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!!