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Walsh Jesuit golfer Ariel McNair was among more than 200 athletes from Portage, Medina, and Summit Counties honored by the Touchdown Club of Greater Akron.
AKRON -- An overflow crowd of 560 parents, athletes, and administrators attended the 68th annual Touchdown Club of Greater Akron fall sports banquet Monday night at Guy's Party Centre.
Touchdown Club president John Floyd, Jr., was beaming the entire evening. He didn't mind having to scramble and find seats for some late-arriving guests.
"This definitely is the largest banquet we've had since I've been involved," Floyd said. "It makes us feel especially happy that so many people came out on a bad (weather) night."
The Touchdown Club created plaques to honor 229 athletes at 43 high schools in the sports of football, boys and girls soccer, boys and girls golf, boys and girls cross country, girls tennis and volleyball.
"We do the best we can as far as selecting the athletes to be honored," Floyd said.
Woodridge coach Eric Ervin and Springfield coach Kevin Vaughn were named 2009 Co-Football Coaches of the Year.
Ervin guided the Bulldogs to their first-ever OHSAA playoff appearance and advanced to the Division IV regional final. In his second season, Vaughn has revived football at Springfield following a 34-game losing streak dating to the 2005 season. The Spartans were 6-4 in 2009.
In addition, the H. Peter Burg Sportsmanship Awards were presented to Mogadore (Summit) and Windham (Portage) High Schools.
Floyd explained the Club's decision several years ago to split the event into two separate banquet halls.
"The idea was to shorten the banquet," he said. "It makes it much simpler and things go a lot smoother, and people don't have to get up and leave in the middle because they have something else to do. A three-to-four hour banquet was just too much."
The Touchdown Club also sponors a banquet for winter-sport athletes in the early spring.
Players of the Year
The 2009 Touchdown Club Football Players of the Year are Aaron Maslowski of Highland and Anthony Kelly of Woodridge.
Maslowski established a Highland record with more 2,000 all-purpose yards in leading the Hornets to the Division II playoffs.
Kelly rushed for more than 2,000 yards and 27 touchdowns and was a mainstay in Woodridge gaining the school's first-ever OHSAA football playoff berth.
In volleyball, Allison Foschia of Walsh Jesuit and Brittany Woodard of Southeast are Players of the Year.
In girls golf, the honor goes to Ariel McNair of Walsh Jesuit; in boys golf, Cody Nickson of Stow-Munroe Falls is this year’s Player of the Year.
In girls singles tennis, Christine Coffman of Firestone is this year’s Player of the Year. Doubles teams at Walsh (Nancy Joyce and Christine Reed) and Revere (Natalie Robson and Brittany Miller) were honored.
Boys cross country honors go to Kyle Wheeler of Green and girls winner Christina Blair of the Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy. Blair was a Division II state champion.
In boys soccer, Jack Thompson of the Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy is Player of the Year; in girls soccer, the honor is shared by Juliana Libertin of Archbishop Hoban and Kelsey Smigel of Walsh Jesuit.
Libertin is headed to the University of Dayton, while Thompson and Smigel are juniors.
Coaches of the Year, Championship Honors
Football: Eric Ervin (Woodridge), Kevin Vaughn (Springfield)
Boys cross country: Jeff Howard (Woodridge)
Girls cross country: Dan Lancianese (St. Vincent-St. Mary)
Boys golf: Ken Miller (Stow-Munroe Falls)
Girls golf: Bill Reilly (Walsh Jesuit)
Girls tennis: Rocco Cono (Walsh Jesuit)
Boys soccer: John Sabol (Barberton)
Girls soccer: Val Baughman (Cloverleaf)
Volleyball, Portage County: Bill Smerglia (Streetsboro); Summit County: Scott Carter (Stow-Munroe Falls) and Jim Vaughn (Cloverleaf) share honors.
Three teams were recognized as OHSAA champions: Woodridge boys cross country Division II state champions, St. Vincent-St. Mary High girls cross country Division II state champions, and Walsh Jesuit girls tennis state champs.
CVCA's Christina Blair was an individual state champion in Division II girls cross country.
At the Ohio Tennis Coaches Team Tournament Championship, the Division II doubles team of Nancy Joyce and Christine Reed brought home a title.
The H. Peter Burg Sportsmanship Awards were presented to Mogadore (Summit County) and Windham (Portage County) High Schools.