Barr reflects on ‘Cats’ first season in the SBC

Press Sports Editor
sports@presspublications.com

In a number of ways, Woodmore’s first fall season in the Sandusky Bay Conference River Division was about what you might expect.
The Wildcats, competing against schools with similar enrollment -- which was not the case when Woodmore was in the Northern Buckeye Conference -- had its share of ups and downs competing against the likes of Gibsonburg, Lakota and Hopewell-Loudon, among others. In football, for example, the Wildcats had to face other challenges when competing against schools such as Margaretta and Willard, who, for all of the other sports, compete in the Bay Division, which includes the medium-sized schools of the SBC.
Logistically, it’s been a seamless transition for the school and the athletic department.
“We’ve been welcomed with open arms by everyone in the league. I have no complaints, from that standpoint. It’s been an easy transition,” said Woodmore athletic director Steve Barr. “I think a lot of that should be credited to my colleagues. They’ve helped me out greatly. I’ve had a million questions. It’s been a pretty smooth transition, an easy transition. For the most part, I think everybody feels like we are where we should be from a competition standpoint. We’ve had successes, not-so-great successes, but that’s the way it’s going to be no matter what league we’re in.”
The girls cross country team, coached by Lacy Seamans, won the River Division, led by all-league performers in Emma Hammer and Mallory Meggit. The girls soccer team, led by its coach, Jeff Helmke, as well as standout forward Kelsey Kaylor, finished second in the SBC at 13-5-1 overall and 7-1-1 in the league — which had no divisions for the sport — before losing 3-2 in overtime in a Division III district final to Eastwood.
“Our cross country team just continued to do what it’s been doing. We were very successful in the NBC, and it carried over. I don’t know that they did anything they hadn’t done in previous years,” said Barr. “I don’t think there were any surprises there.
“We expected the girls soccer team to do well, too. It’s a little different, a little bit bigger of a conference. We were playing some pretty big schools, but in cross country, we stayed in our division. In girls soccer, there were 11 schools (in the SBC), and we were playing some pretty big schools. Both of those programs just kept doing what they’ve been doing.”
There are still plenty of very good teams in the River Division, Barr said.
“Tiffin Calvert was the state runner-up in volleyball, H-L made it to the regional final in football, Calvert is good in football,” said Barr. “You’re going to have to be competitive and have a little luck and keep improving to try and win a league title, even though it might look to most people like kind of a move down. We’re a little more comfortable, a little more even from an enrollment standpoint.”
The football, boys cross country, volleyball and the boys and girls golf teams all finished in the middle of the pack in the River Division.
The Wildcat football team went just 2-8 and 1-6 in the division but showed some signs of promise. Two of Woodmore’s closest losses — Montpelier (9-7) and Willard (35-30) — were by a combined seven points, and six of their opponents made the playoffs. The record of the four best opponents — North Central, Montpelier, Calvert and Hopewell-Loudon — was 36-9 (.800).
Throughout the season, players Michael Seeger, Jack Caldwell, Izaiah Wilson and Landon Rich came up with big performances, but for the most part, the Wildcats struggled to put it all together.
Recently, three Woodmore seniors signed their national letters of intent (NLI) to continue their athletic careers in college: Azure Travis (track and field) at Marshall University; Caydie Buchanan (soccer) at Tiffin University; and Emma Hammer (cross country) at the University of Findlay.