3 Perrysburg athletes sign Division I letters

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Lucy Walton
Nate
Patterson
Courtney Clody

PERRYSBURG – With a gloomy winter season, there was still a glimmer of happiness, relief and excitement
for three Perrysburg High School athletes last month.
Nate Patterson, Courtney Clody and Lucy Walton signed their national letters of intent to compete at NCAA
Division I universities on Feb. 5.
Patterson will play football at Miami (Ohio) University, Clody will run track and cross country at Ohio
State, and Walton will play soccer at Ball State.
Taylor Monheim also signed to run track and cross country at NCAA Division II Grand Valley State
University.
Patterson, a tight end on Perrysburg’s football team, was called "one of the best blockers I have
ever seen at the point of attack" by coach Matt Kregel last fall.
Patterson’s 6-foot-4 frame helped propel quarterback Gus Dimmering to 1,207 rushing yards and 15 scores,
along with 1,688 passing yards with 14 touchdowns as the Yellow Jackets claimed their first Northern
Lakes League title since 2006.
"Part of me wanted to go to a great school, but another part of me wanted to play football, and I
knew, because of their record, I wanted to become part of something new and turn it around next season
or the season after," Patterson said.
Miami fired head coach Don Treadwell on Oct. 6, during his third year with the program. He was 8-21 in
his two-plus year tenure.
The Redhawks replaced Treadwell with former Notre Dame offensive coordinator Chuck Martin, a move
Patterson was extremely excited about.
"After I took my visit a couple weeks ago, you could just tell after sitting down with the head
coach and the tight end coach … everybody just knows it’s going to be a quick change," he said.
"You get really fired up when the coach talks about his philosophy on how to turn it around and
everything. It’s exciting because you know you’re going to be part of something big."
Martin was the head coach at Grand Valley where he led the Lakers to a 74-7 record, including national
championships in 2005 and 2006.
Clody took a more interesting approach to her college choice.
After excelling in soccer since age six and being a member of Perrysburg’s 2012 girls state championship
team, Clody decided to trade in her soccer spikes. She scored 13 goals during the state-title run.
With a successful track career already under her belt as a junior, Clody joined the cross country team in
hopes to become even better for track.
"I knew my decision after my outdoor track state meet (last year). I came home and just wanted to
better myself in track," Clody said of the decision to leave soccer. "I was really determined
and I knew the only way to do that was to really do cross country. At that point, I knew I was ready to
leave soccer. It was still bittersweet. … I was ready to move on and pursue something I was better
at."
Clody’s 3,200 team won the indoor state meet last year and placed second in the outdoor state meet in
9:16.64. She also placed sixth in the 1,600 in 5:04.40.
In her first season of high school cross country, Clody helped Perrysburg place fifth at the state meet
as she finished 61st overall. She was second behind Monheim at the NLL meet and finished third in the
district meet.
"The reason Ohio State was interested in Courtney is because she’s got range," Perrysburg cross
country coach Jon Monheim said. "She can run fast 400s, but she can also run a fast 5K. There’s not
many kids who have the type of range that she has."
Clody also received scholarship offers from the University of Kentucky, Grand Valley, Miami (Ohio) and
Wake Forest among others.
Walton wrapped up her high school soccer career as a first-year captain, helping lead her team to a
13-3-3 record, which included a tie for the NLL title.
She scored eight goals and recorded six assists in her senior year after scoring 13 goals as a junior on
the state championship team.
Walton chose Ball State after multiple offers, which included Winthrop University and Valparaiso
University.
"Number one, she is a very coachable kid. She’s a quiet leader," said Perrysburg co-head coach
Jorge Diaz. "She understands the systems and she knows what’s expected of her. The beautiful thing
about her is if she doesn’t have the ball, she goes after the ball, if she’s the closest to that player.
And that tenacity is going to translate into good things for her next year."
Walton joins a soccer program that finished 11-7-4 overall after falling to Western Michigan in the third
round of the Mid-American Conference tournament last season.
"It’s a huge relief to be done with every stressful part of trying to get into college," Walton
said. "I’m super excited to continue playing soccer for the next four years, because I don’t know
what I would do without it. It’s a really big part of my life.
"I expect a higher intensity in everything. And I’m really excited to do that. I can’t wait to play
a faster-paced soccer game and be on a whole different level."

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