High School Track Team North Oldham Middle School Cross Country Team Tran Orthodontics United States Coast Guard Viking Canoe Club Westport Fire Department   The 2nd Annual Open Water Swim is scheduled for August 14, 2010.  Hope to see you there!

Oldham Cup Day 1 results: Mustangs in the lead!

Here are the results from the first day of matches in our defense of the Oldham Cup.

Today's format was the 2-man scramble, with six matches held each with one point possible,

contested at Oldham Country CC(holes 1-9):

 

Team points after Day 1:

NORTH   3.0 pts.

OC            2.5 pts.

SOUTH    0.5 pts.

 

Match results for Day 1

Pairing 1(vs. OC): James W/Nolan D (Loss 4&3)

Pairing 2(vs. SO): Alex F/Cash C. (Won 4&3)

Pairing 3(vs. OC): Austin L/Larry P (Won 1 UP)

Pairing 4(vs. SO): Kam S/John H (Won 2&1)

 

In the first match, the OC coach paired his top two

players - who took full advantage of the scramble format

and some good putting to play the first 6 holes at 4 under

par. The North pairing put themselves in position each

hole, but weren't able to match OC's luck with the putter.

The second match was no contest against South. The

third match was extended to the 9th hole - and won by the

North squad's determination over the last three holes, OC

was unable to respond! In the fourth match, the North pairing

squared the match on the 4th hole, and then outplayed their

South opponent's over the next four holes to end the match.

Good job, Mustangs!!! 

 

Day 2 of the tourney continues tomorrow at Harmony Landing

Country Club in Goshen. Format will be alternate-shot.

 

North pairings:

Pairing 1:   James W/Larry P

Pairing 2:   Alex F/Austin L

Pairing 3:   Kameron S/Nolan D

Pairing 4:   John He./Nick E.

 

It should be another exciting day of Oldham Cup play.

GO MUSTANGS!

 

NOHS Softball Parent/Player Meeting

Tuesday, October 13th, 6:30 p.m., NOHS cafeteria   ALL returning and prospective players and parents should plan on attending this important informational meeting regarding the 2010 spring season.  Among items to be discussed will be required paperwork, winter conditioning workouts, fundraising, team expectations and spirit wear orders.  Please mark your calendar.  We expect the meeting to last no more than an hour.   Contact Coach Ballerstedt if you have any questions at nohsfastpitch@yahoo.com, 649-3815.

NOHS Swim Team Parent/Swimmer meeting

MANDATORY NOHS SWIM TEAM  ORGANIZATIONAL MEETING   Tuesday, September 22 – 7:30 pm in the NOHS Cafeteria   Meeting for Parents & Swimmers   Meet the coaches, catch up with old friends, learn about: workout times, meet schedules, fees, and team expectations.   Be a part of a State Championship Meet bound team!   If you can't make the meeting, please contact one of the coaches listed below. Kris Krohn, Head Coach – KrohnK@Bellsouth.net Randy Scherer, Asst. Coach – SchererRandy@att.net Chris Zaepfel, Asst. Coach – ZaepfelC@insightbb.com   Please forward this note to any middle school or high school student that might be interested.

Running with the Mustangs Second Edition

Running With The Mustangs: Tiger Run Edition

By David St. Louis / September 9, 2009 10:16 PM

 

            The Tiger Run proved to be a challenging run for North Oldham in their first meet.  Several of their front runners were disappointed in their races, as they searched for answers.  Going into the race, the Mustangs were very confident.  With their confidence still brimming off of last year’s State Championship last, the 19 returning runners from that team brought high expectations along with them.  The guys were hoping to show that the AAA powers of Kentucky that they were a team to be reckoned with and are on the verge of becoming a perennial powerhouse. 

 

As the gun went off, the guys got a good start from a far post position, but as they got into the race and around the mile, though, something just didn’t seem right.  In what will go down as probably one of the fastest, if not the fastest Tiger Run thus far in history, the Mustangs were not in the mix of things up front.  The front runners remarked that it was tough getting back into racing again, as the likes of Sanders, Roenigk, and Grandon struggled mentally with the fact they weren’t up front, despite them begging their legs to carry on harder and faster. Yates and Kalmey were struggling in back to get the second platoon of Mustangs going.  Seth Fowler, Andrew Beno, and Eric Taglieri took charge of the second group and shored up the depth that the Mustangs lacked last year, but it was not enough on this day. 

 

The group finished, frustrated, but hopeful that the team results would show their strength. Overall, they finished 7^th, and 5^th among the schools participating from Kentucky, but they had wanted more. Beyond that, they were stunned to see the name of the team that had placed 6^th, just in front of them: Covington Catholic. It had been a full calendar year since any Class 2A team had finished in front of the Mustangs, but the squad from Covington Catholic really took it to the Mustangs as they sported a veteran, senior-laden team and placed their front two guys in 13^th and 24^th sealing their victory in a stirring upset to start the season.  They will be a very tough team all season long, as their experience and confidence continue to grow. 

 

Taylor Sanders said after the race, “We were very disappointed with how we ran.  We have to use this as a stepping stone for future meets and remember how disappointed we felt in running this way.”  The young Mustangs were disappointed that they did not start the season off on the right foot, but are optimistic in the regards of having so much room to improve and time to fix their weaknesses. Their overall consensus is that they need to work harder in practice, and need to see marked improvement over the next several weeks in order to right the ship. Coach LaMaster still seemed irked as he remarked that, “It is going to be a tough couple weeks at practice.  We really need to get our guys to understand pace more, and how to race again after a long summer of base mileage.  At the same time, I understand this is the first race of the season, and that the guys will need to get their legs adjusted to racing again.”

 

Taylor Sanders, Justin Roenigk, Colin Grandon, Ryan Kalmey, and Nathan Yates return as the top 5 runners from the 2008 State Championship team, and all were extremely frustrated by their performances. As the leaders of this team, they expect more of themselves and vowed to set an example, the rest of the season, on how a race should be run.  Coach LaMaster said,” I really expect more of those five guys and they know that.  They are willing to step up to the challenges ahead though, and I know they will bounce back in impressive form in our next couple of meets.  There have been too many miles and too much hard work for those guys to not run up to their expectations.”  Junior Captain Jeremy Rice also remarked that, “We have to run better than that.  Our team has never been that bad overall.”

 

Looking at the positives from the meet, Coach LaMaster and Coach Weingardt were particularly impressed with the performances of Seth Fowler (17:55/47 second PR), Andrew Beno (18:01/27 second PR), Eric Taglieri (18:11/45 second PR), Troas McWilliams (18:24/29 second PR), Alec Horn (18:26/40 second PR), and Steve Terkula (19:57/1:09 PR). Part of the teams’ success has been their consistent production of new young talent and this is another step in that direction.  LaMaster remarked that, “These six guys worked their tails off all summer, and it really showed. They really set the bar on what a strong summer of training can do, and most importantly, improved the overall depth of our team.  It will be interesting to see if they can continue to shake up the ranks within the team each week.” 

 

            For the freshmen race, all four freshmen raced exceptionally well.  Matt Dombrosky placed fifth with a time of 13:51, and Erik Krohn was ninth in 14:14.  Both times rank in the top five overall in Mustang history for a 4k.  Also placing well was first year runner, Jack Murphy in 15:04 with a 23^rd place finish, and the much improved Jordan Yates in 15:36, good for 30^th.  The freshmen remarked how the level of competition is much tougher in high school, and that as the distance lengthens to a 5k, they expect to face some challenges with their endurance.  Jack Murphy said, “I plan on consistent improvement all season long by working hard everyday and helping the team out however I can.”

 

            Looking forward, Sean O’Nan and Andy Powers are expected to make their season debuts within the next few weeks, and LaMaster is excited to have their leadership back.  “It will be nice to have two of our stronger runners returning to the line-up from various injuries.  They are two of the hardest working young men we have on the team, and I am excited to have them back and contributing to the team again.”  Sean and Andy will also give the team some much needed flexibility at the Varsity level and allow them to mentor the freshmen as they begin the longer 5k distance.  Nathan Yates said a couple days after the meet that, “It is on our upperclassmen to lead our team.  We really need to focus here the rest of the season and show our firepower the next couple of weeks.  We are willing to do whatever we can to improve.”  Assistant Coach Matt Weingardt added, “We remain optimistic and feel that the boys will bounce back from the first race week of training.  We hadn’t really settled into our normal workout schedule in late August, but their legs should catch on at the right time as they did last year.”

 

            The guys know the next couple of weeks they must improve in order to put themselves in position to achieve their lofty goals, and are prepared for a tough two weeks of practice as they prepare for their home meet known as “The Rumble Through the Jungle”.  Junior Colin Grandon closed up the remarks from the team for the week by saying, “We won’t have another race like that as a team.  We are going to do everything we can to push each other each week and learn from our mistakes.”   

 

Stay tuned for next week…..

 

 

 

NOHS Dance Team Wins 1st in Hip Hop Division!

On Saturday, September 12^th, the NOHS Dance Team competed in the first annual

“Oldham County Dance-a-palooza” Competition held at Oldham County High School. 

All Oldham County Middle and High School teams were represented. 

Teams competed in their choice of genre to include:  Pom Division, Jazz, Kick Line,

and Hip Hop. 

 

Our Lady Mustang Dance Team brought home a 1^st Place trophy for their Hip Hop routine!

WAY TO GO, DANCERS!

 

This is a great start to the season as they look forward to their next competition on

Saturday, October 3^rd with JamFest at Slugger Field! 

 

GO MUSTANGS!

 

Team Members: Arin Hurd, Jessica Allen,  Casey Wohlgemuth,

Savannah George, Emily  Smith, Hannah Zaepfel, & Hannah Juettner.

 

Team Coach:  Justine Allen

Team Coach:  Jennifer O’Brien

 

 

 

NOHS Dance Team Wins 1st in Hip Hop Division!

On Saturday, September 12^th, the NOHS Dance Team competed in the first annual “Oldham County Dance-a-palooza” Competition held at Oldham County High School.  All Oldham County Middle and High School teams were represented.  Teams competed in their choice of genre to include:  Pom Division, Jazz, Kick Line, and Hip Hop. 

 

Our Lady Mustang Dance Team brought home a 1^st Place trophy for their Hip Hop routine! WAY TO GO, DANCERS!

 

This is a great start to the season as they look forward to their next competition on Saturday, October 3^rd with JamFest at Slugger Field! 

 

GO MUSTANGS!

 

 

 

 From left to right:       (first row) Arin Hurd, Jessica Allen,

 Casey Wohlgemuth; (second row) Savannah George, Emily

 Smith, Hannah Zaepfel, Coach Justine Allen, Hannah Juettner.

North Oldham Mustangs Football Helmet Graphic

This was provided by Mike Gardner at http://www.mghelmets.com/. He just created this football helmet graphic for North. Enjoy.

Girls varsity soccer defeats South Oldham 2-0

Senior Meghan Klyczek scored her first goal of the game on a header over South’s keeper when she found the end of a well-placed corner kick by senior Devan Costelle.  The Lady Mustangs led 1-0 at half.  Klyczek struck again in the second half when she nailed a shot from the left side of the penalty box across the goal to put the Lady Mustangs up 2-0, the final margin.  The Lady Mustangs controlled much of the game in the midfield and North’s young defense held strong.  

Hicks and Levitch ranked in class of 2013

Hicks and Levitch ranked in Class of 2013. Hicks voted top player in the state.

Follow the NOHS Boys Cross Country special all season long.  This will be the first in a series of articles on the boys as www.ky.milesplit.com follows them each week.

Running With the Mustangs: Introduction

By David St. Louis / August 31, 2009 11:43 AM

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With the hopes of expanding our coverage and giving our subscribers as much unprecendented access as possible this season, we are trying several new ideas. This series is an opportunity for you to get to know the boys from North Oldham High School and to experience their season in a new and different way. Hopefully, you will see the kind of program that they have put together is special, not only because of the results, but because of what they have done to get where they are now.

Things are different here

The area is scenic and quiet as you drive through Prospect, Kentucky on your way to Goshen. US-42 takes you there and is surrounded by dense trees for most of the ride towards your destination. There are impressive houses and condos scattered along the way as well which help you understand that this is no low income area that you might find in many of the populated areas in Kentucky. You will pass Goshen Elementary, a host of Montessori schools, Harmony Elementary, North Oldham High School and North Oldham Middle School all on your trip to practice. There is still construction happening near the high school as building projects have been happening throughout the past year to complete additions the middle and high school. The high school track was redone just last year and sits within walking distance of the high school, middle school, and Harmony Elementary. The entire community feels so close together in this part of Kentucky, even if it isn’t necessarily that way at all geographically.

Oldham County is just situated just northeast of Louisville, Kentucky and would be defined as a surburban area next to Louisville. It is perceived as a very high-income area of the state, and it is in many parts, but it would be foolish to believe that every student and athlete attending school in this district has cash to spare. Due to the high per capita number in the county, the expectations academically are higher and the performance of the schools in the past is aligned with that. Based on academic data and enrollment data, US News and World Report considered North Oldham, which enrolls roughly 900 students, among the top seven public high schools in the entire state of Kentucky in 2008. Clearly, the mindset towards academics encourages the students to set their goals high and enables them to achieve great things.

About half of a mile past the middle school and high school, you make a sharp right hand turn to enter the team’s practice area. Seeing it for the first time makes it appear as if it is a wooded paradise, with tree-sheltered dirt trails that wind through thick woods providing a safe haven for these runners. Their training ground is the Creasey-Mahan Nature Preserve in Goshen, Kentucky and it is no small area. From the nature preserve’s website, “Creasey Mahan Nature Preserve is a 168-acre non-profit nature preserve,” and, “includes forested areas and grasslands with eight miles of trails, spring-fed creeks, a frog pond, waterfalls, and picnic areas.” When you look for signs that a program can be successful, having quality practice areas is a big deal. Beyond that, the team is within driving distance of E.P. Tom Sawyer State Park, which is where they practice on most Wednesdays after school. The course is home to a handful of large high school and college invitationals and has hosted both regional and national championships for college cross-country teams in the past. The relatively flat park has little shelter in comparison, but has long, grassy straightaways and some short loops that are very conducive to interval work, which is what most of the work the team does there.

  

Now, when I came to practice at North Oldham for the first time it looked the same as any other place. There were about 24 high school boys sitting around a picnic table, jump-kicking a tree, and swinging on a swingset nearby. They were all waiting for coach Drew LaMaster to show up to so they could begin practice and were parusing an old high school yearbook that had a classic shot of Coach LaMaster. When Drew showed up, the guys started harassing him about the yearbook and joking with him about the other students pictured there. There are no impressive looking young men with very broad shoulders or rippling muscles that allow you to think that they have some great athletic ability. Instead, you see a group of mostly skinny and lanky boys who have gathered here for some reason and could be up to just about anything. In talking with assistant coach, Matt Weingardt, you get the sense of how young the team is and how exciting that may be for the group. “Yesterday, (Wednesday, August 19^th) the boys did a two-mile time trial and seven of the top eleven guys were sophomores.” Now, that says a good bit about the teams’ youth, but it doesn’t quite give you the feeling that this group is going to be dominant now. In order to do that, you have to go back two years and talk about where they came from. Coach Drew LaMaster states, “When I first became head coach, the biggest lessons I had to teach were competing and getting out of the ‘comfort zone’.”

Kentucky’s postseason consists of a regional meet and then the state meet. We have three classes based on school size: Class A, Class AA, and Class AAA, and North Oldham falls into the middle group in Class AA. At the regional, the number of teams that advance to the state finals is directly related to the number of teams of five that show up on the starting line, but the specifics of that aspect aren’t vital here. On November 3^rd, 2007, North Oldham hosted Class AA Region 3 on their home course in Goshen. They put their top five athletes in the top nine and six in the top fifteen to dominate the team race. The times weren’t incredible on paper as their top five were between 17:39 and 18:04, but with a tight pack like that, and an expected improvement at the state meet, this team looked like it was going to be in the mix for a top three finish. Their first runner, Cas Lane, and their seventh runner, Matt Dearmond, were both seniors, but none of the other athletes that ran that day were even juniors as Justin Roenigk and Sean O’Nan were sophomores and the trio of Colin Grandon, Nathan Yates, and Jeremy Rice were all freshmen. That being said, it appeared that the time was now for this group to start a run that would become very memorable.

The weather was awkwardly warm at the state meet that year. It was surprising to run a meet the second weekend in November and have temperatures above sixty degrees, but that’s just how things work sometimes. Due to the weather being so nice, times were much better than people had expected coming in and the final results changed significantly based on that. Things looked pretty good early for the North Oldham group, as they dropped their top three runners, Roenigk, Grandon, and Lane, into slots 20, 29, and 31 overall and if things played out similar to their regional, the next two scorers would have been just a bit behind them to finish off a great team showing. It wasn’t to be, though, as Sean O’Nan came through in 68^th place and Jeremy Rice followed as the team’s 5^th runner in 94^th place overall. If their top five would have each just finished in the top 50 overall, they would have easily claimed third place and set the stage for things to come. LaMaster and company were devasted. “It was a great time to learn a lesson on humility. The guys learned that you just can’t show up, you have to take it to the next level at state.” Instead, they left the meet wondering what had happened and wondering what was next for them. “I told the guys after the race to remember how dissappointed they felt. I told them to remember and never make themselves have to feel that way again.”

Fast forward a year, and the stage was set for an eerily similar finale to the 2008 cross-country season. 2008 was a realignment year for the cross-country classes and it affected North Oldham’s regional significantly as several solid teams moved into their regional and several not-so-consistent teams moved out. The course for the regional changed, but there wasn’t any kind of expectation for the outcome to change from the year before. North Oldham returned Grandon, Roenigk, Rice, Yates, and O’Nan from last year’s team (that finished 7^th in the final results), so naturally the group was expected to have success, but some things changed over that year and expectations were raised. The addition of freshman Taylor Sanders, who placed fourth at the middle school state meet in 2007 as an 8^th grader, created a front-runner for the group that had never had one previously. Things also changed, as Rice and O’Nan didn’t even compete at the regional due to injuries, giving way to a senior, Taylor Horn, and some more young blood in freshmen Ryan Kalmey and Andy Powers. LaMaster stated, “Having Taylor Horn and Andy Powers come on strong at the end of the year really showed our depth, despite how young our team was.  It gave us flexibility when we needed it most.”

This time around, the group placed 2^nd, 4^th and 5^th overall at the regional with Sanders, Grandon, and Roenigk, but there was a significant gap to the rest of the team in terms of time. While the entire group of seven finished in the first 19 runners overall, there was a 43-second gap between their third and fourth runners at the regional and that is enough to give hope to plenty of teams. They won easily over second place South Oldham and third place Christian Academy (Louisville), two teams that were expected to step up and compete with North Oldham for the state title, but it wasn’t enough in many people’s minds to warrant a unanimous decision that North Oldham was the best Class AA team in the state with one week left in the season. Especially after last season’s regional showing led to a bit of a collapse at the state meet, there was reason to believe it might happen again.

The 2008 cross-country state meet was totally different from 2007, as heavy rain and cold descended on the Kentucky Horse Park course the morning of the championships. Temperatures were hovering close to 40 degrees and the sloppy course just added to the issues the runners were facing. Two other teams, brought in front-running groups against North Oldham as Calloway County brought a group of three runners that had run near the front of about every race they had competed in that year, as did West Jessamine. Looking back, Coach LaMaster said, “We knew our front three guys had to beat everyone else’s three for us to have a chance to win.” Calloway’s top three runners placed 9^th, 21^st, and 29^th in the team scoring, setting them up for a shot at the title in their minds. West Jessamine showed even better with 5^th, 16^th, and 23^rd for their top three runners, so this would be no ‘walk in the park’ for North Oldham, or so it seemed.

North Oldham started out with a huge fourth place finish from fantastic freshmen Taylor Sanders. Roenigk and Grandon stepped up in a big way, running together for the whole of the race and ending up 11^th and 14^th overall. Their lead through three runners looked great, but they needed some big finishes to seal the deal. Ryan Kalmey, also a freshman, answered the call, finishing 38^th overall, giving the group a team score of just 45 points through four runners and a boost of confidence coming into the last scorer. As they kept watching, though, they watched as six Calloway runners came across the line. West Jessamine’s fourth wasn’t too far behind their fourth, and South Oldham was shoving runners across the line quickly. Could it happen again? Was this team going to leave empty-handed again after everything they had gone through last year?

Sophomore Nathan Yates had the answer. He crossed the line 80^th overall, 63^rd in the team scores, and then the group had to wait. It was easy to think that they had done enough up front to bring home the title, but that was a big gap from 4 to 5 and maybe, just maybe one of the other teams had made it happen. As they announced the results, there were just two points separating the 2^nd, 3^rd, and 4^th teams. They were announced from 4^th, West Jessamine, to 3^rd, South Oldham, to 2^nd, Calloway County, then, finally, North Oldham was announced as the team champion and claimed their title. “Our first four guys ran PR’s on the biggest stage of their careers. I was sweating bullets, though, on our 5^th, 6^th, and 7^th runners, but they pulled it together just in time.” They had actually won quite easily, outdistancing Calloway by 32 points, but that didn’t matter at the time, as the incredible group of spectators, parents, and teammates exploded as this group finally realized their potential. “It was a special moment. The guys worked so hard all season. Our parents were avid supporters every week. I have never been more proud of a team in my life. As a coach, I will never forget the way it felt to see the joy on so many faces.”

Now, with just one senior departing from that state championship team, they return hungry for more….