HS notebook: Stan Joplin to coach at Southview

Tiffin Carnival run for 49th time with area runners shining

9/13/2017

Stan Joplin is back as a head basketball coach, this time returning to the court in somewhat of an emergency situation at Southview.

Joplin, 60, the former University of Toledo player and Rockets head coach, will add to his duties as an assistant principal with Sylvania Schools by taking the boys varsity basketball post for the Cougars.

That position was recently vacated by longtime college assistant coach Bob Simon, who had accepted the Southview job during the summer, but has since resigned to take a college post.

“Bob Simon has resigned from his teaching and head boys basketball coaching position at Southview High School to accept a position as an assistant coach at the University of Maine,” Southview athletic director Jim Huss said in a release. “After careful consideration of available candidates, the immediacy of our timeline, and the team’s exceptional skill set, Mr. Kasey Vens [Southview principal] and I have appointed Stan Joplin as the head boys basketball coach. This decision is pending [Sylvania Schools] board approval.”

Joplin coached the UT men for 12 seasons (1996-2008), posting a 203-155 record, including a Mid-American Conference regular-season championship in 2006-07.

He declined comment on the Southview position until he is approved by the school board.

Joplin, who coached Start for one season (1981-82), returned to the high school level for four seasons at Springfield (2011-15), building the Blue Devils’ program back to a Northern Lakes League championship level in 2013-14, when they shared the league title with Perrysburg. Springfield improved each season under Joplin, going 4-17, 15-8, 16-6 and 17-6, and reached the Division I district semifinals the final two years (2014 and 2015).

Simon had been hired to succeed Bruce Smith, who resigned in April. Simon was associate head coach last season at the University of Alabama.

CROSS COUNTRY: The Tiffin Carnival, nation’s second largest in-season high school cross country meet, was held for the 49th time last Saturday at Hedges-Boyer Park in Tiffin, and several area runners placed in the top 10 in the various divisional races for boys and girls.

In the Division I-A boys meet, Whitmer’s Nate Cousino and Jacob Harris led the Panthers to a seventh-place team finish, the best for area teams.

Cousino, a senior, won the I-A individual title, covering the 5,000-meter course in 15 minutes, 33 seconds. Harris, a junior, ran a 15:52.5 for sixth place overall.

The only other area runner to place in the top 10 of the I-A race was Bowling Green senior Zach Applegate, who was third in 15:39.7.

Cincinnati St. Xavier won the boys I-A team title. Perrysburg was ninth.

In the girls’ top event, the I-A race, Bedford was the top local team finisher with 133 points, Notre Dame was seventh at 211, and Northview was ninth at 269. Medina Highland won the girls I-A team crown with 109 points.

Individually, four area runners finish within the top 13 spots, including two sets of twin sisters from Toledo teams.

Bowsher seniors Megan Burmeister (19:06.2) and Mandy Burmeister (19:38.7) placed seventh and 13th, respectively, and Notre Dame juniors Emily Vining (19:22.4) and Madeline Vining (19:37.9) were ninth and 12th, respectively.

The boys Division I-B race was won by St. Xavier’s B-team with 38 points, with St. Francis de Sales taking third (99), and Findlay fifth (182).

Individually in I-B, Findlay senior Jordan Halliday finished first in 16:34.7, Rogers senior Mohamed Faqi was second in 16:36.0, and St. Francis junior Andy Schuster was fourth (16:47.2).

In I-B girls, Media won the team title with 66 points, Bowling Green was eighth (252), and Findlay was 10th (290).

The top area placers in girls I-B were Fremont Ross sophomore McKela Elder (second, 20:02.6), Southview freshman Mackenzie Perry (fifth, 20:23.5), and Whitmer sophomore Megan Good (ninth, 20:36.2).

The boys Division II race was won by Chardon Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin, and the only top-10 finisher from the area was Wauseon senior Kyle Vernot, who was sixth in 16:04.0.

Lexington won the girls Division II-A race, and the only area placer was Napoleon senior Sydney Niekamp, who was fifth in 19:17.3.

The girls Division II-B race, Shaker Heights Hathaway Brown was the team champion, and Oak Harbor finished seventh, led by the fourth-place individual finisher, sophomore Hope Sievert (20:12.0). Otsego sophomore Kylie Brinkman was ninth in 20:42.5.

In boys Division III-A, East Canton was the team winner, and Liberty Center was fourth., led by senior Cameron Stark (fourth, 15:52.0). Patrick Henry senior Nathan Bostelman was fifth (15:57.7).

Sandusky St, Mary won the boys Division III-B race, Gibsonburg was third, McComb eighth, and Holgate 10th.

The only area individual in the III-B race was McComb’s Jacob Rider (fourth, 17:21.0).

And, in Division III girls, Minster was the team champion, and no area runners finished in the top 10.

FOOTBALL: With league play beginning in most area league on Friday, it’s time to rate the area’s best nonleague efforts.

Tied for first are the Three Rivers Athletic Conference and the Northern Buckeye Conference, whose eight teams each combined to post a 16-8 record in the nonleague portion of their schedules.

This stat, seemingly unimportant once league matchups begin, can prove crucial later on when teams are vying to qualify for the state playoffs.

In the computer rankings for postseason play, only the top eight teams in each region make the playoff field in the state’s seven divisions, which each have four regions.

Teams receive computer points not only for each victory they record, but also add on second-level points for the wins recorded by each beaten opponent.

Thus, teams near the top of each league typically benefit significantly from the teams in its league combing to post a solid nonleague record.

Conversely, teams near the top of a league’s standings which play in a league that posts a poor combined nonleague record tend to have a more difficult time earning enough points to secure playoff berths.

After the TRAC and NBC, the Northwest Ohio Athletic League was next at 15-9, the Northern Lakes League was at 13-11, the Toledo Area Athletic Conference was a subpar 9-18, and the City League is a woeful 1-17. Start’s 34-13 win over Swanton in Week-2 is the only victory to date for a CL team. The other six City teams are all 0-3 heading into Friday’s slate of games.

Contact Steve Junga at sjunga@theblade.com, 419-724-6461, or on Twitter @JungaBlade.