SPORTSINK.COM PHOTO
Coming off a Division III state championship last season, the CVCA Royals will jump to Division II this year and find them-selves in the same district bracket with Revere.
The loss of the Archbishop Hoban-Akron Garfield football game, which had become the highlight of opening weekend during its eight-year run, swings the door wide open for two other high-profile local schools to jump into that prime-time Thursday night slot.
Will someone do it? Will someone tweak their schedule so as to be able to play at a time when the whole region is watching? Will someone step up to fill that void?
It’s not an opportunity for everyone, but it is an opportunity for schools that are used to playing on the big stage, and relish that kind of attention.
Hmmmm. Now, who could that be?
Are you listening, St. Vincent-St, Mary and Walsh Jesuit – or maybe even Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy, a school and a program that really seems to be on the move?
We’ll see. There’s plenty of time to act before the season starts – if you get the ball rolling now.
HOT TOPICS: The current 10-game winning streak of the St. V-M baseball team, and the 15-game winning streak with which the Walsh baseball squad opened the season, really stand out – more than you might realize. Yes, teams win 10 in a row during the meat of the season, or 15 straight to begin the year. It doesn’t happen often, but it happens. However, what really makes what the Fighting Irish is doing, and what the Warriors did, is that it came in such a crazy season in which developing consistency has been almost impossible. The plethora of rainouts, turning schedules upside down, has taken teams – even the best teams – out of their comfort zones and routines. It’s hard to get into any kind of a rhythm. For St. V-M and Walsh to do that, despite all that, says a lot about their players, coaches and programs.
HOT TOPICS II: The divisional changes for the 2011 and 2012 seasons mean that the CVCA boys soccer team will not be able to defend the state title it captured in Division III last year. That’s because the Royals are moving up to Division II this fall.
GROWTH SPURT: Don’t know if you caught it elsewhere on this website, but CVCA has grown in enrollment by 50 boys in two years. In addition to the boys soccer team going to Division II, the football team has moved up to Division III. Whatever the school is doing, it’s doing it right if it’s experiencing growth like that.
IMPRESSIVE: Walsh Jesuit defeating Aurora 5-3 in an Akron Division II District semifinal had to catch your eye. The Warriors entered the game with just a 14-10 record, while the Greenmen were 16-2. It just goes to show what playing a tough regular-season schedule will do for you come the tournament. It really prepares you. Now the Warriors get Tallmadge, one of the most tradition-rich programs in the state, in Wednesday’s title game at Firestone Stadium.
KNIGHTS ARE CROWNED: It wasn’t easy, but Hoban won the girls division title recently in the North Coast League Meet. The Knights compiled 121 points, barely edging out runner-up Chardon Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin (117). Mentor Lake Catholic (99.50) was third, followed by Garfield Heights Trinity (91), host Parma Padua (80.50), Elyria Catholic (67), Parma Heights Holy Name (41), Bedford St. Peter Chanel (24), Cleveland Villa Angela-St. Joseph (8) and Cleveland Central Catholic (7). The Knights got just two firsts, from their 4x200 relay team (Chloe Evans, Natalie Rothenbuecher, Allie Griffith, Anne Kramer) in 1:46.99, and from Kramer, just a freshman, in the 400 (58.38). However, they made up for that by recording a lot of second-, third- and fourth-place finishes.