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Consecutive wins put Woodridge in record book
By David Lee Morgan Jr.
Beacon Journal sports writer
Published on Sunday, Nov 08, 2009
COLUMBUS: All the Woodridge boys cross-country team could do was wait.
And wait.
And wait.
But the result was well worth it.
The Bulldogs set a state record by becoming the first Division II team to win four consecutive state championships Saturday afternoon at Scioto Downs.
The team, consisting of junior Kyle Cochrun, junior Vibushan Sivakumaran, junior Jimmy Charles, sophomore Drake Sulzer, junior Jacob Onifer, senior Nathan Mercer and freshman Matt Wojcik, finished with 93 points. Elyria Catholic was second with 98 points.
Because of that close score, Woodridge coach Jeff Howard was reserved after the race.
Usually, he's comfortable with his prediction on the outcome, but he knew this finish might have been too close to call.
So the Bulldogs congratulated each other after the race and held their collective breath.
They nervously waited for the results to be posted.
And waited.
And waited.
Then, members of the girls team, which finished 10th earlier in the day, came sprinting from the area where the results were posted. They were holding up their fingers, signaling ''No. 1.''
That's when the celebration began.
Members from the girls and boys teams hugged each other in victory.
''I don't care what sport it is, if you have people that love what they do and care about each other, you're going to be Please see Runners , C9
Continued from Page C1
successful,'' Howard said. ''We've had so many people support us. We have guys here from the '06, '07 and '08 teams and all kinds of alumni always supporting us, and you don't know how important that is for our program.''
Howard said the accomplishment was even more special because his team didn't have any returning all-Ohio runners.
Howard won't have to worry about that next year, with six of his seven runners returning.
The top 25 finishers in each division earn all-Ohio honors and Howard will have two all-state performers returning in Cochrun (12th) and Sivakumaran (18th).
And the boys team learned something from the girls team. Howard said the girls team might have waited too long to be aggressive on the course and when he saw his boys team jump out to a fast start, he was worried.
''I thought they might have went out too hard because the kids do get excited,'' Howard said. ''But if you overrun in this race, you have 21/2 miles to pay the price.''
The Bulldogs did just that.
''[Coach] told us not to go out too slow, but we took it out fast,'' Cochrun said. ''We knew what we had to do.''
Other Division I All-Ohio finishers were Crestwood senior Brandon McGee (fifth), Fairless senior Chase Robinson (13th) and Northwest junior Matt Peters.
In Division III, St. Thomas Aquinas (109 points) finished second to Independence (84).
The St. Thomas team consisted of senior Jordan McKelley (eighth), senior Brendan O'Brien, junior Maurice Kirksey, freshman Cory Glines, sophomore Kevin Vinci, junior Robbie Hoerr and senior Mike Pete.
''Not to make any excuses, but we were hit with sickness all year, but these guys, especially Jordan and Mike, kept it all together,'' St. Thomas Aquinas coach Matt Reneker said. ''They were a family that did everything together all season and that was important.''
In Division I, Green senior Kyle Wheeler was the highest area individual finisher in third place and senior teammate Dylan Papp was eighth.
Louisville junior Curtis Hanle was ninth, GlenOak senior Christian Jones was 11th, Hudson senior Tim McConnell was 16th and Revere junior Joshua Sabo was 21st.
In the team competition, GlenOak was sixth, Hudson was seventh and Louisville was eighth.
David Lee Morgan Jr. can be reachedat dlmorgan@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Varsity Letters high school blog at http://www.ohiomm.com/blogs/varsity_letters/. Also on Twitter at http://twitter.com/ABJ_Preps.
COLUMBUS: All the Woodridge boys cross-country team could do was wait.
And wait.
And wait.
But the result was well worth it.
The Bulldogs set a state record by becoming the first Division II team to win four consecutive state championships Saturday afternoon at Scioto Downs.
The team, consisting of junior Kyle Cochrun, junior Vibushan Sivakumaran, junior Jimmy Charles, sophomore Drake Sulzer, junior Jacob Onifer, senior Nathan Mercer and freshman Matt Wojcik, finished with 93 points. Elyria Catholic was second with 98 points.
Because of that close score, Woodridge coach Jeff Howard was reserved after the race.
Usually, he's comfortable with his prediction on the outcome, but he knew this finish might have been too close to call.
So the Bulldogs congratulated each other after the race and held their collective breath.
They nervously waited for the results to be posted.
And waited.
And waited.
Then, members of the girls team, which finished 10th earlier in the day, came sprinting from the area where the results were posted. They were holding up their fingers, signaling ''No. 1.''
That's when the celebration began.
Members from the girls and boys teams hugged each other in victory.
''I don't care what sport it is, if you have people that love what they do and care about each other, you're going to be Please see Runners , C9
Continued from Page C1
successful,'' Howard said. ''We've had so many people support us. We have guys here from the '06, '07 and '08 teams and all kinds of alumni always supporting us, and you don't know how important that is for our program.''
Howard said the accomplishment was even more special because his team didn't have any returning all-Ohio runners.
Howard won't have to worry about that next year, with six of his seven runners returning.
The top 25 finishers in each division earn all-Ohio honors and Howard will have two all-state performers returning in Cochrun (12th) and Sivakumaran (18th).
And the boys team learned something from the girls team. Howard said the girls team might have waited too long to be aggressive on the course and when he saw his boys team jump out to a fast start, he was worried.
''I thought they might have went out too hard because the kids do get excited,'' Howard said. ''But if you overrun in this race, you have 21/2 miles to pay the price.''
The Bulldogs did just that.
''[Coach] told us not to go out too slow, but we took it out fast,'' Cochrun said. ''We knew what we had to do.''
Other Division I All-Ohio finishers were Crestwood senior Brandon McGee (fifth), Fairless senior Chase Robinson (13th) and Northwest junior Matt Peters.
In Division III, St. Thomas Aquinas (109 points) finished second to Independence (84).
The St. Thomas team consisted of senior Jordan McKelley (eighth), senior Brendan O'Brien, junior Maurice Kirksey, freshman Cory Glines, sophomore Kevin Vinci, junior Robbie Hoerr and senior Mike Pete.
''Not to make any excuses, but we were hit with sickness all year, but these guys, especially Jordan and Mike, kept it all together,'' St. Thomas Aquinas coach Matt Reneker said. ''They were a family that did everything together all season and that was important.''
In Division I, Green senior Kyle Wheeler was the highest area individual finisher in third place and senior teammate Dylan Papp was eighth.
Louisville junior Curtis Hanle was ninth, GlenOak senior Christian Jones was 11th, Hudson senior Tim McConnell was 16th and Revere junior Joshua Sabo was 21st.
In the team competition, GlenOak was sixth, Hudson was seventh and Louisville was eighth.
David Lee Morgan Jr. can be reachedat dlmorgan@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Varsity Letters high school blog at http://www.ohiomm.com/blogs/varsity_letters/. Also on Twitter at http://twitter.com/ABJ_Preps.
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