Boardman tennis looks to improve in Federal League

The Spartans’ girls team was fifth last year under coach Melanie Olsen.

By ERIC HAMILTON

VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT

UNIONTOWN — The goal this season for Boardman High girls tennis coach Melanie Olsen is a simple one, yet to achieve it could prove difficult.

After her squad finished fifth in the rugged Federal League in 2006, the second-year coach is hoping for modest progress this fall. Anything better than a fourth-place finish in 2007 would be just a bonus.

“We were fifth last year, so we’re looking to move up to fourth this year,” said Olsen during Wednesday night’s Federal League fall sports Media Day at Lake High School. “We just want to improve our standing and I think we may surprise some of the other teams.”

The other Federal League coaches seem to believe the Spartans will finish near the upper tier of the standings as Boardman was picked fifth (only two points from fourth) in the preseason coaches poll.

Jackson was targeted as the team to beat, getting seven of the eight first-place votes.

Boardman returns a slew of returning letter winners, led by sisters Ann and Carolyn Jesko. Four seniors are back as well and junior transfer Emily Abraham (Canfield) will play for the Spartans.

“Ann and Carolyn played doubles together last year, but they will play singles this season,” said Olsen, whose team was 6-9 overall and 3-4 in the Federal last year. “We have seniors back, too, so we should be better this year. Keys to success are hard work and lots of practice.”

League media day

Girls tennis was one of the nine fall sports highlighted at the second annual Federal League Media Day.

Coaches from each member school attended the event, which included preseason polls, dinner and the opportunity for each coach to talk about their teams. They also took questions from the media.

Jackson was projected to win league titles in four of the nine sports, including boys and girls soccer, girls tennis and girls cross country.

Lake was tabbed as the favorite in volleyball and boys golf. North Canton Hoover is expected to take the boys cross country title while Perry is the favorite in girls golf. Canton McKinley took the top spot in the football poll.

Soccer hopefuls

Both Fitch and Boardman are expected to be in the thick of the Fed title hunt in girls soccer.

The Spartans were projected third (41), one point behind North Canton. The Falcons got one first-place vote and came in at fourth in the poll.

“We had a disappointing season last year,” said Fitch coach Carlo Trafficante, whose squad went 6-10-1 overall and 3-3-1 in the league. “We will have seven seniors, but start four freshman.

“We’ve concentrated on speed and agility this year. We just weren’t getting to the ball first last year and we’re hoping to chance that and compete like we have in the past.”

Golf team picked third

The Boardman boys golf team, led by second-year coach Ron Moschella, is projected to finish third in the league and received three first-place votes.

Moschella retained a roster of 23 golfers and hopes a strong group will emerge.

“I kept them all,” said Moschella, whose team was fourth in 2006. “We have six seniors and many players that were tested last year.

“I wanted to give the young players an opportunity to compete and we’ll see where we are soon.

“We haven’t had many practices, but I’m encouraged by the seniors so far. They’ve been playing for a long time and hopefully we’ll be near the top of the league.”

Boardman was picked to finish near the middle of the pack in boys soccer (fifth), girls cross country (fifth) and boys cross country (fourth).

Fitch was projected to claim sixth in the boys soccer poll.