Off the Reels

Welcome back to the Spring Edition of Off the Reels! This week, I am featuring an athlete of both the fall and spring seasons. Keep reading to learn more about one of Springboro’s best runners. Meet Springboro High School Cross Country & Track Runner Keegan Freyhof…  Track story: Keegan started competing in track and cross country as a seventh grader, and he hasn’t looked back since. The two primary reasons he joined the teams are because he loves running and because much of his family runs. In his words, “I’ve got some pretty fast cousins to look up to.” Since then, Keegan has definitely made a name for himself in the cross country and track programs at SHS. In the cross country 5K, Keegan’s best time this past season was 16:22. His PR mile time for track is 4:25. He set this time against Miamisburg early in his junior season and ran a 4:29.6 mile in GWOC where he placed fourth. He also holds the SHS school record in the 2K steeplechase with a time of 6:39.  Track versus ...

Welcome back to the Spring Edition of Off the Reels! This week, I am featuring a recent graduate of Springboro High School and a four year varsity player for the Panthers Softball team.  Meet Springboro High School Softball Shortstop Lizzy Davies… Softball story: Lizzy just wrapped up her fourth year on the Varsity Softball team. This season, she played shortstop, at which she started 23 of 24 games. Lizzy concluded her final high school season with an on base percentage of 0.200 and the second most stolen bases on the team. But how did she get here? When Lizzy was seven years old, her parents signed her up for a recreational league, but she lost interest. Later, Lizzy and her father were watching college softball on TV, and this fueled her interest in the sport again. Before long, she was back out on the diamond. What softball has taught Lizzy: In successes, failures, practices, and everything in between, there are always lessons that sports teaches us. This was no different for L...

Welcome back to the fifth week of the Spring Edition of Off the Reels! This week, I interviewed Sutton Case, Captain of the SHS Girls Lacrosse team.  Meet Springboro High School Lacrosse Captain Sutton Case… Lacrosse story: Sutton started playing lacrosse in first grade. She said, “I basically grew up with a lacrosse stick in my hand.” She told me that she also played soccer and basketball, but they paled in comparison to lacrosse. Sutton’s older brother, Titan, also started playing lacrosse in first grade and routinely asked her to practice with him. At first, she couldn’t keep up, but she wanted to be better than him, so this was her inspiration to start playing. Now it is eleven years later, and Sutton just wrapped up her junior season as a midfielder and Captain on the lacrosse team where she scored 46 goals with 16 assists and 89 draw controls and won First Team All Region and Most Valuable Player! Lessons from Lacrosse: One of the most valuable things about sports is how the...

Welcome back to the Spring Edition of Off the Reels! This week, I interviewed one of Springboro’s best from the diamond.  Meet Springboro High School Baseball Outfielder (and recent graduate) Ian Pennington… Baseball Story: Ian started playing baseball as soon as he was old enough to pick up a bat. His dad introduced him to baseball, basketball, and football, but baseball ended up being his favorite and was the sport he chose to keep playing. He played for the Panthers for his entire high school career, playing any positions in the outfield including his favorite position: Centerfield.  Ian’s favorite pro baseball team: Ian’s favorite professional team is our hometown team: the Cincinnati Reds! Pro player Ian looks up to: Growing up in southwest Ohio as a Reds fan and a baseball player meant that Ian went to a lot of Reds games through the years. One of his favorite players to watch is Joey Votto. Ian really admired Votto’s game and said, “his approach at the plate is somethin...

Welcome back to the Spring Edition of Off the Reels! This week, I interviewed another track and field athlete who made a big impact in just one year with the Panthers. Meet Springboro High School's Track & Field Athlete (and recent graduate) Jordan Espinoza... Track story: Jordan’s story on the track started in first grade when she competed for fun in the Junior Olympics at her elementary school. She beat all of the boys in her class. With this early win, she wanted to continue competing in track to see how far it would take her. During her middle school years, Jordan met more serious competition, traveling to other schools for meets. This was when she really fell in love with track and field. Jordan moved to Springboro from California just before her senior year. This season, she competed in the 100m, 200m, long jump, triple jump, and occasionally relays and the 400m for the Panthers.  Jordan’s track accomplishments: Jordan placed fourth in the long jump in the Greater Western...

Welcome back to the Spring Edition of Off the Reels! This week, I interviewed an athlete from one of my favorite sports...TENNIS! Meet Springboro High School’s Second Singles Tennis Player Shreyas Kode… Tennis story: Shreyas started playing tennis when he was eight years old. Many friends and family members played, so he was inspired to pick up a racket. And this was also around the time that he started seriously following professional tennis. For about three years, he learned the game and played for fun. When he was eleven, he started playing tournaments.  Shreyas’s pre-match rituals: Before every match, Shreyas does what probably any athlete does: he stretches and warms up. But more specific to Shreyas and tennis, he re-grips his racket before every match.  Shreyas on losing his freshman season to COVID: Shreyas lost his first high school tennis season to the pandemic. The season had barely begun; the Panthers found out that their season was cancelled on the last day of tryo...

Welcome to the Spring Edition of Off the Reels! For the next several weeks, I will be featuring athletes from spring sports at Springboro High School, including Track and Field, Tennis, Baseball, and Lacrosse. Let's kick off the spring sports with track and one of the best runners at SHS! Meet Springboro’s Track and Field Team Captain Morgan Berardi… Morgan runs the 100 meter, 200 meter, 4 x 100, and 4 x 200. Her personal record of 12.72 seconds sets her at fifth place in the Greater Western Ohio Conference for the 100 meter. She is fourth place in the Greater Western Ohio Conference (GWOC) for the 200 meter with a personal record of 26.6 seconds.  Track story:  After competing in gymnastics for five years, Morgan started running track when she was in eighth grade. She picked up track because she was craving something different, and her mom ran track. Morgan quickly became a top athlete on the track team. She was named Rookie MVP her freshman year, she earned the title of Spr...

The Panthers wrapped up the 2020-2021 season on Saturday night with a loss in the state tournament against Bishop Watterson. Boro played tough through the end. The Panthers faced some tough opponents and even tougher obstacles this season, including injuries and COVID scheduling challenges; however, they stuck it out, played a full season despite the pandemic, and gave it their all on the ice. Congratulations to the Panthers on a great season! To finish off the season, I sat down with junior AJ DeRosa to talk about everything hockey. Meet #5 AJ DeRosa… Hockey story: Hockey is a huge part of AJ’s life; he started skating almost as soon as he could walk, and he was playing hockey at the age of four. Hockey runs in the DeRosa family blood — AJ attributes his inspiration to play to his father who has played or coached for his entire life, and both of AJ’s older brothers played hockey. AJ started playing for the Dayton Bombers, which later became part of the Dayton Stealth. He often played ...