Bon app tit, Boardman

By Joe Scalzo

Spartan pride and food drive school’s three top throwers

111So what’s their secret weapon?

Friendly competition? Maybe.

Competitive drive? A good thing.

Love of the sport? That helps.

Food? Ah, now we’re getting somewhere.

“We run a very loose ship around here,” said Coach Ed Lewis at a recent practice. “There’s not a lot of rigidity. They’re motivated more by food than by throwing.

“You throw a hot dog out here and watch what happens.”

It’s always been that way. Every year, around this time, Lewis stops over at Jay’s Famous Hot Dogs and brings a bunch to practice. At the end of the season, the team doesn’t have a banquet — it has a picnic, complete with a couple hundred hot dogs and more than 150 pieces of Kentucky Fried Chicken.

“And all the fixin’s that go with it,” Lewis said, smiling. “You bring that and these kids are happier than the dickens.”

It’s not a new phenomenon. About five years ago, Boardman throwers Evan Beard and Steve Vallos held cookouts at meets, earning the nickname “The Grillers.” Senior Evan Klepec and juniors Corey Linsley and Alex Lipinsky have continued that tradition. All are good students and coachable athletes, Lewis said, but the eloquence disappears when it comes to food.

“Yeah, we like food around here,” Klepec said.

“We like to eat,” added Linsley. “It’s a good deal. Eating’s a good deal.”

OK, so now that it’s been established that they like to eat, so what? Well, to be good throwers, you’ve got to be strong. To build muscle, you’ve got to eat. It’s a theory that works — as long as you’re still a teenager.

Klepec, who will play football at Miami (Ohio) next fall, was an all-Ohioan in the discus last season, finishing seventh.

Linsley, an Ohio State football recruit, finished 12th in the discus at last year’s state meet and has one of the best throws in Ohio in the shot put this season at 58 feet, 1 inch.

Lipinsky isn’t quite Klepec’s equal in the discus or Linsley’s equal in the shot put, but he’d easily be the best thrower at most schools in the area.

“It’s definitely a privilege to have teammates like that,” Klepec said. “You always have a safety net. You know if you don’t perform as well at a meet as you’d like to, you’ve got two other guys who can do just as well as you or exceed you.”

It also helps during practices, Lewis said.

“Tremendously,” he said. “Many times, if you’ve got a good kid he’s throwing really far by himself and he’s got no one to practice against. It’s really hard to grow.

“These young men are all here pushing each other. They’re trying to out-do their buddies every day.”

Lewis, a former thrower and quarter-miler at Struthers, is one of the best throwing coaches in the area, having coached seven all-Ohioans since 1996.

“Ed Lewis is a treasure to Boardman High School and to the track and field community,” Spartans head coach Dave Pavlansky said. “He’s a great technician and the kids love him — and love working with him.”

Lewis keeps things loose — he’ll usually let his athletes leave a meet when they’re done and he’s not likely to over-coach during competition — and, as has been noted, he’s more than willing to use food as motivation.

But the trio finds other ways to push themselves, whether it’s teammates (each thrower can first at any given meet), high expectations (Linsley knows that as a former state qualifier, he’s got to bring his best to each meet) or siblings (Lipinsky’s work ethic and love for the sport grew from watching his step-brother, Mark, compete in the hurdles a few years ago).

“That’s really how I got interested in track,” said Lipinsky, whose older brother often competed against future Ohio State football players Ted Ginn Jr. and Brian Hartline. “Mark taught me a lot about determination and perseverance. It made me want to be really good and watching him compete against those top-level guys showed me how to do it.”

Linsley, incidentally, often gets ribbed about being a media darling due to his Ohio State commitment, but he seems more eager to talk about his teammates than himself.

“We’re all good buds,” said Linsley, who will focus solely on the shot put this season. “It’s obviously a motivator that week-in and week-out you’ve got somebody who’s on your tail, but we joke around with each other and we push each other without getting overanxious or overexcited.

“There’s no bad side to it.”

Boardman competes in the state’s toughest regional, which will make it difficult for all three to make it to Columbus. Klepec has a little more pressure since this is his last year of high school — he’d like to throw in college, but he’s not sure his schedule will allow it — but there’s more at stake than a spot on the podium.

“I’m not really in it for the glory or anything,” Klepec said. “What motivates me is having fun. I had a lot of fun hanging out with Corey and the coaches last year. and being in Columbus. It’s a great city.

“I’d love to get back.”

scalzo@vindy.com