| 'Jackets seek NLL title (08-17-12) |
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| Written by KEVIN GORDON Sentinel Assistant Sports Editor | ||
| Friday, 17 August 2012 08:46 | ||
The Yellow Jackets believe their drought could end this season. They return five of their top seven runners from last season when they finished second in the league, just three points behind Northview. Among the returnees are five runners who finished in the top 16 in the NLL - junior Andrew Bayes was sixth, senior Bryant Byrd was 11th, senior Troy Maurer was 12th, junior Bobby Borger was 13th, and junior Parker Calvin was 16th. The team's other returning lettermen are seniors Paul Dejong and Kyle Kramer, and sophomore Matt Studer. In addition to the eight lettermen, Perrysburg has a total of 14 seniors on its roster of 44. The Yellow Jackets also were second in the league in 2010. "Last year is definitely driving us, especially the seniors," Byrd said. "We know it's our last chance. "Being second in the league last season was nice, but to be that close to winning it has motivated us even more this season," Dejong said. In addition to winning the, Perrysburg is striving to qualify for the Division I state meet. The Yellow Jackets have qualified for the regional the last two seasons, finishing ninth last season and 12th in 2010. Perrysburg also finished second in the district last season after a third-place finish in 2010. "Winning the league title is our goal, but we're looking beyond that," Perrysburg senior Corey Selhorst said. "State is definitely a goal and it's a major goal that will take a lot of work. It's great to even be talking about getting that far, that says a lot about our team and our program." "We want to be the best team Perrysburg's ever had," Byrd said. Perrysburg already has been hard at work this summer, running at least 40-50 miles individually each week. And some runners, like Byrd, have even run 60-70 miles per week. The Yellow Jackets said the summer work already has produced faster times than they ran at the end of last season. "A lot of guys are improving," Selhorst said. "We've definitely been putting in the work this summer to get faster and to get in shape. It's going to show once the season starts." The team also has been lifting weights and doing other types of conditioning. "I'm very encouraged by what I've seen," said Perrysburg coach Jeff Taylor, who is in his third season after spending the 13 previous seasons as the head coach at Delta. "Our participation numbers really pleased me this summer." "Everyone seems faster," Selhorst said. "We've added a lot of stuff. We've been running all summer, but we're lifting now and we're doing more practices, harder practices." The Yellow Jackets also like their team because they have a standout individual in Byrd, who was fourth in the district meet last season, and a pack that is running tightly together and pushing closer to the front. "We have a bunch of hard-working guys who want to win and have a lot of heart," Byrd said. "We like to compete against each other and that gives us a lot of depth. We push each other to improve and that helps the team to improve." "But we know we still have a lot of work to do if we want to become really good," Byrd added. "We have a lot of potential and we're in good shape, but we have keep improving our conditioning and we want to be peaking at the end of season. We have to work hard all season." The Yellow Jackets also have been working on race strategy. Taylor said there were times last season the team went out too quickly at the start of a race, particularly the district meet. "They've learned to be patient, that you're not going to win the race at the halfway point," Taylor said. "You can't over achieve early because you're going to underachieve late. It's not who reaches the halfway point first. It's about who finishes first at the end. You have to be patient and confident, that you'll be able to come back and run your race, and that you'll be successful if you run your race and stick to the plan." |
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| Last Updated on Friday, 17 August 2012 17:43 |
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