The year 2022 was a banner year in local high school sports. Last time, we took a look back at football, boys and girls basketball, baseball and softball. This time out, we review volleyball and track. We will follow up with wrestling and cross-country next week.
VOLLEYBALL
In an eventful volleyball season locally, Highland and Cardington-Lincoln went deep into the playoffs, and both teams won more than 20 games.
Lady Pirate Audrey Brininger took Knox Morrow Athletic Conference (KMAC) all-league honors, and Lady Scot Larsen Terrill took district honors and set a school record for assists.
In KMAC play, Cardington-Lincoln took the conference with a perfect 12-0 mark, three games better than Fredericktown and Centerburg (9-3). Northmor was fourth at 6-6. The Lady Pirates won 22 games on the year.
Highland was co-Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference (MOAC) champion (with Galion) earning a 13-1 mark (and 23-3 overall), but saw its 136-match conference winning streak end with a 3-2 loss to Galion. The streak started when the Scots were in the MOAC and continued during Highland’s five-year run in the KMAC before rejoining the MOAC last year.
In the Ohio Cardinal Conference (OCC), Mount Vernon finished 7-7 in OCC play (fourth place) and 13-10 overall. The Lady Jackets placed four players on the honor rolls.
In the Licking Valley Conference, Utica finished in ninth place with a 4-11 conference mark.
In the OHSAA playoffs, Mount Vernon lost to Licking Heights in the Division 1 sectionals, Utica dropped a first-rounder to Fredericktown in Division 3, and East Knox, Mount Gilead and Danville lost in the Division 4 first round.
Fredericktown, Centerburg and Northmor made it in to the district semifinals, and Cardington-Lincoln (22-3) and Highland (23-3) each won their division finals before falling in their regional semifinals.
Individually, Cardington-Lincoln’s Brininger was selected as KMAC Player of the Year, and Highland’s Terrill earned Central District D-2 Co-Player of the Year recognition. C-L’s Ryan Treese was named KMAC Coach of the Year.
In the KMAC, stat leaders included: Kills: Audrey Brininger (C-L) – 386, Stella Weisbrod (Centerburg) – 230, Chloe Keen (Northmor) – 226; Assists: Jadine Mills (C-L) – 935, Julia Partington (Fredericktown) – 669, Lizzie Erlsten (Northmor) – 539; Aces: Julia Partington (Fredericktown) – 76, Jadine Mills (C-L) – 60, Cally Carpenter (Fredericktown) – 57; Blocks: Amanda Kincaid (Northmor) 101, Izzy Wickline (C-L) 90, Mya Bryant (Fredericktown) – 79; Digs: Cadie Long (C-L) – 449, Leigh Johnson (Danville) – 395, Taylor Bryant (Fredericktown) – 311.
In the MOAC, Highland’s Kameron Stover was second in kills with 443. Terrill set the Highland single-season record for assists with 809, good for second place in the MOAC. Lady Scot Zoya Winkelfoos led the MOAC with 71 service aces, and Camryn Miller of Highland was second in digs with 382.
In the OCC, Mount Vernon’s Madi Rohler was second in digs with 432, and Lady Jacket Tori Burdette was fourth in assists with 658.
In Licking County league play, Utica’s Emilee Ellis was fourth in aces with 65.
TRACK and FIELD
Six records were set by student-athletes in KMAC track and field events in 2022. The boys set four new marks, and the girls eclipsed two existing records.
A record was set in the 4x800m-relay by the East Knox team of Sam Whitney, Logan Whitney, Dillon Moreland and Nathan Streby, with a time of 8:14.96.
Streby also put his name in the KMAC books with a record in the 800-meter run in a time of 1:59.05.
Mount Gilead’s Will Baker set a new standard in the 3200-meter run with a time of 9:48.98.
In field events, Centerburg’s Mason Lanthorn set a record in the discus with a throw of 153’11".
On the girls’ side, two records were set, one on the track and one in a field event.
The 4x100m-relay team from East Knox set a record of 51.63. The Lady Bulldogs record-breakers were Grace Shipman, Asia Jones, Faith White and Madilyn Elson.
On the field, Fredericktown’s Sydney Wilson set a new mark in the pole vault with a vault of 10’9”.
KMAC AWARDS
Nathan Streby, East Knox – Boys Runner of the Year
Bryer Boeshart, Danville – Boys Field Athlete of the Year
Lauren Huelsman, Mount Gilead – Boys Coach of the Year
KMAC League Boys Champion: Mount Gilead
Michaela McGill, Mount Gilead – Girls Runner of the Year
Mikala Harris, Mount Gilead – Girls Co-Field Athlete of the Year
Isabelle Grennell, East Knox – Girls Co-Field Athlete of the Year
Bob Geiger, Fredericktown – Girls Coach of the Year
KMAC League Girls Champion: Fredericktown
Some season highlights included:
The Mount Gilead Invitational Track Meet – Alex Hayden of Centerburg and Michaela McGill of Mount Gilead each had lopsided victories in the 3200 meters. Hayden beat Mount Gilead’s Parker Bartlett by 12:13 seconds and McGill won her race by more than a full minute over Loey Hallabrin of Cardington-Lincoln. Mount Vernon’s Sophie Zoldak continued her strong season with a first-place finish in the 1600m with a time of 5:28.97, which was 1.01 seconds faster than second-place finisher Hallabrin.
Fredericktown Invitational – Nathan Streby of East Knox ran away from the boys in the 800-meter run and Mount Vernon’s Sophie Zoldak did the same to the girls in the 3200. For the boys, in the 800-meter run, Streby knocked 7.62 seconds off his event-winning time from last year and won by nearly 9 seconds, and in the 3200, Utica’s Silas Buckenberger won by 14.18 seconds. In girls' competition, in the 1600-meter run, Elsa Hoam of Fredericktown outran Zoldak for first by 7.2 seconds, but Zoldak destroyed the field in the 3200-meter run, beating teammate Hannah Hofferberth for first by 47.99 seconds.
Next time, we will look back at wrestling and cross-country.
