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Jami Pfeifer

The Enquirer

Senior forward Jami Pfeifer scored one minute, 36 seconds into the first sudden victory overtime period Tuesday night to give Mason a 1-0 win against Pickerington North at Miami Valley South Stadium and send the Comets to the Division I state soccer finals for the first time in school history.

Pfeifer scored her 18th goal of the season with a blast from the right side about 15 yards away from the goal. The ball got past Pickerington North goalie Heather Laeufer in an instant and handed the Panthers (19-1-2) their first loss of the season.

“I was getting stormed by my team and the ball was in the net,” said Pfeifer. “I saw the ball go in, then my mind went blank and I just fell to the ground.

“I wasn’t sure where it was going. I was in the moment and it’s one of those things where you don’t know how it happens, it just happens.”

Mason will take its 20-1-1 records into Friday’s 7 p.m. state championship game at Columbus Crew Stadium against No. 1-ranked Perrysburg (22-0). The Comets were unranked in the final state coaches’ poll but in this tournament they have now beaten three ranked teams (No. 11 Troy, No. 7 Centerville, No. 5 Pickerington North) and avenged their lone loss of the season against Ursuline in the regional final.

Mason was making its first appearance in the state semifinals while Pickerington North was in its third state tournament. The Panthers were state runners-up in 2010.
Pickerington North had beaten No. 2 Dublin Coffman and No. 8 Dublin Jerome 1-0 each in its regional tournament. The regional final against Jerome went to two overtimes.

(more…)

Posted in: Fall sports, Sports |

Tags: Tags: columbus crew stadium, comets, division i, jami pfeifer, jill vetere, lady comets, madison melnick, mason, mason high school, miami valley south stadium, perrysburg, pickerington north, soccer, soccer finals, sports, toni bizzarro

Mason's Josh Dooley competes in the long jump at the district meet at Mason High School May 16, 2012. Dooley will compete at the state meet in the 1600-meter run. Photo by Tony Tribble.

The Greater Miami Conference recently honored many Mason student athletes for their success in track and field. Multiple athletes were honored more than once and several relay teams were also honored.

Several of the student athletes will also compete at the state meet Friday and Saturday to be held at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium at Ohio State University in Columbus.

Individually, on the boys’ side, junior Alex Notton (1600-meter run), senior Josh Dooley (100-meter dash) and junior Asad Maiden (110-meter hurdles) will be competing at state. In those same events, Notton and Maiden were selected to the all-GMC first team. Dooley, meanwhile, was selected all-GMC third team in the long jump and was honorable mention in the 100-meter dash.

Maiden was also selected to the all-GMC second team for the 300-meter hurdles, as well as for the high jump. Other individual athletes, who were recognized by the GMC include sophomore Tim Clark (3200-meter run, first team), senior Leslie Pil (pole vault, first team), senior Juan Cummings (200-meter dash, second team), senior Michael Mumma (800-meter run, second team), senior Ted Liu (200-meter dash, honorable mention) and sophomore Zac Thompson (3200-meter run, honorable mention).

The Mason boys’ squad will also be represented at the state meet in both the 4×400-meter and 4×800-meter relay teams. The 4×400 team (senior Adam Court, senior Zach Taylor, sophomore Ethan Valentine, junior Robert Diehl) and the 4×800 team (Valentine, Mumma, Notton and junior Paul D’Hyver de las Deses) were selected to the all-GMC first team. (more…)

Posted in: Sports, Spring sports |

Tags: Tags: columbus, comets, division i, mason, mason high school, Mason sports, Mason track and field, mcauley, state, track

Mason's Taylor Reid competes at a meet earlier in May. Later in the month, Reid finished second in both the 100-meter and 300-meter hurdle events at the regional track meet in Dayton. The placing qualified her to compete in both events at the state meet. Photo taken by Joseph Fuqua II.

The Mason girls and boys track team will be well represented at this weekend’s 2012 Ohio High School Athletic Association State Track Championship in Columbus.

Overall, the high school qualified five of its individual competitors and five relay teams due to strong performances at last week’s regional tournament at Welcome Stadium in Dayton.

One of those individual qualifiers was senior Taylor Reid, who qualified for the state meet in both the 100-meter and 300-meter hurdle events. At the regional meet, Reid finished in second place in both races.

Other individual athletes, who qualified for state, include sophomore Jenny Nelson (pole vault), senior Josh Dooley (100-meter dash), junior Alex Notton (1,600-meter run) and junior Asad Maiden (110-meter hurdles).

Also qualifying for state were the 4×100-meter (senior Kara Lamotte, sophomore C.C. Wilson, sophomore Beneria White, freshman BreAuna Keys), 4×400-meter (junior Olivia Gaus, freshman Delaney McDowell, senior Ivy Beddow, senior Monica Lake) and 4×800-meter (senior Bridget McElhenny, McDowell, Lake, Gaus) girl relay teams, as well as the 4×400-meter (junior Robert Diehl, senior Zachary Taylor, senior Adam Court, sophomore Ethan Valentine) and 4×800-meter (Notton, senior Michael Mumma, Valentine, junior Paul D’Hyver de las Deses) boy relay teams.

The state tournament will take place at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium at Ohio State University in Columbus this Friday and Saturday, June 1-2.

Posted in: Sports, Spring sports |

Tags: Tags: columbus, comets, division i, mason, mason high school, mcauley, state, track

Anderson won the boys 4x800 meter relay,while Mason finished third at the Regional Track Meet at Dayton's Welcome Stadium, Wednesday, May. 23, 2012. (Tony Tribble for the Enquirer)

Mason’s Lady Comets suffered a narrow loss Wednesday to McAuley at the Division I regional championship at Dayton’s Welcome Stadium.

Mason’s 3,200-meter relay unit finished second (9.20.23) to McAuley’s finishing time of 9 minutes and 15.52 seconds.  Mason beat McAuley by a “blink of an eye” in last year’s meet, said McAuley coach Ron Russo.

Lebanon rounded up in third place (9.20.27).  The top four finishers automatically qualified for the big-school meet in Columbus.

Anderson won the regional title in the boys’ 3,200 relay. Nick Vogele, Casey Gallagher, Kameron Powell and Sean Batt clocked in at 7:50.17. Mason finished third and also qualified for state.

Wednesday’s competitors in the girls’ and boys’ discus, girls’ high jump, boys’ long jump and boys’ pole vault also qualified for state. All other track and field events were preliminaries qualifying participants to Friday’s regional finals.

Marc Hardin contributed

Posted in: Sports, Spring sports |

Tags: Tags: columbus, comets, division i, mason, mason high school, mcauley, state, track

Mason's Luke Tsai, left, and Miguel Cepeda play in the OHSAA division I doubles tennis tournament Saturday, May 28, 2011, in Hilliard, Ohio. (Jay LaPrete/For the Enquirer)

The Enquirer

The Mason team of junior Miguel Cepeda and sophomore Luke Tsai won the doubles title for the second straight year Saturday afternoon at the Lindner Family Tennis Center in Mason.

The Comets’ duo beat Jackson and Wyatt Heinz of Bellbrook, 6-4, 6-3, in the final. Cepeda and Tsai were state runner-ups last year, but after a full year of training together and building a relationship off the court, say they’re better positioned this year to capture a Division I state championship.

Lakota East senior Zach Mueck beat Mason sohomore Alexander Lebedev, 6-4, 6-4, in the morning semifinals. The Xavier University signee went on to win his third consecutive championship that afternoon.

Posted in: Sports, Spring sports |

Tags: Tags: alexander lebedev, boys district, comets, division i, doubles, gmc, lindner family tennis center, luke tsai, mason, mason high school, miguel cepeda, semifeinals, tennis, zach mueck

Mason's Luke Tsai plays in the OHSAA division I doubles tennis tournament Saturday, May 28, 2011, in Hilliard, Ohio. (Jay LaPrete/For the Enquirer)

Jeff Wallner reports:

Mason’s Miguel Cepeda and Luke Tsai are great individual tennis players. But that did not assure them of being successful as doubles partners. Last year the Comets’ duo mostly rode their individual talents to a Division I state runner-up finish. But after a full year of training together and building a relationship off the court, Cepeda and Tsai say they’re better positioned this year to capture a Division I state championship.

Mason's Miguel Cepeda celebrates scoring a point in the OHSAA division I doubles tennis tournament Saturday, May 28, 2011, in Hilliard, Ohio. (Jay LaPrete/For the Enquirer)

“We play at the same club together, we carpool together, practice together,” Cepeda said. “Last year was our first year playing doubles together. We’re more experienced, stronger. Instead of just wanting to get to state, our goal this year is to win it.”

In the semifinals of Saturday’s D-I sectional tournament, Cepeda and Tsai were challenged by Sycamore’s Yuri Karev and Nakul Narendran but emerged with a 4-6, 6-2, 6-2 victory.

“Our games complement each other,” Tsai said. “Miguel puts away shots. I can put him in good position. That’s our best attack.”

In the sectional final, Cepeda and Tsai faced their Mason teammates John Mostowy and Colin Heim, who defeated Sycamore’s Dylan Stern and Nikhil Gandhi in the semis. Cepeda and Tsai emerged with a 6-3, 6-0 victory.

The individual star at Saturday’s sectional tournament was Lakota East senior Zach Mueck, a Xavier commit who’s hoping to overcome tendonitis in his right elbow and close out his career with a state singles title. Mueck said the elbow occasionally tightens up during competition, but that it’s nothing he can’t overcome.

On Saturday Mueck overcame some unforced errors in the first set to edge Mason’s Alexander Lebedev 7-6, 6-3 in the semifinals. “I kept double-faulting,” said Mueck, who repeatedly voiced his frustration to himself during the match. “Just a lack of effort and concentration on my part.”

In the sectional final, Mueck, a two-time state runner-up who posted his 100th career victory at the Coaches Classic Tournament on April 21, rolled to a 6-2, 6-1 win over Mason’s Jeremy Schneider.

In the D-II sectional singles final at Mason, Bishop Fenwick’s David Leesman won the title by defeating Waynesville’s David Jeffries 3-0 after Jeffries retired during the first set.

New Richmond’s doubles team of Zach Manning and Matt Rydzewski defeated Felicity-Franklin’s Trevor Shouse and Jacob Fry in the semifinals before dropping a 6-1, 6-0 decision to Waynesville’s Stephen Jeffries and Mitch Chamberlain in the finals.

Posted in: Sports, Spring sports |

Tags: Tags: colin heim, comets, division i, high school, john mostowy, luke tsai, mason, mason high school, miguel cepeda, sports, state championship, tennis

Sarah Browning (14), Mason High School Junior, pitches in the game against McAuley High School at Mason on May 11, 2011. The Enquirer/ Meg Vogel

Last year, Lakota East and Lakota West were the two schools to watch in the showdown to the Division I state tournament.

Lakota East’s march to the title was memorably stopped short by Lakota West in the regional finals.

But while there’s a good chance these two schools will play major roles in this season’s tournament, other teams, including Mason, will offer up competition.

Enquirer contributor Mark Schmetzer offers this preview of Div. I softball teams.  Here’s what he says about the Lady Comets:

Mason also will be counting on seniors, according to coach Liann Muff. Pitcher Sarah Browning was named first-team all-GMC last season while catcher Margo Hutchinson, shortstop Jill Richardson and third baseman Claire Wehby were second-team picks.

Read how other local teams measure up in cincinnati.com’s Div. I softball preview.

Posted in: Sports, Spring sports |

Tags: Tags: claire wehby, comets, division i, girls softball, jill richardson, lady comets, lakota east, lakota west, liann muff, margo hutchinson, mason, mason high school, sarah browning, softball, sports, varsity

Mason baseball coach Ken Gray. File photo

Defending Division I state baseball champs Lakota East will get plenty of competition from teams including Moeller, Mason, Milford, Elder and others, according to area coaches.

Lakota East won the GMC last year and finished 24-7 overall. The program lost 12 seniors but returns nine key players, and coaches again rate the Thunderhawks among the top area teams

While many coaches consider Moeller the team to beat, Mason also is generating some buzz in preseason, with a deep pitching staff back from last year’s 15-10 team. Mason coach Ken Gray, entering his 38th season, ranks fifth on the Ohio career coaching list with 722 wins.

Right-handed pitchers Andrew McDonald and T.J. Zeuch, both juniors, lead Mason’s staff. Junior shortstop Connor McVey (.425 last year) leads the offense.

“We’ve got some pitching, for sure,” Gray said. “We have several guys all throwing 88, 89 miles per hour.”

• Division I Baseball Preview

Tom Groeschen contributed to this story.

Posted in: Sports, Spring sports |

Tags: Tags: andrew mcdonald, baseball, coach, comets, connor mcvey, div. i, division i, ken gray, lakota east, mason, mason high school, moeller, preview, t.j. zeuch, title, varsity

Mason senior forward Darin Harris seen here battling Kings on Dec. 13, 2011.

Mason senior forward Darin Harris was offered by Lake Erie College, a Division II school in Painseville, Ohio.

This marks the first offer for Harris, a two-time first-team, all-GMC honoree.  He is being recruited by Division II schools and some small Division I schools.

Grand Valley State will be at Mason’s practice today to watch Harris, who is second in the GMC in scoring at 16.5 points per game and third in the GMC in field goal percentage at 56.4 percent.

Posted in: Sports, Winter Sports |

Tags: Tags: basketball, college, comets, darin harris, division i, gmc, greater miami conference, lake erie college, mason high school, offer, recruiting, sports

Players, from left, Sean Horan, linebacker, Jensen Gebhardt, quarterback, Evan Berg, kicker, and Brady Vanover, Defensive tackle, photographed during football practice at Kings High School Monday October 24, 2011. Horan, Berg and Vanover were named All-Ohio selections on Nov. 28, 2011.

Chris Chaney reports:

The Associated Press Division I and II All-Ohio high school football teams were announced Monday night, with Kings honored with four selections.

Kings coach Andy Olds File photo

Kings’ Andy Olds was named the Division II Coach of the Year after leading the Knights to a 12-1 record and the state quarterfinals.

“The award is a direct reflection on the players and coaches we have,” Olds said. “They work so hard and if it hadn’t been for them, we wouldn’t be where we’re at. It’s the achievement of a lifetime. I can’t stop smiling.”

Among the other Knights honored were second-team All-Ohio selections Jamire Westbrook, a senior running back, and defensive lineman Brady Vanover.

Vanover, a 6-foot-1, 220-pound defensive tackle, led the city with 16 sacks in the regular season. Westbrook was an all-state selection for the second consecutive year.

“Jamire had back-to-back great years and that speaks to his consistency,” Olds said.

On the third team, Kings had kicker Evan Berg and senior linebacker Sean Horan.

“Evan had a monster year kicking field goals for us,” said Olds. “He made 15 in the regular season, which for a high school kicker is pretty impressive.”

Mason’s Josh Dooley received a Division I special mention.  For a list of teams and selections, read cincinnati.com’s full coverage.

Posted in: Fall sports, Sports |

Tags: Tags: all-ohio, andy olds, coach, coach of the year, division i, division ii, football, high school football, kings high school, knights, sports