The Dublin Scioto High School girls cross country team again should be led by a talented underclassman along with a runner looking for a strong senior season.
Sophom*ore Audrey Bannister is expected to contend for another Division I state berth after finishing 37th of 173 runners in 18 minutes, 51.4 seconds last season.
"She should be a top girl in the region," 16th-year coach Matt Suttle said. "We expect her to hopefully progress from where she was at state last year, maybe in the top 20, 25. State was a little overwhelming for her, the experience of never being there and seeing that much quality competition around her. So hopefully that, along with changing up the schedule a little bit this year, will help."
Bannister is off to a strong start as she finished fifth (19:49.1) of 172 runners in the Cincinnati Moeller Primetime Invitational on Aug. 24.
The Irish finished 11th (267 points) of 13 teams, behind champion Mason (40).
Senior Lauren Chapman, who battled iron deficiency most of last season and did not compete at full strength, returns and should be one of Scioto's top runners.
"She had major iron issues last year and was unable to compete at a high level," Suttle said.
"This year, she had a great summer. She has her iron figured out. She should be a strong No. 2 for us this year. Our team should be similar to last year, but we're going to have a way better No. 2 than we did last year, which should significantly help."
Chapman finished 64th (22:08.62) in the district 2 race last season, but being back healthy, she is hoping to improve on that effort.
"I'm really excited," Chapman said. "We can have fun when it's time to have fun, but we can also be very serious and compete with other teams."
Sophom*ore Ally Thornbloom, who finished 71st (22:27.28) at district last year, has been the team's No. 3 runner thus far.
Other runners include senior Molly Sarver, juniors Felicity Paez (60th at district, 21:48.16) and Ashley Carr (61st, 21:49.39) and freshman Avery Samms.
"There's definitely potential for Avery to help us this year," Suttle said.
Last season, Scioto finished sixth (110) in the OCC-Cardinal Division meet behind champion Thomas Worthington (47).
"The league is pretty top heavy with Thomas Worthington and after that there's not anyone jumping off the paper," Suttle said. "It's going to be tough for us to battle our way up from where we were last year."
Boys cross countryteam has new look
The boys cross country team has a new look as it hopes to replace 2018 graduate Cesar Arellano, who finished 78th (16:42.6) of 183 runners in the Division I state meet last season.
Arellano is running at Bowling Green.
Kevin Foley, in his 24th season as coach, believes senior Sam Thomas eventually will emerge as the team's top runner. He was 97th (17:45.1) at regional last year.
Sophom*ore Trevor Page, who finished 58th (17:10.63) at regional a year ago, also is expected to be among the Irish's top runners, as are sophom*ore returnee Ali Latif and freshman Spencer McClellan.
"Ali is vastly improved," Foley said. "He's put in the work. You can't improve any more than he has in a year."
Also back are senior Evan Hall and juniors Antonio Loor and Dylan Walsh.
Other runners are freshmen Jackson Jordan and Justin Ward.
"Our biggest challenge is establishing (Nos.) five to seven," Foley said.
Scioto opened Aug. 18 by competing in the OHSAA Early Season Invitational at National Trail Raceway, finishing 21st (545) of 31 teams behind champion Hilliard Davidson (141).
Page led the Irish, placing 26th (17:07) of 280 runners.
The Irish finished ninth (245) of 17 teams in the Pickerington North Classic on Aug. 25 behind champion Gahanna (85).
Page was 26th (17:28.89) of 525 runners. Latif was next for Scioto (38th, 17:40.87), followed by McClellan (41st, 17:42.45).
"We're solid and we're going to be competitive," Foley said. "For the postseason, we have a long way to go to be considered. We have a lot of growth ahead of us if we're going to move on out of the district."
Field hockey coachlikes team's progress
Second-year field hockey coach Megan Kinnison has seen improvement from her team despite its record.
The Irish were 0-4 overall before playing Lancaster on Sept. 5 and are 0-2 in the Central Ohio Field Hockey League-West Division.
After shutout losses to Olentangy Liberty (8-0 on Aug. 22) and New Albany (3-0 on Aug. 25), Scioto lost to Olentangy 2-1 on Aug. 29 before falling to the Hilliard Lynx club team 2-0 on Aug. 31.
Against the Braves, freshman forward Holland Bell scored and sophom*ore goalkeeper Christina Redfox, a returning starter, had eight saves.
"Each game, they've gotten stronger and stronger and stronger, so it's definitely hit a peak right now," said Kinnison, whose team went 1-14-1 last season, with its win coming against Lancaster (1-0). "But hopefully we'll keep moving forward."
Other returnees are seniors Komal Khan (forward), Cierra Meade (defender), Andrea Nieves-Diaz (defender), Emily Oetter (midfielder), Joy Olobatuyi (forward), Emily Schmidt (defender), Kasmira Shopshire (forward) and Kailee Sikorski (midfielder), juniors Adriana Pablo (midfielder) and Michelle Zavala (midfielder) and sophom*ore Kayanaat Chaudhry (forward).
Also on the team are sophom*ores Laiba Khan (forward), Kavisha Darji (defender), Vivian Starcheus (forward) and Irshad Molla (defender) and freshmen Stephanie Speidel (forward), Latai Tonga (forward/midfielder), Kendal Williams (midfielder) and Jessica Zavala (forward).
"There's a huge progression," Kinnison said. "One of the things that's helped us is I've done a lot of offseason work with the girls. We started a Dublin league and Dublin camp over the summer, so the girls are getting a lot more work in."
Boys golfers prepfor final OCC round
Braytton Krock led the boys golf team in the third round of the OCC-Cardinal tournament Aug. 29 at Darby Creek with an 88. The Irish finished eighth (388) in the round behind first-place Jerome (293). The fourth and final round will be played Wednesday, Sept. 12, at Denison Golf Club.
The girls team finished fourth (413) in the third round of the OCC-Cardinal tournament Aug. 30 at Cooks Creek behind first-place Jerome (325).
Breanna Santoso led the Irish with an 81. The fourth round was played Sept. 5 at Mentel Memorial.
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Schedules
CROSS COUNTRY
Aug. 18 -- Boys: OHSAA Preseason Invitational at National Trail Raceway
Aug. 22 -- at Jerome with Coffman
Aug. 24 -- Girls: Cincinnati Moeller Primetime Invitational
Aug. 25 -- Boys: Pickerington Classic at Pickerington North
Sept. 1 -- Boys: Ashland Invitational; Girls: Westerville North Classic
Sept. 8 -- Mason Invitational
Sept. 15 -- Otterbein Invitational
Sept. 22 -- Boys: Bob Reall Invitational at Lancaster; Girls: Celtic Clash at Jerome
Sept. 29 -- Boys: Midwest Meet of Champions at Hilliard Bradley; Girls: Buck Creek Invitational
Oct. 6 -- Les Eisenhart Invitational at Thomas Worthington
Oct. 13 -- OCC-Cardinal meet at Hilliard Davidson
FIELD HOCKEY
*Aug. 22 -- vs. Olentangy Liberty
Aug. 25 -- at New Albany
*Aug. 29 -- at Olentangy
Aug. 31 -- at Hilliard Lynx
Sept. 5 -- vs. Lancaster
*Sept. 10 -- at Jerome
*Sept. 12 -- at Upper Arlington
Sept. 17 -- at Lancaster
Sept. 19 -- at Hartley
*Sept. 24 -- vs. Thomas Worthington
*Sept. 26 -- Olentangy Berlin
Oct. 1 -- vs. Bexley
*Oct. 3 -- vs. Coffman
*Oct. 8 -- vs. Olentangy Orange
Oct. 9 -- at Columbus School for Girls
*League contest
Below are the coming schedules for the Scioto boys golf, girls golf, boys soccer, girls soccer, girls tennis and girls volleyball teams:
BOYS GOLF
Sept. 6 -- Thomas Worthington at Glenross
Sept. 8 -- Grove City at Hickory Hills
Sept. 12 -- OCC-Cardinal at Denison Golf Club
GIRLS GOLF
Sept. 6 -- Thomas Worthington at Glenross
Sept. 10 -- Buckeye Valley at Oakhaven
Sept. 12 -- Delaware at Mentel Memorial
BOYS SOCCER
Sept. 6 -- Home vs. Big Walnut
Sept. 10 -- At Centennial
GIRLS SOCCER
Sept. 6 -- At Mount Vernon
GIRLS TENNIS
*Sept. 6 -- At Jerome
Sept. 12 -- Home vs. Upper Arlington
GIRLS VOLLEYBALL
*Sept. 6 -- Home vs. Hilliard Bradley
Sept. 11 -- Home vs. Olentangy
*League contest
CROSS COUNTRY
*Coaches: Boys -- Kevin Foley, 24th season; Girls -- Matt Suttle, 16th season
*Top runners: Boys -- Trevor Page and Sam Thomas; Girls -- Audrey Bannister and Lauren Chapman
*Key losses: Boys -- Cesar Arellano, Brian Briones and Tyler Mielke; Girls -- Yosolajesu Olujide-Ajibade
*2017 OCC-Cardinal standings: Boys -- Thomas Worthington (35), Jerome (61), Hilliard Darby (81), Scioto (83), Worthington Kilbourne (108), Hilliard Bradley (143), Delaware (224); Girls -- Thomas (47), Darby (74), Bradley (88), Jerome (94), Kilbourne (101), Scioto (110), Delaware (158)
*Note: Olentangy Berlin has joined the OCC-Cardinal.
*2017 postseason: Boys -- Fourth at district, ninth at regional; Girls -- Eighth at district
FIELD HOCKEY
*Coach: Megan Kinnison, second season
*Top player: Christina Redfox
*Key losses: Kennedie Lomax and Osheen Oommen
*Last season: 1-14-1 overall
*2017 COFHL-West standings: Thomas (7-0), Olentangy Liberty (6-1), Upper Arlington (5-2), Olentangy (4-3), Jerome and Olentangy Orange (both 2-4-1), Coffman (1-6), Scioto (0-7)
*Note: Berlin has joined the COFHL-West.
*2017 postseason: Lost to Liberty 11-0 in second round of district tournament
