Howland grad to head Hiram's soccer program

HIRAM -- Carl Capellas of Lakewood, a native of Warren and a graduate of Howland High who comes from a prominent Howland soccer family, has been named men's soccer coach at Hiram College, announced Tom Mulligan, director of athletics and exercise-sport science.
Capellas, a former Marshall University and professional soccer player who has amassed a wide variety of soccer experience as a player, coach and clinician, becomes the 10th men's soccer coach at Hiram in the program's 44-year history.
He succeeds Dan Palmer, who resigned three weeks ago to become the Case Western Reserve University soccer coach.
Coincidentally, Capellas came to Hiram from Case Western Reserve, where he was an assistant soccer coach last season under Mike Pilger, who formerly coached the Cleveland Force. Both men were with CWR for only one season, Pilger leaving to become the Trinity College coach.
Soccer family
Capellas' family soccer roots in Howland run deep. His father, George, started the Howland High boys soccer program in 1980, and ran the program for about 20 years. George also coached Carl, who was a four-year starter before graduating in 1993.
Carl's brother, Jim, preceded him as a four-year starter for Howland under their father, and went on to play for Walsh University before transferring to Ohio State from where he graduated. Jim now lives in Cleveland and still plays amateur soccer.
Their mother, formerly Susan Capellas and now Susan King, served as the Howland High girls soccer coach for eight years, and coached her daughter, Mary Capellas, who was a four-year starter for the Tigers.
Susan is a teacher while Mary is now a professional dancer for The Rockettes in New York City.
Carl said his father, who lives in Warren, is coming out of retirement this year to coach the Harding High girls soccer team.
Has clinic in Howland
Capellas also has conducted his own youth soccer clinics since the mid-1990s in Howland that he calls the Howland Soccer Clinics. This year's clinic will be held July 26-30 at Howland Township Park, and he will be assisted by Otto Orf, a player for the Cleveland Force.
Capellas also coached youth teams for the GFS Premier Soccer Club in Brimfield for the past four years, leading the team to a No. 1 state ranking and winning coach-of-the-year honors on multiple occasions. He also played for the club's adult teams.
In 1998, Capellas coached the St. Joseph's High School (Huntington, W. Va.) boys soccer team to a 20-1-1 record, a No. 1 ranking and a state runner-up finish in 1998. He also has coached club teams in West Virginia.
Marshall standout
A four-year starter at Division I Marshall University, Capellas was a two-time captain for the Thundering Herd. He also was an Academic All-American candidate and the school's Student-Athlete of the Year in 1997.
After graduating from Marshall in 1997 with a bachelor's degree in political science and Spanish, Capellas played professional soccer in the United States and Greece for two seasons.
Then he returned to Marshall to work as a graduate assistant with the soccer programs (1998-2000). While completing his master's degree in public administration, Capellas worked with Marshall's men's and women's soccer teams.
Groselle wins 5 gold medals
HIRAM -- Jack Groselle of Hiram, the Hiram College swimming and diving coach the past 13 years, continues to excel as a swimmer.
Groselle, 50, a former national swimming champion for Hiram in his college days, won five gold medals in the 50-54 age division at the 2004 Federation of International Athletics Master's Swim Meet held in Riccione, Italy. And he set world records in two of his triumphs.
For achieving a gold-medal sweep in his five events, he wound up as one of the top performers in the seven-day event that attracted more than 8,000 participants.
Groselle began the week by breaking the world record in the 100 freestyle in a time of 55.48 seconds, smashing the previous mark of 56.44. After a day off, he set another world record in winning the 100 breaststroke (1:11.49).
Then he followed that with wins in the 50 breaststroke (32.20), 200 freestyle (2:05.89), and 50 freestyle (24.89).
kovach@vindy.com