Valley View's Kasperski earns All-Ohio honors

Frazier’s home run lifts Reds to 5th straight win
10:20 a.m.
Spartans head to regional final
5/24/12
Fenwick’s tourney run ends in regional semis
5/24/12
2 Middie jumpers qualify for state
5/24/12
College baseball: Miami tops Toledo in MAC tourney
5/23/12
> More sports headlines

Staff Report 12:56 AM Sunday, November 8, 2009

COLUMBUS — Valley View High School senior Jake Kasperski saved his best for last.

Running his final high school race, Kasperski earned a spot on the awards podium with a 14th-place finish Saturday, Nov. 7, in the Division II boys race.

“He ran a smart race,” Valley View coach Denny Shepherd said. “He let them out and then pulled them back over the last two miles. His goal was to finish in the top 15 and it’s definitely neat to finish the year reaching that goal. It’s good for the program to have had a runner like Jake. He’s been a great leader.”

Kasperski traversed the 5K course at Scioto Downs racetrack in 16 minutes, 27.96 seconds to earn All-Ohio honors, which is awarded to the top 25 finishers in each race.

“Coach reminded me before the race that this was my last high school race, and I thought about how this was it, I’d never race again,” Kasperski said. “So I bit down and pulled away a little. The two-mile mark is where I made my move. That was a pretty effective strategy.”

Springboro finished second in the D-I girls race behind runaway winner Rocky River Magnificat.

The Panthers were led by Rachael Mahle (11th, 18:48.31) and Carly Hamilton (18th, 19:09.2). Katie Kessler (30th, 19:25.49), Alex Mahle 76th, 20:07.96); Lycia Hollon (84th, 20:11.57), Sarah Smith (111th, 20:56.71) and Heather Baruxes (121st, 21:10.95) rounded out the lineup for the Panthers.

Lebanon’s Grace VanDeGrift finished 93rd in 20:31.58.

“The course was great, I was just super tired today,” she said. “It just wasn’t my best race.”

Share this article