With August inching to its midpoint, the summer days get hotter, shorter and begin to wind down as back-to-school ads play on television screens.
All these things point to the fact summer is effectively over.
What’s just beginning for hundreds of high school athletes around the four-county area this morning is the official start of practices, conditioning and two-a-days for football, soccer, volleyball, cross country, golf and tennis teams.
The Owls and Lady Owls of Bradford High will have their eyes set on improvement from what could easily be described as a successful fall season last year.
Jeff Puglio’s gridiron men struggled at times with inexperience and injuries in its first season playing in the Allegheny Mountain League, but finished strong in its last game over Warren, a victory. The Owls return 12 letterwinners from last year’s 4-6 team.
Also on the turf, Wes Lohrman and Dennis Morrisroe, respectively, led their boys and girls soccer teams to District 9 Class AAA semifinal playoff appearances last year.
Steve Burgess, heading into his second year leading the Lady Owls volleyball squad, brings back height and talent from last year’s playoff team. On the links, junior Hunter Fox returns to Travis Faulkner’s golf team after being the clubhouse leader at last year’s D-9 Class AAA championships, while girls coach Judy Abbey returns sophomore Elyse Godding, who finished 10th at the PIAA Western Regional after winning the District 5/9 individual title.
Rhett Kennedy’s girls tennis squad struggled with inexperience a year ago, but have now have a season’s worth of play under its collective belt.
Finally, four state qualifiers –– Vinnie Bizzarro, Cade Hayden, Logan Caruso and Andrew Kraft –– return to Tom Tessena’s boys cross country team that narrowly lost in its bid to repeat as district champions. On the girls’ side, senior Amanda Little leads the returners having qualified for the state meet last year for coach Mark Kelley.
The fall sports storylines extend beyond Bradford –– Kane High (football), Elk Catholic (boys cross country), Coudersport (volleyball) and Ridgway (golf) are among some of the top-tier teams that will be regulars atop the sports section after having strong 2016 campaigns.
Kane, the three-time defending D-9 champs, returns its top quarterback, running back and wide receiver from last year’s 13-1 team that advanced to the Class AA state quarterfinals.
The Wolves, having won 20 straight regular season games, figure to be the preseason favorites in D-9.
Elk Catholic, the D-9 boys champs in Class A cross country, placed second as a team at the state championships, while Smethport (boys) and Northern Potter (girls) return top finishers from last year. The North Tier League showed its muscle in volleyball a year ago, with Otto-Eldred running through league play undefeated, while Coudersport completed a Cinderella-like finish to win districts and advance all the way to the PIAA semifinals.
Both should be contenders again this year, as will many other area teams, like Port Allegany in boys soccer and Ridgway in boys golf and girls soccer.
Practices will soon give way to scrimmages and games as another year of high school sports gets underway.
Oh, what a wonderful time of the year!
