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www.columbusmessenger.com<br />
<strong>June</strong> 13, <strong>2021</strong> - GROVEPORT MESSENGER - PAGE 5<br />
Cruisers’ athletics fared well during the pandemic<br />
By Rick Palsgrove<br />
<strong>Groveport</strong> Editor<br />
The <strong>Groveport</strong> Madison Cruiser athletic<br />
program has weathered the past year’s<br />
coronavirus pandemic and its accompanying<br />
restrictions.<br />
“I thought our athletic teams fared very<br />
well during the pandemic,” said <strong>Groveport</strong><br />
Madison Schools Athletic Director Steve<br />
Petros. “Our overall numbers were down in<br />
a lot of our sports, but we definitely competed<br />
very well.”<br />
Petros said the coaches’ and kids’<br />
morale remained high and everyone did<br />
what they had to do.<br />
“I can’t say enough about the great job<br />
our coaches did following the pandemic<br />
protocols and doing everything that was<br />
asked of them so we could move forward,”<br />
said Petros. “We also had great leadership<br />
from Superintendent Garilee Ogden,<br />
Deputy Superintendent Jamie Grube and<br />
(high school principal) Paul Smathers.<br />
They provided us with everything we needed.”<br />
He said the sports that suffered the<br />
most were the spring sports in 2020 since<br />
they actually lost a season.<br />
“Overall, I felt all of our sports handled<br />
the restrictions very well,” said Petros.<br />
He said dealing with the pandemic and<br />
its restrictions resulted in him having the<br />
most stressful time he has had in his nine<br />
year career as an athletic director at<br />
<strong>Groveport</strong> Madison.<br />
“August and September were pretty<br />
rough,” said Petros. “The only stress that<br />
compares was having a football field that<br />
was a pile of dirt with the opening kick off<br />
10 days away. I look back at it fondly but<br />
hope to never have that kind of stress<br />
again. We sure hope that things are back to<br />
normal when the fall season comes. Time<br />
will tell, but we are always waiting for<br />
information from the health department<br />
<strong>Messenger</strong> photo by Pat Donahue<br />
<strong>Groveport</strong> Madison Cruiser senior running<br />
back Jalil Underdown outruns<br />
would be Westland tacklers on his way to<br />
another long touchdown run in a varsity<br />
football game played last August.<br />
and the state leadership.”<br />
During Petros’ tenure as athletic director<br />
the Cruisers have won a football title, a<br />
boys soccer title, a cheer title, three<br />
wrestling titles, three softball championships.<br />
“We have seen the baseball team beat<br />
the number one team in the state and football<br />
beat the state champion,” said Petros.<br />
“We have seen our boys basketball team in<br />
the district finals. Bowling has competed at<br />
states as has individuals in wrestling and<br />
track. We also started the Cruiser Athletic<br />
Our Pictorial Past by Rick Palsgrove<br />
Hall of Fame. We are very proud to have<br />
started that in our list of achievements in<br />
the athletic department.”<br />
He said Cruiser athletes and coaches<br />
excel well beyond the playing field.<br />
“We helped pass a levy when athletics<br />
were on the line because our coaches and<br />
athletes hit the streets and worked hard to<br />
pass it to save our sports,” said Petros. “I’m<br />
very proud to see our coaches work together<br />
to give our kids a great experience. It is<br />
unbelievable to me to see how hard our<br />
coaches have also helped our kids in the<br />
classroom. A lot of our kids have achieved<br />
higher than they even expected. I wouldn’t<br />
leave <strong>Groveport</strong> Madison for any job in the<br />
state. Watching our coaches grow into leaders<br />
and watching so many of our kids grow,<br />
mature, and be really good in the classroom<br />
and playing field never gets old.”<br />
Petros said he has been a part of several<br />
athletic programs in the past, but he would<br />
not trade his <strong>Groveport</strong> Madison experience<br />
for anything.<br />
“We have had unbelievable achievements<br />
on and off the playing field,” said<br />
Petros. “From winning league titles in programs<br />
that have never won a title or<br />
haven’t for decades, to passing a levy, and<br />
building a new school. I have experienced<br />
more highs and lows in this job than all<br />
jobs combined. It has been a great experience.”<br />
<strong>Messenger</strong> photo by Pat Donahue<br />
<strong>Groveport</strong> Madison’s Jennifer Perez<br />
squares off for the ball in a girls varsity<br />
soccer game last September.<br />
West Main Street<br />
Photo courtesy of the <strong>Groveport</strong> Heritage Museum<br />
This is believed to be a 1908 photo of <strong>Groveport</strong>’s west Main Street looking east. A<br />
few scattered homes lined the western limits of Main Street at that time. Note the<br />
high grass along the dirt street that gives the area a rural feel.
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