Athletes decide futures on signing day

Thursday, February 12, 2004

JARROD ULREY
ThisWeek Staff Writer

By Patrick White/ThisWeek

From left, Independence football players Erik Haw (Ohio State), Travis Johnson (Toledo) and De'Angelo Smith (Cincinnati) sign their letters of intent Feb. 4. Joining them are (standing) 76ers coach Alan Jones (standing) and (from left) parents Cornelia Haw, Millie Johnson and Thomas and Arnell Hawkins.

By David Rea/ThisWeek

Beechcroft's Sirjo Welch finishes signing his letter of intent to play football at Ohio State on Feb. 4. Looking on are his parents, Raymond Smith and Lori Welch, and Cougars coach Tom Dunlap. Welch likely will play defensive back for the Buckeyes.

By Lorrie Cecil/ThisWeek

Gary Russell of Walnut Ridge (center) tries on his new hat on Feb. 4 after signing a letter of intent to play football at Minnesota. Lending support are (from left) grandmother Joyce Russell, friend Tiger Ellison, Scots athletic director Dave Spiller and grandfather Joe Russell.


With the signings of Walnut Ridge's Gary Russell, Upper Arlington's Mike Maciejowski and Whitehall's David Wess in recent weeks, the University of Minnesota football team has continued to increase its reputation for recruiting top talent from central Ohio.

And the Golden Gophers, who have four other players on their roster with area ties eligible to return next year, are not the only team building a pipeline to Columbus.

With nine players on its roster from the Central District last year, Miami (Ohio) beat Louisville 49-27 to win the GMAC Bowl on Dec. 18 following a run to its first Mid-American Conference championship since 1986.

Last February, the RedHawks added Dublin Scioto's Charlie Norden and Upper Arlington's Pete Walters, and during the first week of this month, they signed three more central Ohio players in Bloom-Carroll's Tom Crabtree, Scioto's Ben Huddle and Licking Valley's Ryan Redman.

"Obviously it's a winning program, which is important," said Huddle, who will join a program that gave coach Terry Hoeppner a five-year contract extension in December and went on to finish 13-1.

"It's a smaller school with a winning program, and I enjoyed the people more. The coaches are great and also are good people."

Overall, 31 players from central Ohio signed with Division I or Division I-AA schools. Nine from the ThisWeek coverage area will play in the Big Ten.

Independence running back Erik Haw, Dublin Coffman defensive end Alex Barrow, Eastmoor Academy fullback and linebacker Dionte Johnson, Pickerington Central running back and kicker A.J. Trapasso and Beechcroft defensive back Sirjo Welch signed with Ohio State.

"There are a lot of strong players, a lot of athletes (who signed with OSU)," said Haw, who is one of eight players from the City League to sign with Division I schools. Coffman had three players sign with Division I or Division I-AA schools to give it 19 players in the past eight years to commit to that level. "USC might have been ranked the No. 1 recruiting class, but it's how you get that chemistry going that matters."

  • OP GIRLS SOCCER SOARING -- Of the 11 reported central Ohio girls soccer signings, nine compete for the Ohio Premier club program year-round and four played for the organization's fall club team last year rather than for their high school teams.

    OP players such as Westerville North's Jenna Greenwood, Thomas Worthington's Michelle Leppert and Coffman's Lindy Slinger played club in the spring and were stars -- and ThisWeek Super 12 members -- for their high school teams last year before recently signing with Division I schools. Four others who did not play in high school last year also have signed from OP.

    Andrea Haney, who played at Hilliard Davidson for three years, signed with Cincinnati. Jenny Rush, who played for the Wildcats for one season, signed with Miami (Ohio). Also playing for OP last fall were Scioto senior Lindsay Mays, who has committed to Ohio State, and Ready senior Katie Rowlands, who has signed with Kentucky.

    "Over the last three years, we've taken some steps and measures to educate our students and their families about the recruiting process," said Chris King, who coaches for OP's fall team that includes players from U-15 through U-17. "The thing we hear (from colleges) is, 'We know your kids are going to work hard and be disciplined.' What more can you ask?"

    Of the 20 seniors listed on the OP web site, only five had not signed scholarships to play collegiately with 13 going to Division I schools.

  • REWARDS RISING FOR CARDS -- The Thomas Worthington field hockey team beat Columbus Academy 2-1 during the regular season and finished 14-3-1 last year.

    The Cardinals' season ended with a 1-0 loss in four overtimes to Watterson in the second round of the tournament, but they have reaped the benefits of success with four recent Division I signees.

    Madison Bell is going to Stanford, Lauren Cassady is headed to Ohio, Katie Charles will attend Northwestern and Erin Isler will go to Indiana.

    "That is huge for the program," said coach Terri Simonetti-Frost, who played for Boston University. "All of them as freshmen had the potential to play Division I field hockey. I convinced their parents to invest in camps and in training when we started and we watched that go from being a dream to a realistic opportunity."

    Staff writer Paul Batterson contributed to this story.

    Moving on

    Below are area prep seniors who have announced their Division I college commitments to ThisWeek Newspapers. Also listed are football players who will sign with Division I-AA schools:

    BASEBALL -- John Baird (Olentangy) Dayton; Eric Fryer (Reynoldsburg) Ohio State; Michael Obyc (Watterson) Kent State; Kirk Payne (Hilliard Davidson) Ohio U.; Aaron Pikkarainen (Gahanna Lincoln) Ohio State; Matt Selhorst (St. Charles) Ohio State

    BOYS BASKETBALL -- Brandon Ivery (Walnut Ridge) Wright State; Jason Malone (Walnut Ridge) Indiana University-Purdue University, Fort Wayne

    GIRLS BASKETBALL -- Alicia Avery (Mifflin) Cincinnati; Kristi Brogan (Hilliard Darby) Cincinnati; Bridjette Brown (Beechcroft) Western Kentucky; Michele DeVault (Upper Arlington) East Tennessee State; Marscilla Packer (Pickerington North) Ohio State; Eleia Roddy (Independence) Kentucky

    GIRLS CROSS COUNTRY -- Caroline Hillman (Westerville South) Bowling Green; Stephanie Hillman (Westerville South) Bowling Green; Jessica Schmidt (Hilliard Davidson) Iowa

    FIELD HOCKEY -- Madison Bell (Thomas Worthington) Stanford; Lauren Cassady (Thomas Worthington) Ohio U.; Katie Charles (Thomas Worthington) Northwestern; Dana Greenhut (Bexley) Ohio State; Erin Isler (Thomas Worthington) Indiana

    FOOTBALL -- Felix Adayeye (Gahanna Lincoln) Ohio U.; Austin Addington (DeSales) Ohio U.; Alex Barrow (Dublin Coffman) Ohio State; Chris Brown (DeSales) Akron; Brian Campbell (Worthington Kilbourne) Air Force; Drew Carter (West) North Carolina A&T; Tyler Griffin (Westerville North) Eastern Michigan; Ben Huddle (Dublin Scioto) Miami (Ohio); Jared Ison (Olentangy) Cornell; Dionte Johnson (Eastmoor Academy) Ohio State; Travis Johnson (Independence) Toledo; Ray Jones (Columbus Academy) Stanford; Justin Kershaw (Reynoldsburg) Michigan State; Mike Lehmann (Olentangy) Yale; Mike Maciejowski (Upper Arlington) Minnesota; Nick Moore (Westerville South) Toledo; Stevie Morgan (New Albany) Brown; Cameron O'Reilly (Bexley) Bucknell; Jack Rafferty (Dublin Coffman)Western Kentucky; Ryan Redman (Licking Valley) Miami (Ohio); Kevin Rondo (West) Tennessee-Martin; Gary Russell (Walnut Ridge) Minnesota; De'Angelo Smith (Independence) Cincinnati; Kyle Storey (Dublin Coffman) Central Florida; Victor Strausbaugh (Upper Arlington) Navy; A.J. Trapasso (Pickerington Central) Ohio State; Andre Walker (Reynoldsburg) Akron; SirjoWelch (Beechcroft) Ohio State; Thomas Weldon (New Albany) Columbia; David Wess (Whitehall) Minnesota; Eric Yates (Dublin Scioto) Navy

    BOYS GOLF -- John Michael DeRoy (Olentangy) Robert Morris; Kyle Moore (Dublin Scioto) Northwestern

    GIRLS GYMNASTICS -- Jaime Gold (Gahanna Lincoln) West Virginia

    BOYS LACROSSE -- Pat Calhoun (Worthington Kilbourne) Ohio State; Clayton Hall (Upper Arlington) Georgetown; Peter Schell (Upper Arlington) Ohio State; John String

    (Upper Arlington) Brown

    GIRLS LACROSSE -- Lindsey Marshall (Hilliard Davidson) Ohio U.

    BOYS SOCCER -- Eric Brunner (Dublin Scioto) Maryland; Patrick Hewitt (Watterson), Xavier; Erek Kozlowski (DeSales) Indiana; Jeff Lenix (Westerville North) Marshall; Nick Mafi (Thomas Worthington) Syracuse; Mark Price (Dublin Scioto) Lafayette; Doug Reisinger (DeSales) Indiana; Ben Shuleva (Dublin Coffman) St. John's

    GIRLS SOCCER -- Jenna Greenwood (Westerville North) Marshall; Andrea Haney (Hilliard Davidson) Cincinnati; Nicole Homsher (Hilliard Davidson) Cleveland State; Michelle Leppert (Thomas Worthington) South Alabama; Kate Lukeman (Wellington) Harvard; Laura Marcon (Westerville South) Indianapolis; Lindsay Mays (Dublin Scioto) Ohio State; Katie Rowlands (Ready) Kentucky; Jenny Rush (Hilliard Davidson) Miami (Ohio); Lindy Slinger (Dublin Coffman) Miami (Ohio); Alyssa Warren (Dublin Scioto) Ohio U.

    SOFTBALL -- Blaire Crabtree (Hilliard Davidson) Dayton

    BOYS SWIMMING & DIVING -- John Sands (Granville) North Carolina; Matt Voelker (Upper Arlington) Ohio State

    GIRLS SWIMMING & DIVING -- Kyla Favret (Thomas Worthington) Duquesne; Madeline Merrill (Worthington Kilbourne) Columbia; Jason Rechel (Thomas Worthington) Bucknell; Annie Rennebohm (Thomas Worthington) Ohio State; Laura Rings (Columbus School for Girls) Notre Dame

    GIRLS TENNIS -- Laura Hemlepp (Hilliard Davidson) Akron

    BOYS TRACK & FIELD -- Derek Hoye (St. Charles) Georgia Tech

    GIRLS VOLLEYBALL -- Chelsa Brooks (Hilliard Darby) American; Shaniquwa Cooper (Westerville North) Alabama-Birmingham; Allyson Halls (Olentangy) James Madison; Emi Holsclaw (Dublin Coffman) Toledo



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