Auroraadvocate.com - Sports Wire: Girls go 11-0 for summer; Lahnan captures Open senior title

by Advocate Staffers

The Aurora girls instructional softball team known as the Green Machine finished the 2009 season with an 11-0 record.

According to coach Bryan Byard, it was a hard-fought season, and the team had some close calls where the girls needed to stage a comeback in their last at-bat.

"We told the girls all season long to focus on each individual play and the results will show at the end of the season," Byard said.

In addition to Byard, the team was coached by Ron McBride and Laura Miller, and sponsored by Solon Hardware and John and Laura Miller.

"Thanks to everyone for a great season," Byard concluded.

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The 79th annual Portage County Open golf tournament is in the books, and an Aurora golfer reigns as the senior division champion.

Larry Lahan said he didn't even know there was a senior division for men 50 and older when he registered for his first amateur, but he quickly took advanage of the age group and fired back-to-back 71s at Windmill Lakes and Kent State to win the crown.

Not only did he win the senior title, he was the low overall medalist with 142.

Lahnan was ahead of defending champion Lou Boarman of Mogadore by 8 strokes after the first round at Windmill Lakes.

Boarman tried to make it interesting, firing a 72 at KSU, but missed catching the steady play of Lahnan.

Three other Aurorans competed. Doug Hauenstein came in third in the county division at 78-69-147, 4 strokes behind champion John Oyster of Kent.

Richard Foote played the first round, but withdrew for the second round in the senior division, while John Hruby shot 99-89-188 in the super senior division (age 65 and older).

The open division was won by Hudsonite Anthony Yacovazzi (72-71-143), the women's divisiion by Mandi Morrow of Kent (81-70-151) and the super seniors by Roger Mazon of Streetsboro (79-74-153).

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The Aurora Baseball League will conduct tryouts for the 2010 season soon. Positions on the travel and tournament teams are up for grabs.

Any player who lives in Aurora or attends Aurora schools is eligible.

Dates are either Aug. 8 or 22, and a player only needs to try out one of those dates. If a player tries out both dates, his scores will be averaged.

Locations are Fields 13 and 14 at Sunny Lake Park. The schedule is as follows: 9U and 10U -- 8:30 to 10:30 a.m.; 11U and 12U -- 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.; and 13U and 14U -- 1:30 to 3:30 p.m.

Age cutoff is May 1, so the player's age on April 30, 2010 will determine which division he will play in next season.

For further information, call ABL travel and tournament director Jeff Rhoades at 330-562-2023 or e-mail jsrhoads@windstream.net.

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Todd Lancaster of Aurora finished fourth in the 86th Ohio Open golf tournament July 20-22 with an 8-under-par 70-66-69-205.

Mitch Flemming of Aurora finished 11th at 209 and Timothy Raleigh of Reminderville tied for 47th at 220. Lancaster pocketed $2,000, Flemming $1,000 and Raleigh $330.

Locals who did not make the cut for the final round were Mark Sierak at 147 and Mike Richey at 151.

Vaughn Snyder of Massillon won the tourney at 14-under-par 199, with Colin Biles of Upper Arlington second at 200. The event was played at Quail Hollow Country Club.

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The Aurora Board of Education recognized the InkStop firm at its meeting July 27 for donating another $125,000 to the Veterans Stadium artifical turf fund.

Treasurer Bill Volosin said that bring the overall contribution to about $200,000. With the donation, InkStop earned the right to have the field named after it.

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Three Aurorans are competing in the Kenny Novak Memorial junior golf tournament this week at Walden. They are Ariel McNair, Emily Moore and Christopher Sloe. The event winds up today (July 29).

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The 2009 Crestwood Thunder baseball team, which finished in second place in the Great Lakes Baseball League's 16U division for the regular season and playoffs, included three Aurora residents.

They are Billy Hickey, Jared Berger, David Brock and Ty Hegedus.

The team ended the regular season with a 12-3-1 record. In the championship playoff game, the Thunder was defeated by Jefferson Baseball Academy 2-1.

Other team members are Trevor Ross, Cody Miller, Tony Sargiovanni, Aaron Jackson, Kyle Fisher, Darren May, Alex Zeman and Andy Auble.

The team was coached by Jeff Jackson and Jim Sargiovanni.

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A number of assistant athletic coaches were awarded supplemental contracts by the Board of Education on July 27. They are:

Jacob Calcei and Jay Price, football; Erin Swift, swimming; Michael Brancazio and Lauren Colangelo, volleyball; James Ritter, boys tennis.

Laura Bell and Jenna Schadle, track; Brancazio and Price, boys basketball; and John Calcei, Tim Deering, Nick Kukarola and Tim Deering, baseball.

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Three Barrington Golf Club duos swept the top three places in Flight 1 in the Cleveland Women's Golf Association's Gemini tournament June 25 at Lakewood Country Club.

Cathy Harless and Gerry Sexton were first with 60.5 points, Judy Clink and Betsy Weisel were second with 61.9 and Beth MacMillian and Joyce Renz were third at 63.

In the CWGA's final team event of the season recently at Beechmont Country Club, Barrington finished 14th out of 16 teams.

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One of Otto Orf's Hands On soccier campos will run Aug. 10-14 at Barlow Farm Park in Hudson. Fee is $125 for a half day and $185 for a full day. For details, call 330-325-1499.

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Several Aurorans participated in the Winking Lizard Shot in the Dark races July 25 in Cleveland.

In the 4-miler, Jack Dunn was 18th (29:12.32) in men 20-24; Stacy Keller was 124th (44:20) in women 25-29; Jeff Long 38th (31:07.84) and Bret Keller 97th (42:55.89) in men 25-29; Elizabeth Heier seventh (30:07.7) and Kim Jones 40th (36:36.08) in women 30-34.

Kyle Koenig 63th in men 30-34 (35:51.53); Becky Millward 30th (36:26.9) and Suzy Evans 54th (42:15.22) in women 35-39; Terry Spisak 13th (30:43.12) and John Direks 49th (40:54.26) in men 45-49; Sue DeMay fifth (35:23.49) in women 50-54; Michael Rusk 22nd (33:49) in men 50-54; and Jane Springer fourth (39:03.78) in woman 55-59.

In the 2-miler, Heather Wheeler was 64th (35:19.63) in women 30-39; and Gayle Visani was 14th (21:14.08) in women 40-49.

In two-person teams, Jeff White and Grant MacKay were 34th (37:13.58) in the men's division; Pamela Kennedy and Colleen Faciana 37th (41:30.22) in the women's division; and Lynne Stanziale and Greg Noble 21st (30:56.49), Bill and Katie Kennedy 30th (32:35.61) and Tom Posipanka and Cobi Dorn 97th (52:54.31) in coed.

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The Bill Heideman Mem-orial Cross Country Series is coming up Aug. 6, 13 and 20 at Goodyear Heights Metro Park in east Akron.

There's a 5K for high school and open runners, a 2-miler for middle schoolers and a 1-mile open race, starting at 6:30 p.m. For details, visit www.summit-athletic.com/races.>