Frank DiRenna|ThisWeek
Jack Schlabig brings a wealth of running experience to his new position as boys cross country coach at Dublin Scioto.
Schlabig, 29, replaced Kevin Foley, who guided the program for 26 seasons.Schlabigwas named coach in late July.
A member of the Columbus Running Company, Schlabig was approached by club owner Eric Fruth to gauge his interest in the Scioto position.
“I told him I was interested and I talked to the athletics director (Nick Magistrale),” said Schlabig, who is a member of the club’s elite team. “Coach Foley has been a big help. We talked about the kids.”
Schlabig, who has been with the club for six years,is a 2011 graduate of Olentangy, where he competed on the cross country and track and field teams. He then ran at Tiffin University for one year before completing his education at Ohio State.He also was a member of the Ohio State Running Club before graduating in 2015.
“Some of the kids know about the (Columbus Running Company)elite team and I think that does help them respect me more having that background,” said Schlabig, whocoached the Olentangy Shanahan Middle School team in 2015 and was a volunteer assistant coach for the Olentangy boys team in 2016.
Schlabig inherits a Scioto program that flourished under Foley, highlighted by winning the OCC-Capital Division a year ago for its first league championship since 2007.
The Irish also qualified for their fifth consecutive Division I regional meet, where they finished 10th (246 points) behind champion Hilliard Davidson (57). Senior Spencer McClellan was the top finisher for Scioto, placing 35th in 16 minutes, 59.7 seconds.
“It’s been great,” Schlabig said of taking over an established program. “We already have the building blocks put in place, so now we only have to put them together. It’s been very helpful.”
McClellan has been pleased with the addition of Schlabig to the program.
“Everything is going great,” McClellan said. “He does workouts with us. He runs with us. Everyone on the team loves him. We have no problems. I knew they were trying to get someone who was young and someone who would want to run with us. He’s a great coach.”
McClellan added that Foley was a key part of the program’s success and will be missed.
“Foley was a great coach,” he said. “Foley showed us the proper way to get better. I learned so much from him, how to train, how to race. He meant so much to me.”
Others key returnees include junior twinsBryce and Reece Page and sophom*ore Weston Day.
“The transition has been pretty good,” Reece Page said. “I like the more modern feel of it. (Schlabig) can run with us. Having a fresh start with a whole new coaching squad is going to be really good for the team and I can’t wait to see what progress we make.”
fdirenna@thisweeknews.com
@ThisWeekFrank
COFFMAN
Coach: Joe DePalma, third season
Top athletes: Noah Clemens, Isaac Frank, Will McGraw, Jackson Roe, Liam Shaughnessy and Brody Spurgin
Key loss: Ryan Loynes
2020 OCC-Central standings: Hilliard Davidson (32), Coffman (68), Olentangy Orange (86), Upper Arlington (90), Hilliard Bradley (115), Olentangy Liberty (133)
2020 postseason: Second at district, second at regional, 19th at state
Outlook: With six of its top seven runners returning, Coffman is aiming to set itself up for a stronger end to the season after what it considered a disappointing performance at the Division I state meet.
Shaughnessy, a junior, is the top returnee after finishing 24th (16:05.5) at state.Seniors Clemens, Frank and Spurgin and juniors McGraw and Roe return as well after competing at state.
DePalma also is optimistic about his team’s depth, which includes seniors Merrick Shorter and Steven Speck, junior James Nippa and sophom*ores Jeremy Bons and Zac Heyob.
Quotable: “We’re returning a lot of talent from last year’s team. We’ve been taking it slow so far but are really starting to come together. I know that we feel that we have some unfinished business after not performing as well as we wanted at the state meet last year, so we’re looking for a significantly higher finish this year. If our team can stay healthy and our (fourth and fifth runners) can close the gap a bit on our top three, I think the sky is the limit.” — DePalma
—Jarrod Ulrey
JEROME
Coach: Dave Wadenstierna, 10th season
Top athletes: David Hartman, Rishikesh Makineni, Josh Razor, Sam Ricchiuti and Carson Smith
Key losses: Andrew Bartsch and Gunnar Grass
2020 OCC-Cardinal standings: Jerome (31), Thomas Worthington (63), Olentangy Berlin (65), Olentangy (86), Hilliard Darby (117), Marysville (148)
2020 postseason: First at district, fourth at regional, 15th at state
Outlook: Jerome is looking to build on winningleague and districttitles and finishing 15th at state a year ago.
Jerome should be led by Ricchiuti, a sophom*orewho led all central Ohio runners last season at state by finishing ninth (15:48) behind champion Nathan Moore of Uniontown Lake (14:59.5). Razor, a junior, finished 79th.
Other returning state competitors are seniors Hartman, Makineni and Smith, while junior Jayden Randolph and sophom*ores Pranav Khadkikar and Alexander Sudal should be other key contributors.
The Celtics opened by winning the Pickerington Classic on Aug. 28 at Pickerington North. Ricchiuti finished second (15:55.9) behind Coffman’s Shaughnessy (15:54.7), and Razor was 11th (16:36.5).
Quotable: “We’ve lost some good seniors, but we’ve been able to reload with some new young guys who are ready to fill their shoes. We’ve been competitive at the regional level for a while since I’ve been coach, but last year was the first year where we made it to state as a team since 2013. We’re definitely hoping to ride that momentum a little bit this year and become a program that’s a perennial contender at the state level.” — Wadenstierna
—Frank DiRenna
SCIOTO
Coach: Jack Schlabig, first season
Top athletes: Weston Day, Spencer McClellan, Bryce Page and Reece Page
Key losses: Ali Latif and Trevor Page
2020 OCC-Capital standings: Scioto (32), Worthington Kilbourne (54), Westerville North (90), Canal Winchester (91), Delaware (118), Big Walnut (148), Westerville South (151)
2020 postseason: Fourth at district, 10th at regional
Outlook: Schlabig has replaced Kevin Foley, who led the program for 26 seasons.
The Irish should be led by senior McClellan, juniors Bryce Page and Reece Page and sophom*ore Day.
Scioto opened by finishing third in the Hartford Twilight Invitational on Aug. 27. McClellan finished first in 15:52.78 and Day was seventh in 16:30.6.
Quotable: “This team has so much potential. We can make state. We could get top 10 in the state, if we all run at our best. ... If you want something, you have to train for it and you have to train hard. That’s all it is.” — McClellan
—Frank DiRenna
