Vermilion freshman Hannah Bartlome jumped 5-00 in the girls Division II high jump, on Friday, at the 2011 State Track and Field Championships at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium.

Bartlome finished 15th in the event. Washington C.H. Washington junior Logan Rowe won the event with a height of 5-06.00.

Bartlome is also running in the semifinals of the 400 and 800 relays later today.

For two days last week at Vermilion High School, fans who attended the 13th Annual Lorain Holiday Classic tournament got their money's worth.

The tournament, which was played on December 27-28, featured Vermilion, Lorain, Elyria and Sandusky.

Prior to the tournament Vermilion, Lorain and Elyria all came in with 4-1 records.

Day 1 of the tournament had two great games, with some great performances.

In the first game Lorain and Elyria battled each other into overtime, with the Pioneers coming out with 66-56 victory.

Sophomore guard Kody Bender led all scores with 24 points.




Both teams showed why they are considered a couple of the best teams in Lorain County.

I wouldn't be surprised if these teams meet down the road in the Division I district tournament, possibly for the district championship.

In the second game, an undersized Vermilion team pushed Sandusky to the limit, but fell 64-61.

Delon Roldon-Johnson gave the Blue Streaks a spark off the bench and finished with 18 points, 16 coming in the second half.

On Day 2, Sandusky and Elyria faced-off in the championship game.

The Pioneers were without senior Chase Farris, who missed the game to play in an All-Star football game.

Under-manned Elyria still found a way to defeat the Blue Streaks, 62-59, to win the tournament for a second year in a row.

Junior forward Brendan Dickerson led the Pioneers with 20 and 10 rebounds.

Elyria is now 6-1, and its only loss came against Strongsville by one point. The Pioneers are a very good rebounding team and have size and scoring.

Bender and Dickerson were both named to the All-Tournament team along with Lorain's Theron Nelson, Vermilion's Mitch Novak and Sandusky's Xavier Turner and Roldon-Johnson.

They should contend for the Northeast Ohio Conference title and have a top seed going into the district if healthy.

The 2010 OHSAA Track and Field Championships, held at Jesse Memorial Stadium on June 4-5, in Columbus turned out to be a pretty successful for a few of our area athletes.
On Day 1, Keystone senior Corry Sprouse shocked a lot of people, including myself by winning the boys high jump competition in Division II.
I wasn't shocked because I didn't think he was capable of winning. I was shocked because it was the first time that Sprouse, who will play football for Notre Dame College, participated on the track team.
He ended up winning with a jump of 22 feet, 9 inches, narrowly defeating Edison senior Brady Gelvin, who jumped 22-8 1/2.
The fact that Sprouse won a state title in his first year of track was a pretty amazing feat for anyone.
Day 1 also saw the end of Perkins senior Matt Hoty's reign as shot put champion. Hoty, who will attend the University of Tennessee, came in as the two-time Division II champion and was defeated by Pemberville senior Justin Welch.
Hoty threw a record distance of 62-9 3/4, but Welch threw a 62-11 3/4 on the final throw of the day to win the title.
Hoty had to battle a fractured right wrist during the season, which might played a part why he didn't win for a third consecutive time.
Regardless, two first place and a second place finish at state is still a very impressive accomplishment for Hoty.
Day 2 at the state track meet belong to the Southview Saints.
The school had three state placers in Division I in their final appearance as a high school. Next year Southview and Admiral King will join forces to form the Lorain High Titans.
The highest finisher for the Saints was sophomore Christian Nogueras, who took third in the long jump with a distance of 22-9 3/4.
Sophomore Melody Farris finished fifth in 100 hurdles with a school record time of 43.91, while junior Shanique Ogle took sixth place in the shot put with a throw of 40-11.
Southview might be gone, but those athletes will always have those memories forever.
Lorain County got its second state champion of the weekend from Elyria Catholic senior Marty Coolidge.
Coolidge won the 3200 with a time of 9:03.11, which set the record at Owens Stadium, defeating Bay junior Michael Brajdic.
The victory was a long time coming for Coolidge, who finished third in 2008 and second in 2009 in the 3200.
Other notable placers were Vermilion sophomore Emily Cunningham, who took second in the 200 with a time of 24.93 and fifth in the 100. It was Cunningham's second trip in a row to the state track meet.
Edison's 400 relay of Seth Battle, Dylan Howard, Gelvin and Mike Yost almost came home with the gold.
The Chargers ran 42.58 but lost to Columbus Bishop Hartley, who finished first with a time of 42.57. The race was the most exciting of the weekend, unfortunately Edison fell a little short.
Overall the weekend went well. It was a long couple of days, but I got to watch some very special athletes give some very special performances on the biggest stage of the track season.

WESTLAKE - Anthony Hitchens scored a game-high 28 points to lead the Clearview Clippers to the Division II Westlake District Final with a 76-59 victory against the Vermilion Sailors on Thursday night.

Nick Farley scored a team-high 24 points for Vermilion, but the Sailors could not keep up with the athleticism of the Clippers. The Clippers led 36-25 at halftime and outscored the Sailors in every quarter.

The Clippers improve to 20-2 and will now face top-seeded Bay on Saturday, March 13, at 7 p.m.

The Clippers had not won a tournament game since the 2006 season when they were still in Division III.

The win also snapped the Sailors eight-game winnning streak at Westlake High School. Vermilion had won the Westlake District the past two seasons. The Clippers also got revenge on the Sailors, who defeated them at home earlier this season.

Although they lost, a lot could be said about what the Sailors were able to accomplish this season.

Farley was the only returning player from last year's team that made it to the regional final, and they finished the season at 14-9.

The Clippers, who won the Patriot Athletic Conference title, face-off with the Bay Rockets, who were the West Shore Conference champs.

The game should be very entertaining, as both teams have a number of players who can score the basketball.

Amherst lost the first game, 25-18, but came back to defeat Olmsted Falls, 25-18, 25-21, 25-19 to stay undefeated in Southwestern Conference play. The Comets improved to 3-0 in the SWC, 6-1 overall.

• Deme Morales led the Comets’ attack with 24 kills. She also notched six aces from the service line and 15 digs defensively. Marissa Harned led setting with 51 assists.
  

• St. Paul improved to 3-0 in the Firelands Conference (5-1 overall) with its win over Mapleton, 25-11, 25-5, 25-5. Emily Nickoli (13 kills) and Amber Welfle (8 kills) led the Flyers’ attack. Kaylee Bundschuh went 58-for-58 setting with 33 assists.
  

• Admiral King swept Shaw in Lake Erie League play, 25-11, 25-6, 25-6 led by Diedre Noble (8 kills) and Tierra Thompson (25-for-25, 23 assists). Asia Chisholm led AK’s serving, going 18-for-19 with 10 aces.
  

• Norwalk remains undefeated in Northern Ohio League play with their four-set win over Fostoria. Norwalk won the first two matches, 25-19, 25-15, but dropped the third match, 19-25, before winning the final match, 25-12. Kayla Freriks went 26-for-33 hitting with 12 kills. McKenzie Hall went 114-for-115 setting with 37 assists. Hall also served 27-for-27.
  

• Wellington swept Black River, 25-13, 25-13, 25-16 in Patriot Athletic Conference play. Megan Auble went 21-for-24 hitting with 13 kills. Rachel Cook went 30-for-30 setting with 12 assists.
  

• Huron defeated St. Mary, 25-12, 25-23, 25-22 in a tightly-contested Sandusky Bay Conference game. Devon Koenig led Huron’s hitting with 18-for-21 with 10 kills, while Taylor Sauterback went 24-for-26 with nine kills.
  

• Firelands won the first match, 25-23, but Bay won the next three as the Rockets beat the Falcons, 25-19, 25-9, 25-15 in West Shore Conference play. Bay’s leading hitter was Sarah Vick with 16 kills, while Firelands’ leading hitter was Morgan Mastellone with five kills. Bay’s Bridget Doughty went 103-for-103 setting with 41 assists.
  

• Midview swept Vermilion, 25-17, 25-18, 25-22 in WSC action. Danielle Herwig went 13-for-15 hitting with 10 kills. Angela Bayus went 89-for-89 setting with 35 assists, while also serving 11-for-12 with an ace. Arrianna Cumberledge led digs with 20.

Basketball season will be before you know it and fans of the Lorain County Holiday Basketball Classic should know that this year's boys tournament is tentatively scheduled to take place at Sandusky High School while the girls event will be contested at Admiral King. The tournament annually features the teams from Admiral King, Sandusky, Elyria and Vermilion.

The Avon Eagles shot a school record 165 at Bob-O-Link, Par 36 on Tuesday in its tri-match victory over West Shore Conference opponents Vermilion and Fairview. Not only did the team set a school record, but Katelyn Greear also set the school record as she shot a 37. Also contributing to the record day was Kaitlin Neumann (41), Emily Wallace (41) and Mary Dickson (46). The Eagles are 6-0 overall and 4-0 in WSC play.

Tuesday was also the opening night for conference play in volleyball with a few close and exciting matches.

• Powerhouse Elyria began their season with a 3-1 victory over a tough Solon team. Kristen Boros had 15 kills for Elyria, while Shelby Regiec was 128-for-131 in setting with 43 assists.

• Vermilion remained unbeaten as they came back to defeat Fairview in four games. Vermilion dropped the opening match 24-26, then reeled off three straight wins. Julia Clark led the Sailors with 13 kills. Andrea Rini also had a big night for Vermilion as she scored 26 points and served five aces.

• The best game of the night might have been Edison and Hudson. The Sandusky Bay Conference rivals battled through five matches with Edison coming out with the win. Each team alternated wins before Edison took the final match 15-13. Jesse Niedema had a big for Hudson as she went 62-for-66 in hitting with 21 kills. Not to be outdone were Edison's Emily Stewart and Cami Shine who had 21 and 16 kills respectively.