For three quarters Lakewood looked ready to pull off an upset of the Strongsville Mustangs. Unfortunately, football games are four quarters.

Saturday September 29, 2007 the LHS Cross Country Teams competed at the 43rd McQuaid Invitational, held near Rochester New York.

Pink was the color of the night when the Lakewood Rangers volleyball team traveled to Solon to take on the state-ranked Lady Comets last Thursday.

Lakewood’s punt coverage unit added another score in the fourth quarter when senior George Newbrough ran 57 yards down the left sideline with a Bowling punt to put the Rangers ahead 31-6.

LHS Boys Cross Country Continue Winning

For 79 minutes it looked like the Lakewood Rangers would have to settle for tie in a Northeast Ohio Conference divisional showdown with the visiting Nordonia Knights. But with the clock winding down midfielder Jamie Meggas found a Hilary Vigh throw-in bouncing at her feet inside the penalty box and faked out Knights goalkeeper Jackie Ceglka with a low shot across the goal mouth that found the back of the net and gave the Rangers a 1-0 victory.

The Lakewood Rangers did everything except get the ball in the end zone in the September 7th battle against North Olmsted. Unfortunately for the Rangers, they were unable to turn statistical domination into points. The Eagles staggered away with a 7-0 home victory in a non-league game.

The Lakewood High School Cross Country Teams began the season at the GlenOak Golden Eagle Invitational on August 25, near Canton, Ohio.

Lakewood High School suffered a tremendous loss on August 23 with the passing of Jerry Gruss. Gruss, who has served as head varsity baseball coach since 2000, has been at the school since 1985. Gruss, who passed at the age of 60, finished his career with a 180-108 record and a .625 winning percentage. In addition to his baseball and teaching duties, he served as an assistant football coach. Before coming to Lakewood High, he had worked at Cleveland Central Catholic and St. Edward High School.

 

 

With new turf on the field, a new conference affiliation, and heightened expectations for the 2007 season, the Lakewood Rangers took the field August 24 for their home opener against the Berea Braves. Game-time temperatures approached 90 degrees, but Head Coach Jim Slagle said the Rangers were prepared for the heat. “We practice every day from 3-9 pm in the hottest heat of the day. So we knew our kids would be prepared."

As Browns fans know, Super Bowl rings are a rare commodity. On August 16, Lakewood High School hosted a special guest speaker who owns four such rings. Former Pittsburgh Steeler running back Rocky Bleier spoke to a large crowd of Lakewood and St. Edward high school athletes, coaches, parents and guests at Lakewood Civic Auditorium.

If the Lakewood Rangers volleyball team is looking for a theme song for the 2007 season, the old Peter Allen tune “Everything Old Is New Again” might be fitting. With a new coach who is a former Lakewood coach, a new rival the Rangers met in the past two District semifinals, and just two returning starters from the ’06 season, it will be a season of familiar faces in new places.

Summer is winding down, which in Lakewood means that football season is upon us. The Lakewood Rangers have been working very hard this offseason to improve on last year’s 2-8 record. Fourth year head coach Jim Slagle has been pleased with his team’s efforts. "We’ve had really good numbers in the weightroom," says Slagle. Some players have added as much as 15 to 20 pounds of muscle. This year’s squad has also added numbers. Compared to only 57 players in 2006, 74 have come out this year. The team has returned 16 lettermen and 14 starters, seven on each side of the ball.

It has been a tough year so far for sports fans. Every day in the media we hear about some sort of scandal. Dog fighting, steroids, game fixing....day after day it has been bad news. However, August is winding down, and now is your chance to regain faith in the athletic ideal. High school football season is back, and there is no better place in the country to see it than right here in Lakewood.

As you probably know, English soccer star David Beckham moved to the US this summer to join US-based Major League Soccer (MLS). The arrival of the handsome star and his former Spice Girl wife has turned lots of Americans, including many here in Lakewood, into overnight soccer fans. However, soccer had already been a lifelong love for many Lakewood residents. One such Lakewoodite is Mark Blades, who is currently a sophomore on the Northwestern University team.

Coleen Barta of Columbia Station, Ohio—sister of longtime Lakewood resident Eileen Dixon, wife and mother of four boys—completed the IRONMAN triathlon on June 24 in Coeur d’Lene, Idaho, with a total time of 14 hours, 30 minutes and 39 seconds. Her goal was to complete the race by the age of 40 and cross the finish line by the cutoff at midnight. She finished around 9:30 p.m. looking fresh as a daisy while her support crew, sister Eileen, niece Chelsea and cousin Maggie, cheered her on.

An all-day fundraiser baseball game will be played on Saturday, August 11th at Lakewood High School Baseball Stadium. Come join LHS Baseball Alumni and the Lakewood Recreation Department for a whole day of the summer game that will raise money for a great athletic program and will bring smiles to everybody’s faces.

What Lakewood High School athletic team is one of the most successful in Ohio Statewide competitions? Which one ranked fourth in 2006 in the Ohio coaches poll? What team qualified for participation in regional races for the last 20 consecutive years? What Lakewood High School team has won 35 Lake Erie League titles, which no other team has matched?

What sport receives little recognition in the public media or from its peers for its successes?

New Schools, New Teams expected to increase participation, boost competitiveness

As you may already know, this fall the Lakewood School District is consolidating from three middle schools down to two. This transformation has presented an opportunity to re-shape the city’s athletic program for 7th to 8th graders. Beginning this year, competition for these kids will be shifting away from recreation department programs and toward athletic programs based at each of the two middle schools.

Fans of LHS athletics will see a lot of changes on the field this fall. After seven decades in the Lake Erie League, LHS jumps to the new Northeast Ohio Conference (NOC). The Northeast Ohio Conference was created through a merger of the remaining teams in the Western Reserve and Pioneer Conferences, along with Garfield Heights and Lakewood High Schools, which had previously expressed interest in joining. The new Northeast Ohio Conference will be the biggest conference in northeast Ohio. The new conference includes these sports: Football, Basketball, Tennis, Cross Country, Swimming, Gymnastics, Track, Softball, Baseball, Golf, Wrestling, Volleyball, and Soccer.

As Observer readers know, Lakewood enjoys a wide range of sports. Over the past two years we have done stories covering everything from football and baseball to girls’ rugby, speed skating and roller derby. And if Lakewood resident Woody Calleri has his way, Lakewood’s wide world of sports will grow even wider.

Tim Duncan wasn’t the only Wake Forest athlete to win a championship this month. Lakewood High School alum Michelle Sikes, a former star for the Ranger track and cross country teams, won an NCAA national championship on June 8. An impressive young woman gifted both intellectually and athletically, Sikes had already been named a Rhodes Scholar this past November.

I have a red suit and a whistle. There is water in the pool and I have my sun screen so I am ready to be a lifeguard!

As the school year winds down, and with the warm weather of summer already here, it is time for a recap of LRST’s winter season and also time to look forward to the summer season. After successfully hosting the 2007 Jim Scullion Meet at Lakewood High School in the beginning of February, LRST went into its championship season on a roll. This success carried over to all age groups; starting with LRST’s high school swimmers. Eight LRST swimmers represented their respective high schools at the Ohio High School State Championships. Two