Girls tennis and golfers advance in tournaments
Gracie and Kami Milano of Aurora High School advanced to this week's Division I district girls tennis championships at Springside Athletic Club.
The duo went 4-1 at the sectional tournament last week at Solon High School. They won three matches during the first day of competition, losing only 10 sets and sweeping all three opponents.
They defeated Libbery Warren and Leela Manne of Cleveland Heights, 6-2, 6-0, in the first round, then dispatched Hallie Phillips and Ashley Vanplet of Madison, 6-0, 6-3, in the second round.
That put Gracie and Kami in the quarterfinals, where they defeated the No. 4 seeds Gigi Raguz and Molly Decker of Mayfield, 6-4, 6-1.
On Saturday, Gracie and Kami took on the No. 1 seed from Solon, Lindsay Lebowitz and Elyssa Schwartz, and defeated them in a thrilling three-set match, 6-2, 3-6, 6-2.
That put the Aurora girls in the championship match against the No. 3 seeds, also from Solon, Olivia Liu and Isabella Liu. Aurora lost the match, 6-2, 6-2, but their second-place finish advanced them to this week's district championships.
The tournament opens at 9 a.m. Thursday at Springside Athletic Club. The brackets weren't posted at deadline.
Boys Golf
The Aurora boys golf team competed in the Division I sectional tournament at Windmill Lakes Golf Club on Oct. 3.
The Greenmen finished in sixth place in the team standings, but junior Max Devins qualified to this week's district tournament as an individual.
Devins shot a 79 at Windmill Lakes to advance to the Div. I district tournament at Pine Lakes Golf Club in Hinckley on Monday. Results of the tournament weren't available at deadline.
Also playing for Aurora at the sectional tournament were seniors Charlie Hesse (81) and Jude Abbass (87), junior Ethan Slagle (91) and sophomore Carson Joy (81).
Girls Golf
Aurora's girls golf team finished in second place at the Division I sectional tournament at Old Avalon Golf Club in Warren on Oct. 3 and qualified to the district tournament.
That event will be played Thursday, Oct. 13, at Brookledge Golf Club in Cuyahoga Falls.
Sophomores Gracyn Vidovic and Manisha Girn led the way for the Greenmen with both players shooting 80s. Junior Nina Newkirk and senior Cameron Custer both shot 90s and Meena Kraus, a sophomore, fired a 94.
Hathaway Brown won the team title with a score of 312, while Aurora was runner-up with 340.
Thursday's district tournament will tee off at 9 a.m.
Cross Country
The Aurora cross country teams competed at the Stow Invitational on Saturday, Oct. 8.
The Greenmen girls finished as runner-up with 51 points, just behind champion Stow, which scored 44.
Senior Grace Barto led Aurora with a second-place finish, crossing the line in 19 minutes, 51.79 seconds. Jayla Atkinson of Stow won the race in 19:03.08.
Also for the Greenmen, Sydney Langell was eighth in 21:04.66, Isabella Circero was 12th in 21:18.99, Samantha Bucalo was 14th in 21:34.19 and Eva Logan was 15th in 21:40.70. Brooke Palian (22:46.34) and Lily Brainard (22:47.92) finished 36ht and 37th, respectively.
Aurora's boys finished in third place with 71 points. Hudson (58) edged Stow (59) for the team championship.
Robert Will turned in a third-place run for the Greenmen, finishing in 16:13.01, about 24 seconds behind race winner Dylan Wood of Copley.
Also for Aurora, Thomas Ploskunak (17:02.47) was eighth, Zachary Ploskunak (17:09.67) was 11th, Connor Flynn (17:30.04) was 22nd; Zachary Best (17:38.37) was 27th, Zachary Zabell (17:59.97) was 39th and Nathan Eminian (18:04.73) was 42nd.
Boys Soccer
Aurora fell to Medina Highland 2-1 in a Suburban League match on Oct. 4.
Jordan West scored for the Greenmen on an assist by Will Guzy in the second half. Nathan Balkisson made 10 saves for Aurora (3-8-1).
On Oct. 3, Aurora defeated Barberton 5-0.
Nate Just, Parker Seitz, Will Guzy, Felipe Machaolo and Mason Ganzhorn all scored goals, with assists by Guzy and Alex Savukas. The Greenmen outshot Barberton 22-5 and Nathan Balkisson made one save.
Volleyball
Aurora swept Kent Roosevelt on Oct. 4. The Greenmen won 25-13, 25-7 and 25-11 to improve their record to 12-6 overall and 8-3-0 in the Suburban League.
Ollie Salgado had 3 aces and 31 assists for Aurora, while Brooke Gecina finished with three aces and 13 kills. Mia Devine turned in 13 blocks and Emerson Spiesz made six digs.
This article originally appeared on Record-Courier: Aurora Greenmen high school sports roundup
