Members of the Jonathan Alder High School softball team celebrate with head coach Dave McGrew at Akron’s Firestone Stadium. The Lady Pioneers won the Division II state championship. (Journal-Tribune photo by Sam Dillon)
The year of 2019 that ends in just a few hours was another exciting period for the Union County-area sports scene.
A pair of local high schools played football and soccer games on new turf fields, construction began on a new track and field-only stadium for Marysville High School and Jonathan Alder’s girls softball team won a state championship.
Those were just some of the bigger stories that headlined the Journal-Tribune sports pages during the past 12 months.
What follows is a recap of the top sports stories (in no particular order) from the area.
JA softball squad wins state crown
Firestone Stadium in Akron has not been an unfamiliar location for the Lady Pioneers.
After all, Alder had competed in the Division II state tournament several times in the past few years under coach Dave McGrew’s guidance.
The Lady Pioneers finished as state runners-up to Lima Bath during one of those seasons.
Alder, though, earned all of the gold with its first-ever state softball title last spring.
The Lady Pioneers finished the 2019 season with a 30-1 record.
They were led at the plate by power-hitting junior Jillian Jaske, along with other top-notch hitters such as Emily Walker, Lindsey Potter, Cierra Clark and Angela Brandel.
McGrew turned the bulk of the pitching duties over to freshman Marlee Jacobs, who pitched with poise en route to the state title.
New turf fields
Marysville and Jonathan Alder’s fall sports teams got the opportunity to play on new artificial turf fields.
MHS’ project began during the spring and prevented the Monarch track and field teams from hosting any home meets during the 2019 season.
The MHS thinclads made use of the school’s parking lot for practices in the anticipation of hosting meets in 2020 with their new stadium.
Rainy weather over the summer pushed the MHS project behind schedule.
As such, the Monarchs hosted their first two football games of 2019 at neutral sites.
MHS defeated Columbus Northland at Olentangy High School and topped Delaware Hayes at Hilliard Bradley.
Along with the turf field, the project included new bleachers, a spacious press box and a new state-of-the-art scoreboard.
Ground was broken on Jonathan Alder’s turf project in June.
It did not take nearly as long to finish the project as it did in Marysville.
A new turf field and a new scoreboard were the only parts of the Alder upgrade.
JA hosted Marion Harding for the second game of the season on the new field.
Triad follows suit
Voters in the Triad school district passed measures that will allow an upgrade to the Cardinal outdoor sports facilities.
A 1.75-mill bond issue and a .25 mill permanent improvement levy will allow for the removal of a high crown in the middle of the new football field, along with the upgrading of the lights at the stadium.
Also planned as part of the project are a new field house with weight lifting stations and rooms for community use and a Triad Hall of Fame.
A new eight-lane track will also be installed.
Improvements to the football field should be completed in time for the 2020 season.
FHS football marks milestone
The 2019 season was the 50th football campaign for Fairbanks High School.
The Panthers’ program was started in the early 1970s with the help of then-superintendent Galen Kyre and coach Frank Spurlock.
Spurlock, who had previously been an assistant coach at nearby Mechanicsburg, spurred the Panthers to a great deal of success prior to his death in 1989.
FHS first went to the playoffs under head coach Ted Wierzbicki.
Head coaches Dave Gebhart, Morgan Cotter and Patrick Cotter also led Fairbanks into the post-season.
Approximately 200 former Panther players gathered on Oct. 11 at Kyre Field as the 2019 squad played in the program’s 500th game.
Fairbanks upset state-ranked West Liberty-Salem, 26-20, to win the contest.
Area represented in grid playoffs
The high school football playoffs have been a constant endeavor for local teams each year for quite some time
This year, Jonathan Alder returned to the post-season after a year’s absence, while Marysville earned a playoff berth for the first time in six years.
The Pioneers, who moved up to Division III from D-IV, went unbeaten during the 10-game regular season and won two playoff games.
JA fell to Columbus Bishop Hartley in the regional title contest.
The Monarchs posted a 6-4 mark under third-year head coach Brent Johnson.
MHS fell to Springfield during the first round of the Division I playoffs.
Two other teams, Fairbanks and North Union, were in post-season contention late in the season.
The Panthers just missed their second consecutive playoff berth as they finished ninth in their Division VI region.
Jonathan Alder and North Union also respectively won the Kenton Trail and Mad River Division titles of the Central Buckeye Conference.
Fall teams have success
The girls soccer team from Marysville, Jonathan Alder’s volleyball squad and the FHS boys golf team each had very successful seasons.
The Lady Monarchs won a Division I district championship for the first time since 2013, while Jonathan Alder’s spikers repeated as D-II district champs.
The Lady Pioneers also finished as regional runners-up.
The Panther boys golf squad posted a sparkling 79-2 record.
Fairbanks won both the Ohio Heritage Conference regular season and tournament championships.
The team placed second in the district.
Hoopsters hang hundred
The Lady Pioneers of Jonathan Alder became the first local high school basketball team in recent memory to score 100 or more points during a game.
Alder, which finished as the 2018-19 Division II district runners-up, handed neighboring Fairbanks a 102-30 setback in early January.
The Lady Pioneers have picked up where they left off last year as they are 7-2 to date in the 2019-20 campaign.
Marsman reaches milestone
Fairbanks High School volleyball coach Ed Marsman won the 600th match of his more than 30-year coaching career.
Marsman served as the Lady Panthers’ coach for the past five years and led the team to Ohio Heritage Conference titles along the way.
He retired from coaching at the conclusion of the 2019 campaign.
Local athletes stand out in competition
Several local sports stars had individual success during the past 12 months.
Former Fairbanks High School swimmer Margo Geer, who won eight state championships during her prep career, earned gold medals last summer during a national meet.
Geer will once again compete for a United States Olympic roster spot when the 2020 Trials are held next June in Omaha, Neb.
Emily Clark, who was a basketball and softball standout at North Union, completed her senior season of softball as the starting second baseman for The Ohio State University team.
Clark was then drafted and played her rookie season with the Cleveland Comets of the National Pro Fastpitch Softball League.
Jonathan Alder quarterback JT Keith and Fairbanks offensive lineman Sam Rengert earned first-team All-Ohio honors respectively in Division III and Division VI.
Rengert also signed to continue his football career at Iowa State University.
Track and field athletes awarded
Several local athletes earned their way to the state track and field meet awards stand at The Ohio State University’s Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium.
They were as follows:
-Marysville’s Jacob Ranker placed fifth in the D-I boys 300 meter hurdles;
-Fairbanks’ boys 4 x 200 relay team of Nate Timmons, Will Cochrane, Trey Good and Kaleb Bosworth placed fifth in the Division III meet.
The quartet also set a new school record of 1:30.92.
-Eli O’Brien of Triad finished seventh in the Division III boys’ 200-meter dash with a time of 22.80.
He did so after rallying from a broken ankle suffered during the 2019 preseason.
Coaching-AD moves
There are often coaching and/or athletic administrative changes from one season to the next.
A trio of those moves happened at Triad.
Joe Cardinal stepped down as head football coach and was replaced by former North Union assistant Zach Winslow, while Jeff Merklin resigned as girls head basketball coach. Assistant Erica Trainer took over the team.
Triad athletic director Gary Davis stepped down right before the start of the football season as his licensure had lapsed.
He was replaced by Logan Dunn, who had been the athletic director at North Union Middle School.
Brent Cahill resigned as Jonathan Alder’s boys basketball coach and was replaced by Zach Ross.
Joe Ross took over the Jonathan Alder volleyball team, beginning with the 2019 summer preseason.
North Union will have a new girls volleyball coach in 2020.
Peg Curts stepped down from the position earlier this winter.
Ryan Walker, who previously served two years as Marysville High School’s athletic director, took another position within the district.
He was replaced in the AD’s office by Joey Day, who previously was the athletic director at Kenton High School.
A “Hoosiers” experience
The year 2019 concluded just a few days ago with a special basketball venture for the boys’ teams from North Union and Fairbanks.
The county rivals traveled to Knightstown, Ind., on Dec. 28 to play each other in the gymnasium made famous by the movie “Hoosiers.”
The Wildcats remained unbeaten (6-0) early in the 2019-20 campaign with a 52-31 victory over the Panthers.
Kindall Duke of Marysville controls the ball during a soccer tournament game. The Lady Monarchs won the 2019 Division I district championship. (Journal-Tribune photo by Tim Miller)
Fairbanks volleyball coach Ed Marsman gives instructions to his team during a timeout. Marsman won the 600th match of his coaching career in 2019. He retired at the end of the season. (Journal-Tribune photo by Tim Miller)
Marysville’s Jayden Simmons (13) attempts to get away from a Big Walnut tackler. The Monarch beat the Golden Eagles during their first game on their new turf field. (Journal-Tribune photo by Chad Williamson)
North Union graduate Emily Clark waits to hit the ball for The Ohio State University’s softball team. Clark concluded her Lady Buckeye career and played her rookie season with the Cleveland Comets of the National Fastpitch Softball League. (Photo submitted)
This is a rendition of what Triad High School’s new outdoor athletic facilities will eventually look like. District voters approved measures during the November election to finance improvements to the football field, the construction of a new field house and a new, eight-lane track. (Photo submitted)