Salem wins boys, girls state titles

The last school to win both titles in the same year was Hilliard Davidson in Div. I in 2002.
By JOE SCALZO
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
COLUMBUS -- The Salem girls were screaming, Patrick Gorby was smiling, Mike Overholser was crying and Mike Downs -- well, he was just in a daze.
"This is the greatest day of my life," Downs said. "Seriously."
Seconds after the Salem boys team shocked the state by winning its second straight Division II title -- and an hour after the Quaker girls won their first state title -- the Quaker boys gathered in a huddle and shouted, "Nobody beats Salem at the state meet!"
Not this year, anyway.
Under the radar
"We knew rank-wise, we were underdogs," said Salem senior Deirdre Clary. "But nothing was going to stop us today."
Salem's girls entered the meet as the state's second-ranked team behind unanimous No. 1 Kettering Alter. But there was no doubt which team was better Saturday.
"We did everything we normally do," Clary said. "We had faith in the team, we had faith in our training and we had faith in our coaches."
Freshman Alexis Thorne and Clary finished 15th and 16th, respectively, as the Quakers showed that a team doesn't need one great runner so long as it has a lot of really good ones.
"It makes the race five times easier," said sophomore Sarah Yerkey, who finished 35th. "It's so much better when you're running for someone other than yourself."
Coach Mary Wilson emphasized that the Quakers treated Saturday's meet the same as any other this season, preparing the same way, focusing the same way and running the same way.
Business as usual
"You don't change what you do just because it's a big meet," she said. "We didn't have to prepare for the state meet because we've been preparing for it all year."
Salem's boys team, on the other hand, struggled all season with injuries, inconsistency and the pressure of trying to repeat as state champions. Woodridge, last week's regional champions, entered the race as the favorites, but the Quakers saved their best race for last.
"The whole season, we never had a good race until today," said coach Rick Wilson, who was an assistant on last year's team. "Champions aren't the ones who never get knocked down. We got knocked down this year.
"But we're the champs."
"It was so much tougher this year," added Overholser. "We had injuries, the teams were better and the whole field was better. But this was our whole goal all year."
Salem won its fifth boys title, tying Maplewood, McDonald, Akron North and Cincinnati Elder for second-most all-time. Caldwell holds the record with nine.
Team dream
"Everyone had the same dream," Gorby said. "For the same dream to come true is the greatest thing that could have happened."
Salem is the first boys team to win back-to-back titles in Div. II since Bay Village Bay did it in 1991-92. The last school to win boys and girls titles in the same year was Hilliard Davidson, which won both in Div. I in 2002.
"Our girls motivate us," Rick Wilson said. "But we didn't want to be second place. We didn't want to have to help the girls take back the first place trophy. We wanted them to have to carry it themselves."
No problem. The girls were happy to do it.
"Right now, we're just going to enjoy the moment," Mary Wilson said. "There's probably going to be a lot of screaming, some crying and a lot of hugs.
"It's going to be a high-energy ride home, I'm sure."