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Lakota East's Autumn Heath placed in both the 100 and 200 sprints at the 2012 state meet in Columbus, June 2, 2012. In photo, Heath is seen competing at the regional meet at Welcome Stadium in Dayton. Photo taken May 26, 2012 by Tony Tribble.

Lakota East sophomore Autumn Heath placed in two events at the Ohio state track and field championships at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium in Columbus Saturday.

Heath finished in fifth place in the 100-meter dash with a time of 12.38 seconds. Lorain senior Alicia Arnold finished in fourth, ahead of Heath by .01 hundredth of a second. Reynoldsburg senior Destinee Gause, who was only athletes at the state meet to win four gold medals, finished first in the 100 with a time of 11.95 seconds. According to the Columbus Dispatch, Gause is committed to Florida.

The Lakota East sprinter also finished eighth in the 200-meter dash with a personal-best time of 25.12 seconds. Gause, who is committed to Florida, according to the Columbus Dispatch, finished first in the 200 with a time of 23.91.

Heath was the only runner from a Lakota high school to place at the state meet.

Her track teammates, senior Lauren Buck (shot put, discus) and Celeste Bronson (300-meter hurdles) also qualified and competed at state.

Furthermore, senior Nathan Haynes (800-meter run) and junior Will Wilson (high jump) also qualified and competed at state, representing Lakota West High School.

Posted in: Sports, Spring sports |

Tags: Tags: 2012 Ohio High School Athletic Association State Track Championship, Autumn Heath, Celeste Bronson, Lakota East, Lakota East Sports, Lakota East track, Lauren Buck, Nathan Haynes, Will Wilson

Lakota West senior Jerome Hamilton finished sixth at the regional track meet at Dayton's Welcome Stadium on May, 23, 2012. A four-place or better finish would have qualified Hamilton for the state meet. Photo taken by Tony Tribble.

The Greater Miami Conference recently honored many Lakota student athletes for their success in track and field. Multiple athletes were honored more than once and several relay teams were also honored.

Several of the student athletes will also compete at the state meet Friday and Saturday to be held at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium at Ohio State University in Columbus.

On the boys’ side, Lakota West’s senior Nathan Haynes (800-meter run) and junior Will Wilson (high jump) will be competing at state. In those same events, Haynes was also selected to the all-GMC first team, while Wilson was an honorable mention. Both athletes also earned honorable mention honors with senior Will Clevidence and senior Reid Beck as part of the 3200-meter relay team.

Clevidence was also selected to the all-GMC third team in the 800-meter run. Other boy track athletes who were honored by the GMC include Lakota West junior Nick McGill (300-meter hurdles, honorable mention), Lakota West senior Jerome Hamilton (long jump, honorable mention) and Lakota East junior Jordan Combs (pole vault, all-GMC second team).

On the girls’ side, senior Lauren Buck (shot put, discus), sophomore Autumn Heath (100-meter, 200-meter dash) and junior Celeste Bronson (300-meter hurdles) will be competing at this week’s state meet. Both Buck and Heath were selected to the all-GMC first team in those same events. Bronson, on the other hand, was part of the 400-meter team with Heath, junior Kendra Thomas and sophomore Kellsa Mbah that was selected all-GMC second team.

Heath, Thomas, Mbah and senior Ariana Cooper were also part of the 800-meter relay team that was selected to the all-GMC first team. Mbah was also selected all-GMC second team for the long jump and honorable mention for the 200-meter dash. Thomas was given honorable mention recognition for the pole vault.

Meanwhile, the only athlete from the Lakota girls’ team to be honored was senior Amanda Shelby, who was honorable mention in the 3200-meter run.

In addition to the teams, Buck was named GMC co-athlete of the year and Lakota East’s John Lindeman was named GMC coach of the year.

Posted in: Sports, Spring sports |

Tags: Tags: 2012 Ohio High School Athletic Association State Track Championship, Amanda Shelby, Ariana Cooper, Autumn Heath, Celeste Bronson, Jerome Hamilton, John Lindeman, Kellsa Mbah, Kendra Thomas, Lakota East, Lakota East Sports, Lakota East track, Lakota West, Lakota West sports, Lakota West track, Lauren Buck, Nathan Haynes, Nick McGill, Reid Beck, Will Clevidence, Will Wilson

Lakota East's Autumn Heath competes at the regional track meet at Welcome Stadium in Dayton. Heath qualified to compete in two events at the state meet. Photo taken by Tony Tribble.

Sophomore Autumn Heath and senior Lauren Buck, both of Lakota East, qualified to compete in two events at this weekend’s 2012 Ohio High School Athletic Association State Track Championship in Columbus.

Both athletes qualified due to strong performances at last week’s regional tournament at Welcome Stadium in Dayton.

Heath won the 200-meter dash and finished second in the 100-meter dash at the regional meet, while Buck finished second in both the discus throw and shot put events.

Also from Lakota East, junior Celeste Bronson qualified for the state meet with her third place finish in the 300-meter hurdles. As a team, the Lakota East girls finished fourth behind Withrow, Princeton and Mason.

Meanwhile, senior Nathan Haynes and junior Will Wilson each qualified to compete at the state meet. Both athletes will represent Lakota West.

Haynes finished fourth in the 800-meter run and Wilson placed in a two-way tie for third in the high jump.

The state tournament will take place at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium at Ohio State University in Columbus this Friday and Saturday, June 1-2.

Posted in: Sports, Spring sports |

Tags: Tags: 2012 Ohio High School Athletic Association State Track Championship, Autumn Heath, Celeste Bronson, Lakota East, Lakota East Sports, Lakota East track, Lauren Buck, Nathan Haynes, Will Wilson

Kevin Goheen reports

Kellsa Mbah came into this track and field season wanting to branch out into new events. The Lakota East sophomore is finding her way pretty well through the first two meets of the season.

Mbah won the 200 meters and long jump as well as anchored the winning 400 and 800 meter relay teams to help lead the Thunderhawks to an overall girls’ team championship Thursday at the Fairfield Invitational.

Lakota East got wins in eight events and finished with 132 points, topping the field of 12 teams. Host Fairfield was the runner-up with 106.5 points.

Mbah was joined by sophomore Autumn Heath (100, 400 relay, 800 relay), junior Kendra Thomas (400 relay, 800 relay), junior Celeste Bronson (300 hurdles, 800 relay) and senior Lauren Buck (shot put, discus throw) as multiple event winners for Lakota East.

Until last Saturday at the LaSalle Legends meet, Mbah had never done the long jump. She won that competition with a leap of 17 feet, 10.75 inches. She won Thursday’s meet by jumping 16-10.25 after she had completed her other three events.

“I want to be more versatile,” said Mbah. “I’m exploring more options and trying to do more than just run. I’m a bit faster this year and trained harder over the winter to be ready to do this.

“I’m extremely happy with how this season has started. I couldn’t ask for anything more.”

La Salle won the boys’ title with 135 points, besting second-place Oak Hills by eight points. The Lancers, last season’s Division I state champions, had seven event winners while Oak Hills had five.

Sophomore Tim Bell won the 100 meters and high jump events while also running on the victorious 800 meter relay team. Bell was third in the long jump. (more…)

Posted in: Sports, Spring sports |

Tags: Tags: Autumn Heath, Celeste Bronson, Kellsa Mbah, Kellsa Mbah Lakota East, Kendra Thomas, Lakota East, Lakota East Sports, Lakota East track, Lauren Buck

The Rotary Club of West Chester/Liberty is searching for candidates to attend the 2012 District Rotary Youth Leadership Awards Camp at Camp Kern in Oregonia, Ohio, April 20-22.

Sara Straight Wolf, local Rotary Club Committee Chair, said that participants would be selected from students in their sophomore and junior years of high school who have exhibited leadership abilities in school, church, extracurricular or community activities.

Last spring, Lauren Buck and Tyler Phillips (photo) of Lakota East High School were selected to attend RYLA.

The Rotary Club is in the process of contacting churches, schools, youth organizations, and other sources for nominations.

Aimed at developing the leadership qualities of young people, the camp will feature many challenging activities, including speakers, discussions, sports, music, and fun. Topics will focus on decision making, critical thinking, communicating effectively, public service, problem solving and career development.

For more information, contact Sara Straight Wolf by emailing ssw@corsbassett.com or by calling 513-852-8230.

Locally, the Rotary Club of West Chester/Liberty awards $7,000 in college scholarships annually to high school seniors in the Lakota Schools and awards grants to other charitable organizations including such organizations as Reach Out Lakota, NAMI and the EDGE Teen Center.

The Rotary Club also supports students in attending the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards camp, Camp Enterprise, and offers a job-shadowing program for seniors at Lakota East High School and Lakota West High School.

Posted in: Events, News, Schools, Student achievements |

Tags: Tags: Lakota East, Lakota West, Lauren Buck, Rotary Club Liberty Township, Rotary Club of West Chester/Liberty, Rotary Club West Chester, Sara Straight Wolf, Tyler Phillips

Lakota East High School recently announced the senior class homecoming court. Pictured above from left-to-right are Lauren Buck, Jen Shafer, Ashley Adams, Francesca Reynaert, Cara Binder and Natasha Reinhart in the first row; and Michael Dudley, Max DeZarn, Drew Souders, Ivan Thomas, Dwight Hu and Michael Ricke in the second row.

The homecoming football game will be against Mason, Sept. 30 at 7:30 p.m. Prior to the game, the school will have a special presentation for the homecoming court and will announce the king and queen at 7 p.m.

The homecoming dance will take place Oct. 1 in Lakota East High School’s gymnasium from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. Lakota East students, grades 10-12 are invited to attend. If students want to bring a guest from a different school, a guest form must be completed and presented when purchasing tickets.

For tickets to the dance or the game, contact the high school at 513-755-7211.

Posted in: Schools, Student achievements |

Tags: Tags: Ashley Adams, Cara Binder, Drew Souders, Dwight Hu, Francesca Reynaert, homecoming court, Ivan Thomas, Jen Shafer, Lakota East, Lakota East High School, Lakota East Homecoming, Lauren Buck, Max DeZarn, Michael Dudley, Michael Ricke, Natasha Reinhart

The Greater Miami Conference recently honored its student athletes by releasing its all-conference teams. Yesterday, June 8, the baseball and softball All-GMC teams were posted on WestChesterBuzz.com. In total, Lakota had 45 athletes named to all-conference teams this spring sports season.

Overall, it was a very successful spring sports season for the Lakota school district. In baseball, Lakota East won the GMC and the state championship. Lakota East also won a GMC title in softball, while Lakota West shared the GMC title with Oak Hills in boys’ volleyball.

In boys’ tennis, Lakota East junior Zack Mueck (photo) was named the GMC Boys’ Tennis Athlete of the Year. Mueck’s teammate’s Freddy Abunku, who will continue his career at Xavier University, was named to the All-GMC First Team. Lakota West senior Aaron Madaris and Lakota East senior Akash Unakantha were both named to the All-GMC Second Team. Also, Lakota West sophomore Nick Lang was named to the All-GMC Third Team.

In boys’ volleyball, Lakota East senior Wesley Meyer was named the GMC Boys’ Volleyball Athlete of the Year. Lakota West senior Rio Onuki, Lakota West junior Alex Vohland and Lakota East junior Michael Ricke were all named to the All-GMC First Team. Meanwhile, Lakota West junior Alex Baker and Lakota East senior Anthony Fiorenza were named to the All-GMC Second Team. (more…)

Posted in: Sports, Spring sports |

Tags: Tags: Aaron Madaris, Akash Unakantha, Alex Baker, Alex Vohland, Anthony Fiorenza, Arianna Cooper, Autumn Heath, boys' tennis, boys' volleyball, Brady Holmer, Caitlin Graska, Freddy Abunku, Ian Trau, J.J. Weber, Kellsa Mbah, Kendra Thomas, Lakota East, Lakota East Sports, Lakota West, Lakota West sports, Lauren Buck, Madeline Eroskey, Maria Brafford, Michael Ricke, Nathan Haynes, Nick Lang, Reid Becker, Rio Onuki, Taylor Avery, tennis, track, volleyball, Wesley Meyer, Will Clevidence, Will Wilson, Zack Mmueck

Three student athletes from the Lakota school district competed at the OHSAA Division I championship track and field meet this past weekend June 3-4 at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium at Ohio State University.

Lakota West junior Nathan Haynes led all local students with his sixth-place finish in the 800-meter run. Haynes finished with a time of 1:54.81, which was just under three seconds off the state champions time.

Haynes qualified for the state meet by finishing third in the 800 meters at the Division I regional meet at University of Dayton’s Welcome Stadium.

Also, qualifying at the regional meet was Lakota East junior Lauren Buck (finished fourth in the shot put at the regional meet) and Lakota East freshman Autumn Heath (finished second in the 100 meters at the regional meet).

At the state meet, Buck finished 14th in the girls’ shot put and Heath finished 14th in the preliminaries in the 100-meter dash.

Posted in: Sports, Spring sports |

Tags: Tags: Autumn Heath, Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium, Lakota East, Lakota East Sports, Lakota West, Lakota West sports, Lauren Buck, Nathan Haynes, Nathaniel Haynes, OHSAA Division I championship track and field meet, state meet, track

The Lakota West baseball team saw its postseason run end with a 5-3 loss to Grove City in the Division I regional semifinal at Dublin Coffman High School on Friday, May 27.

Lakota West only managed to register two hits and committed three errors in the loss.

“We just didn’t get it done,” Lakota West head coach Bill Dreisbach told Cincinnati.com. “I think more breaks went against us than for us today.”

The Firebirds advanced to the regional final after winning four postseason games en route to a district title. Three of those wins were against teams – Anderson (No. 4 seed), Mason (No. 7 seed) and Glen Este (No. 5 seed) – who were each favored to defeat the eighth-seeded Lakota West squad.

Lakota West finishes the season with a 17-12 overall record and a 9-9 record within the Greater Miami Conference.

Tennis – Mueck advances in state tournament – Lakota East No. 1 singles player junior Zach Mueck won both of his matches at the Division I state singles tournament at Hillard Davidson High School on Friday. Mueck defeated Shaker Heights senior Tommy Marx by the score of 6-1, 6-1 in the first round before defeating Dublin Coffman junior Hiromi Nakayama in the second round by the score of 6-2, 6-1. Meanwhile, Lakota East teammate and Xavier University commit senior Freddy Abunku lost his first round match at the state tournament losing to Lodi Cloverleaf freshman Jacob Dunbar by the score of 7-6 (7-5), 6-1. The state semifinals and finals are scheduled to take place this morning, May 28.

Track – Division I regional meet – The top four finishers in each category at the Division I regional meet at University of Dayton’s Welcome Stadium on Friday automatically qualified to compete in the state competition, which will be held at Ohio State University’s Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium June 3-4. Three of Lakota’s athletes did just that; Lakota West junior Nathan Haynes finished third in the boys’ 800 meters, Lakota East junior Lauren Buck finished fourth in the shot put and Lakota East freshman Autumn Heath finished second in the girls’ 100 meters. Other top Lakota performers include Lakota West senior J.J. Webber, who finished fifth in the 1600 meters, Lakota West sophomore Hannah Womack, who finished sixth in the girls’ high jump and Lakota West sophomore Will Wilson, who finished seventh in the boys’ high jump.

Posted in: Sports, Spring sports |

Tags: Tags: Autumn Heath, baseball, Bill Dreisbach, Freddy Abunku, Hannah Womack, J.J. Webber, Lakota East, Lakota East Sports, Lakota West, Lakota West sports, Lauren Buck, Nathan Haynes, Nathaniel Haynes, regional meet, regional semifinal, regional semifinals, state tournament, tennis, track, Will Wilson, William Wilson, Zach Mueck

While both the Lakota East and Lakota West baseball teams postponed their games yesterday, April 12, the Lakota East softball team was able to get its game in and defeated Hamilton by the score of 6-1.

Senior pitcher Sara Pearson improved her record to 9-1 and struck out 11 in the win. So far this season, Pearson has struck out 101 batters in 56 innings and has an ERA of 0.38.

At the plate, senior Kelly Hardison hit her fourth home run of the season. Currently, she leads the Greater Miami Conference in home runs and runs batted in (18). Junior Ainsley Ellison, who leads the team with a .536 batting average, went for 2-for-3 on Tuesday.

The win improves Lakota East’s overall record to 11-1 and its conference record to 6-1 this season. This afternoon, Lakota East will host Sycamore (1-7 overall, 1-6 in the GMC) at 4:30 p.m. before visiting first-place Fairfield (7-0 overall, 7-0 in the GMC) on Thursday at 4:30 p.m.

Tennis – Lakota East def. Oak Hills – The Thunderhawks won their fourth consecutive match by defeating Oak Hills by the score of 5-0 on Tuesday. Lakota East’s top singles players junior Zach Mueck and senior Freddie Abunku both won their matches 6-0, 6-0. This afternoon, Lakota East (7-1 overall, 6-1 in the GMC) will host Milford at 3 p.m. before hosting Lakota West (5-2 overall, 3-1 in the GMC) this Thursday at 4 p.m.

Tennis – Sycamore def. Lakota West – Sycamore remained perfect within the GMC when it defeated Lakota West on Tuesday by the score of 5-0. The Firebirds had won its first five matches of the spring season, but has already lost twice this week. Lakota West will visit Centerville this afternoon at 4 p.m. before visiting rival Lakota East on Thursday.

Track – Lakota East wins two events – The Lakota East boys’ track squad placed ninth and the girls’ team finished fourth in the Vince Mercure Colerain Invitational on Tuesday. Sophomore Jordan Combs finished first in the pole vault and junior Lauren Buck finished first in the discus.

Volleyball – Lakota West def. Princeton - Lakota West remained perfect within the GMC when it defeated Princeton by the score of 25-7, 25-18, 25-17 on Tuesday. Junior Alex Vohland, who had 10 kills and eight aces, led the Firebirds. Senior Rio Onuki added six kills for Lakota West, which improves to 4-3 overall and 4-0 within the GMC. The Firebirds will host Centerville this evening at 7 p.m.

Volleyball – Lakota East def. Fairfield - Like Lakota West, Lakota East hasn’t lost a conference game this season. The Thunderhawks improved to 9-3 overall and 3-0 in the conference when they defeated Fairfield by the score of 27-29, 25-16, 25-18, 25-16. Senior Wesley Meyer, who recorded 30 kills, led Lakota East. The Thunderhawks will visit Fairmont this evening at 7 p.m.

Posted in: Sports, Spring sports |

Tags: Tags: Ainsley Ellison, Alex Vohland, boys' tennis, boys' volleyball, Freddie Abunku, Freddy Abunku, Jordan Combs, Kelly Hardison, Lakota East, Lakota East Sports, Lakota West, Lakota West sports, Lauren Buck, Rio Onuki, Sara Pearson, softball, tennis, track, volleyball, Wesley Meyer, Zach Mueck