It could be a huge Memorial Day Weekend for all of Saint Ignatius’ spring sports teams, as they look to take that next step in postseason competition.
Or, in the case of the Wildcats’ Crew, the opportunity to leave a mark on the national level.
Could is the operative word, however, as some of the Wildcats’ athletes have to take care of business earlier in the week.
Here is the corner’s weekly breakdown on “Where the ‘Cats Play.”
*NOTE: We have included the first-day parings for Wildcats Tennis and in Lacrosse, Coach Pat McManamon’s team will host an OHSLA first-round playoff game on Saturday afternoon at 1 in Wasmer Field. Saint Ignatius will face the winner of Wednesday’s Brecksville-Broadview Heights versus Wadsworth match up.
HERE IS THE BREAKDOWN BY SPORT
TRACK AND FIELD: Coach Chuck Kyle’s gifted team, which has a nice blend of underclassmen and big-meet tested seniors, will look to defend its championship at the annual Lakewood District on Wednesday and Friday.
Saint Ignatius, overcoming injuries, totaled a first-place 170 points at Lakewood Stadium last year. St. Edward, which went on to win the big-school state championship, was second with 161 points and Normandy and Cleveland John F. Kennedy placed third and fourth with 85 and 56 points, respectively.
Pat Jeffries ’13 had a memorable night on Bunts and Madison last season, leading off the winning 4x400 meter relay team, taking first place with a personal-best 39.93 in the 300 meter hurdles and placing second in the 110 meter hurdles.
A district meet the Wildcats have dominated since the early 1990s, Saint Ignatius’ road to the 2012 Lakewood District championship started smoothly when the ‘Cats’ 4x800 meter relay team won in a time of 8:07.91.
Among the many other highlights was Jack Miller’s second place in the 3200 meter run at 9:38.87. Now one of Saint Ignatius’ senior leaders, Jack was also a member of the winning 4x800 team.
The Wildcats again feature strong relay teams and one of the premier freshman 1-2 punches in the state in sprinter James Norris and distance runner Luke Wagner.
St. Edward will be the major challenge, as the defending state champs are led by an extremely formidable foursome. It starts for the Eagles with speedsters Anthony Young (Ohio’s two-time defending 200 meter champion and a football and track recruit by the Indiana Hoosiers) and strong and quick Shaun Crawford. Then it is discus and shot put standout Aaron Zedella (an Ohio State recruit) and hurdler Steele Wasik.
Action at the Lakewood District is expected to get underway at 4 p.m. (Wednesday and Friday). For any questions on the tradition-rich meet, contact Manager Bob Thayer at 216-529-4034 or Robert.Thayer@Lakewood.k12.oh.us.
BASEBALL: Coach Brad Ganor’s red-hot Wildcats are scheduled to close out their regular season at Brunswick on Tuesday (4:30). However, all of the focus is on Thursday afternoon’s district semifinal match up with the Midpark Meteors (11-11) at Strongsville High School. The first pitch is scheduled for 4:30. If successful on Thursday, the 21-6 ‘Cats, winners of 16 of their past 17 games, will return to Strongsville on Friday for the district championship game at 5. The other half of Thursday's semifinals, slated for 2 p.m., will match the state’s third-ranked Brecksville-Broadview Heights Bees and the Normandy Invaders.
Brecksville is the top seed at Strongsville, Saint Ignatius is seeded second and Normandy and Midpark are the fourth and sixth seeds, respectively.
Midpark is playing with a lot of emotion, as the school will be officially closing (as a high school) next month and will merge with neighboring Berea. The new name next school year will be the Berea-Midpark Titans. That said, Coach Ganor’s Wildcats have some extra incentive, too. It was none other than Midpark that eliminated Saint Ignatius in the 2011 district finals.
TENNIS: Fresh off an outstanding showing in the Division I sectionals at Oberlin College, Saint Ignatius’ Nate Griffin (singles sectional champ), Sean Frebes and the doubles teams of Yaw
Boakye and Chrstian Zuber and Nick Siciliano and Bob Kirchner will return to Oberlin’s Donald Hunsinger Tennis Courts for the OHSAA Districts. Play begins on Thursday and Saturday at 9 a.m.
*Here are Thursday's matchups for the Wildcats: Nate Griffin versus Jake Pukys from Louisville; Sean Frebes versus Jake Zalenski from Jackson; Christian Zuber and Yaw Boakye versus Steve
Smykal and Michael Hutchings from Highland and Nick Siciliano and Bob Kirchner versus Eric Goldberg and Dillon O’Brien from Solon. The top six in both singles and doubles play advance to the state tournament.
LACROSSE: Coach Pat McManamon’s Lax ‘Cats completed an outstanding 14-1 regular season by defeating St. Edward, 13-6 (see the corner’s story below), and will now gear up for Saturday’s first-round playoff game. The Wildcats, who are carrying an eight-game winning streak, will face the winner of Wednesday’s Brecksville-Broadview Heights versus Wadsworth match up Saturday on Wasmer Field at 1 p.m.
CREW: Coach Pat Connor’s Crew ‘Cats will be competing in the prestigious SRAA Nationals, Thursday through Saturday in Camden, N.J. The corner wishes all of the best to the Wildcat Navy as the program looks to make its mark in the season’s point-to event.
VOLLEYBALL: After a dominant performance against Hudson, Coach Casey Marcelo’s Wildcats will take it to the net against Cincinnati Elder in a state-quarterfinal match on Saturday at Walsh
Jesuit High School. The action begins at 1:30 p.m.
If successful, Saint Ignatius will return to Walsh Jesuit on Sunday, when the state semifinals and
finals will take place.
RUGBY: According to the schedule on the Wildcats’ Rugby athletics page, Coach Dan Arbeznik’s Varsity A Team will face St. Edward in state semifinal action on Saturday night at 8 at Hudson.
Congrats to the JV ‘Cats on their outstanding efforts this past weekend.