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Mason boys' varsity tennis team. Photo provided

Mason sports teams represented a good showing in Enquirer polls in tennis, softball and baseball.

Mason won the Division I boys’ tennis poll title. The Comets won the Greater Miami Conference tournament this past weekend, sweeping the competition with all 22 points.

Luke Tsai, Jeremy Schneider, Colin Heim and Young-Jin Kang were all named to the GMC First Team. Miguel Cepeda, John Mostowy and Alex Lebedev received 2nd Team All-GMC honors. Mason head coach Linda Kirtley was named the 2012 GMC Coach of the Year.

“We are both thrilled and honored to win the GMC,” said Kirtley. “It is a very competitive conference with many great players and coaches. We have focused all season on doing what it takes to win the GMC.”

Mason tied for third with Lakota East in Division I softball. Lebanon won the poll title, with Lakota West in second.

In Division I baseball, Mason placed second. Moeller won the title with 15 first-place votes.

Posted in: Sports, Spring sports |

Tags: Tags: baseball, comets, division 1 poll, enquirer poll, greater miami conference, mason, mason high school, softball, tennis, tournament

Mason's Taylor Reid wins the second of three prelims in the 100-meter hurdles. The Enquirer/Joseph Fuqua II

Mark Schmetzer reports:

Mason senior Kaeleigh Warfield probably won’t be continuing her hurdle career when she leaves for college next fall.

She’ll be too busy jumping out of airplanes, indulging her interest in martial arts – and preparing to serve her country.

Warfield, who describes herself as “pretty averagely good” in her events, will enroll at the United States Military Academy at West Point, where she plans to major in physics and minor in Chinese while competing on the academy’s skydiving and Jiu-Jitsu teams.

“I’m pretty sure I’ll get on the skydiving team,” said Warfield, whose first of her even dozen jumps was a 16th birthday present to herself. “I always wanted to fly. The Jiu-Jitsu team will be a little more competitive.”

Mason's William Chanatry wins the first of four prelims in the 100-meter dash. The Enquirer/Joseph Fuqua II

Warfield outlined her plans during the second of three rain delays at Friday’s Rod Russell Mason Invitational at Atrium Field at Dwire Stadium. She and her classmates from the Comet boys and girls teams were honored before the finals, those ceremonies finishing just before a thunderstorm formed and produced lightning that delayed the meet.

The meet was delayed by lightning for a third time at 9:17 p.m. and then cancelled. Ohio High School Athletic Association rules mandate events be stopped for 30 minutes from the last lightning sighting.

The event serves as a final tuneup before next week’s league meets and the following week’s district action. Mason’s “A” team was leading the girls meet through seven events. Huber Heights Wayne was leading the boys standings through six events.

There is no makeup date.

Warfield always has been motivated and driven, said her mother, Jennifer.

“She was born holding her head up,” she said. “She went from crawling to walking in two weeks. She’s always been that way.”

Kaeleigh Warfield, 17, has been interested in the military for years, she said. She recently learned it might be somewhat hereditary after seeing photos kept by her grandmother, Sandy Bloemer.

“There were pictures of guys in uniform going back generations,” she said.

She also heard from her uncle, California resident Cash Murphy, a former Navy Seal who tried to steer her toward the Navy, but after attending summer seminars at both West Point and the Naval Academy at Annapolis, she chose the Army.

“I got into it and got an idea of what the life was like and really liked it,” she said.

Kaeleigh Warfield, who is carrying a 4.8 weighted grade-point average and earned her black belt in Tae Kwan Do a year ago, decided to major in physics because she knew she wanted to focus on a math-oriented subject that would leave her with options such as medicine. She’s been studying Chinese for about a year, she added.

“I’m really enjoying it,” she said.

Posted in: Sports, Spring sports |

Tags: Tags: atrium field, comets, dwire stadium, kaeleigh warfield, mason, mason high school, ohio high school athletic association, rod russell mason invitational

The Enquirer

Mason clinched its first Greater Miami Conference baseball title with a 3-2 victory over Fairfield on Monday night.

The Comets had finished second twice in the first four years in the league, but finally got over the hump.

Junior third baseman Drew Johnson got things going with a two-out RBI double in the first inning, and knocked in another run with two outs later in the game. The Comets led 3-0 by the third inning.

Fairfield threatened in the fourth and fifth innings, but Mason caught runners at the plate to end both innings and hang on to the lead.

Junior pitcher Andrew McDonald went six-plus innings and gave up only four hits to get the win. Senior Zach Boden got his third save of the season to clinch the GMC crown, as Mason finished with a 15-1 record in the league.

Posted in: Sports, Spring sports |

Tags: Tags: andrew mcdonald, baseball, comets, drew johnson, fairfield, gmc, greater miami conference, league, mason, mason high school, sports, title, zach boden

Mason teammates cheer on Margo Hutchison as she rounds the bases after her homerun against Lakota West during the varsity softball game at Mason High School on Wednesday, April 11. The Enquirer/ Amanda Davidson

The Enquirer

Mason upset No. 1-ranked Lakota East 4-2 in a girls’ fast-pitch softball Friday, avenging a 5-4 loss to the Thunderhawks earlier this month.

Mason, ranked No. 4 in the Enquirer Division I area coaches’ poll, was led by senior pitcher Sara Browning, who threw a complete-game and went 2-for-3 with a double to earn her ninth win of the season.

Mason senior catcher Margo Hutchison went 2-for-3 and hit her sixth home run of the season. Lakota East is ranked No. 6 in the state according to the OHSAA Division I state poll, while the Comets are unranked in the state.

Posted in: Sports, Spring sports |

Tags: Tags: comets, lady comets, lakota east, margo hutchison, mason, mason high school, ohsaa, sara browning, softball, sports, thunderhawks

Webletes.com will visit Mason next month as part of a 12-city high school football combine camp tour.

Webletes, a free social media website designed to connect high school athletes and college coaches, will hold the prospect camp from 6-9 p.m. Friday, May 25 at the Mason Middle and High School stadiums.

Athletes will be video-taped and tested on their 40-yard dash, pro-shuttle and vertical and broad jumps.  Results will be sent to college coaches across the nation.

Athletes are encouraged to pre-register at www.webletes.com (click on camp section).  Cost is $55.

Posted in: Events, Recreational events, Sports |

Tags: Tags: athletes, camp, coaches, football, football prospect combine camp, high school, sports, webletes

Did you miss seeing the Comets battle the Cardinals Friday?  Waycross Community Media posted a video of the game Wednesday.

Mason narrowly lost to Colerain, 4-3, but redeemed themselves with wins against Middletown on Monday and Wednesday.  Their current record is 15 – 4 (13 – 1).

The Comets next take on Fairfield at 5 p.m. Friday.

Posted in: Sports, Spring sports |

Tags: Tags: baseball, cardinals, colerain, comets, mason, mason high school, sports

Mason boys' varsity tennis team

Kevin Goheen reports:

Mason won its first ever team championship Saturday at the Greater Cincinnati Tennis Coaches Association Coaches Classic.

The Comets’ score of 270 points edged out Sycamore’s 250-point total.  Cincinnati Country Day placed third with 160 points.

The Comets are undefeated in dual nine matches this season and have swept all of their opponents 5-0 in duals since opening the season with a 3-2 win against Sycamore.

Saturday’s play in Flight A was moved indoors to Camargo Racquet Club because of rains overnight and into the morning that made playing at Mason High School impossible.

Mason junior Jeremy Schneider won the third singles bracket with a 5-7, 6-4, 10-5 victory against Sycamore’s Yuri Karev.

Junior Miguel Cepeda suffered a loss to Lakota East’s Zach Mueck, 7-5, 6-2.  Cepeda and Mueck were tied 5-5 in the first set before Mueck began a stretch of four breaks out of Cepeda’s final five service games.

Cepeda recovered from a first game break in the second set to gain a break himself and then hold serve for a 2-1 lead but Mueck won the final five games to win the title. Mueck is now 6-0 on the season, while Cepeda lost for just the second time in 12 matches.

Cepeda and sophomore Luke Tsai (second singles) were runners-up, as was the first doubles team of senior John Mostowy and sophomore Alexander Levedev. The second doubles team of senior Colin Heim and freshman Young-Jin Kang placed third.

“I think we can go pretty far with this team,” said Cepeda. “I’m playing pretty well right now but I find it more fun playing in a team setting because there is less pressure. I know that even if I have one bad day the rest of the team can pick me up because we have such a great team.”

The five Flight A bracket championships went to five different teams.

Besides Mueck and Schneider, CCD sophomore Patrick Wildman improved to 12-0 on the season by winning the second singles title against Tsai 6-3, 7-6 (5).

Dylan Stern and Nikhil Grandhi teamed to win the first doubles title for Sycamore against Mason, 6-4, 2-6, 10-4. St. Xavier’s Donald Baverman and James Shanahan won the second doubles title by beating the Sycamore team of Brian and Josh Goodman, 6-4, 6-0.

Posted in: Sports, Spring sports |

Tags: Tags: alexander levedev, boys tennis, coaches classic, colin heim, jeremy schneider, lakota east, luke tsai, mason, mason high school, miguel cepeda, tennis, varsity, young-jin kang, zach mueck

Catch up on the latest recruiting news from Mason and Kings high schools.

Mason coach Mark Sullivan recently announced three college signings including diver Megan Helwagen (Clemson) and swimmers Brad Lebling (Eastern Michigan) and Justin Kolwyck (Delaware).

Jensen Gebhardt. File photo

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Kings junior QB Jensen Gebhardt is going to play football at Thomas More, according to Kings coach Andy Olds.

Gebhardt had previously committed to Lindsey Wilson on Jan. 24.

Gebhardt, who is 6-4 and 200 pounds, also had interest from Tiffin and Notre Dame College.

Gebhardt threw for 1,144 yards and 12 touchdowns in the regular season. The Knights were a Division II regional finalist.

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Kings junior defensive backs Nick Collado and Justin Crull attended Northwestern’s spring practice last weekend, according to Kings coach Andy Olds.

“They are both ‘actively’ being recruited by (Northwestern),” Olds said.

Posted in: Sports |

Tags: Tags: andy old, brad lebling, comets, diving, football, jensen gebhardt, justin crull, justin kolwyck, kings high school, mark sullivan, mason high school, megan helwagen, nick collado, northwestern, recruiting, sports, swimming, thomas more

The Mason girls’ lacrosse team defeated the Redskins 13-6 Thursday at Anderson, but suffered a narrow 14-13 defeat Saturday at the hands of New Albany.

The team is now 2-3 after losses to Mariemont and Media and a win against Summit Country Day.

The Comets next face off against the Aves 7:30 p.m. Thursday at Sycamore.

Posted in: Sports, Spring sports |

Tags: Tags: anderson, anderson high school, comets, girls lacrosse, lacrosse, lady comets, mason high school, redskins, sports

Webletes.com will visit Mason next month as part of a 12-city high school football combine camp tour.

Webletes, a free social media website designed to connect high school athletes and college coaches, will hold the prospect camp from 6-9 p.m. Friday, May 25 at the Mason Middle and High School stadiums.

Athletes will be video-taped and tested on their 40-yard dash, pro-shuttle and vertical and broad jumps.  Results will be sent to college coaches across the nation.

Athletes are encouraged to pre-register at www.webletes.com (click on camp section).  Cost is $55.

Posted in: Events, Sports |

Tags: Tags: athletes, camp, coaches, football, football prospect combine camp, high school, sports, webletes