Life lessons being taught through 2017 Arvin Classic

June 10, 2017

It’s a strange time for 2017 high school graduates around the Mahoning Valley, and things are only going to get weirder from here for a lot of them. Those first few weeks after graduation are a blur. You’re saying goodbye to friends you’ve known since grade school, going to graduation parties three to four times a week and realizing that the biggest part of your life — to date — is over. Relax kids, life will go on. You’ll meet other friends, girlfriends and boyfriends. It may not seem like it now, but you’ll find a way to adapt to your surroundings. One group of ...

Track and field powers YSU athletics

June 8, 2017

YOUNGSTOWN — Brian Gorby has been in the midst of coaching the best track and field teams in the Horizon League. He has the league’s best 110-meter hurdler and face of the Youngstown State men’s program — John F. Kennedy High School graduate Chad Zallow. He’s the Great Lakes Region Men’s Track Athlete of the Year in the indoor and outdoor seasons — beating out athletes from Notre Dame, Michigan, Ohio State, among others. The women’s program has been the model of consistency, with four straight Horizon League outdoor championships. The women won the indoor title ...

Is more Trumbull success coming?

June 7, 2017

Just like that, a drought more than seven decades long is over. No, this isn’t about Cleveland’s former curse (that drought wasn’t even six decades). This is about Trumbull County baseball crowning a state champion for the first time since 1943. Yes, Franklin D. Roosevelt was president and World War II was in full swing when Leavittsburg beat Ney, 3-2, marking the last baseball state title before Saturday. Think about that for a second. Television was still in its infancy and the first computer had yet to be invented! Champion’s 1-0 win over Berlin Hiland in the Division ...

Seniors see careers end differently

June 6, 2017

Lauren Jones hasn’t been shy saying she wants another puppy, but leaving for Oklahoma this summer presents a quandary. The Garfield High School senior thrower finished her Ohio High School Athletic Association career as a three-time state champion in the Division II girls discus, and went to this year’s state meet in three events — she finished third in the shot put and ninth in the long jump, incidentally both personal bests. Making marks was her issue. She told me back in early April her father, Bruce, told her she had to pass Edie Svonavec’s shot put mark of 49 feet in the ...

How does Flashes’ success happen?

June 3, 2017

It's hard to pinpoint how it happened the way it did in Champion. Two teams — baseball and softball — going to state championship games. It’s a miraculous feat. In fact, only one school in OHSAA history has won state titles in both (Walsh Jesuit, 2004). The Golden Flashes can match that mark today (the boys play at 10 a.m. at Huntington Park in Columbus; the girls at 4 p.m. at Firestone Stadium in Akron). But how did a little public school like Champion pull this off? Can there really be that many talented players in a high school with an enrollment of 330? Yes and no is the ...

Mom’s touch needed when it comes to conferences

May 31, 2017

Trying to please everyone is an act only a mom can pull off, and every now and then, even she fails. How is it possible to dress, feed, clean and extinguish fights between four children (and sometimes a husband) in a matter of 20 minutes? Oh, come on, we’ve all seen mom work her magic in the waning moments before school starts. If only we could find out where she’s hiding that magic wand. The All-American Conference and commissioner Rick King sure wouldn’t mind getting their hands on that scepter. Or, maybe it’s too late. Seven schools officially left the conference last ...