Fulton County Ohio Media

Below is an article I wrote for the Village Reporter in May of 2018 about a young girl, Anastasiya Kravchenko, from Ukraine who was in this country as a foreign exchange student attending Swanton High School. My thoughts and prayers are with her, her family and her country as I watch the horrors being unleashed on the innocent people of Ukraine by the merciless Vladimir Putin and his Russian military killing machine.

Obviously, it is difficult to watch the images of a country being attacked without provocation and to be very concerned about what will happen next to Europe and the rest of the world, including, of course, America. But knowing somebody caught up in this human tragedy makes it even more fearful and personal as well.

Anastasiya Kravchenko – By Bill O’Connell

Her name is Anastasiya Kravchenko, which may sound like a character in a Leo Tolstoy novel, but she is actually a student at Swanton High School, a foreign exchange student to be precise.  Anastasiya is from Ukraine, a country that gained its independence in 1991 after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Her home town is Mykolaiv, a city of approximately 500,000 people located in southern Ukraine, close to the Black Sea, and well known for its ship building industry which began in the 16^th century.  She lives in an apartment with her mother, a cardiologist and her father, a surgeon.

For Anastasiya, voluntarily changing schools before the start of her senior year was not an easy decision.  Choosing to leave her home, her family and friends, her city and even her country to do so made that decision all the more harder and took a lot of courage as well.  And coming to the United States for her final year of high school took more than just filling out an application. 

Anastasiya had to advance through three levels of rigorous testing administered by the International Student Exchange Program (ASSE) and Future Leaders Exchange Program (FLEX) and was awarded a scholarship that funded her travel expenses and well as a monthly stipend of 125 American dollars or 3272 Ukrainian hryvnias.  The programs send students only to America and they assign the student to the state and the school.  Fortunately, these students are taught English beginning in kindergarten and speak it very well when they come over.

While in the United States she was required to work on projects and presentations, complete 50 hours of community service, maintain good grades at her host school and keep up with her studies at her school back home, an arduous task that left very little time for much else.  While here she lived in Monclova with her host parent Kristen Watkins who provided Anastasiya with food, transportation, guidance and sound parental advice as needed.  “One of the stipulations of the scholarship is to learn about American culture and democracy and take them back to their country and teach others how we do things,” explained Ms. Watkins. 

Graduation for Swanton High School is June 3^rd and when Anastasiya returns home, she will be graduating for the second time on June 23^rd.  As is their custom in Ukraine, the “diploma ceremony” will be followed by the prom later in the evening.

At Swanton she was able to find the time to compete on the track team which is not something that would have been available in Ukraine where sports are not included in their extra-curricular activities.  Being on the track team also proved to be a good physical outlet for the academic stress Anastasiya was under and helped with the affects from her love of Little Debbie’s Cakes she quickly developed when she arrived.

Learning and adapting to life in America was like drinking water from a fire hose.  Of course, she had to have American football explained to her.  With soccer being her main frame of reference, she could not understand why everyone would suddenly stop running and then line up and start running again.  She also wondered what the shouting was about coming from some girls (cheerleaders) standing in front of the crowd.

A lot of her belief of what America is all about came from American movies which can be extremely misleading, however, she will have learned a great deal about this country before her nine-month educational visit ends.  Ms. Kravchenko did confess her struggles with an American History class.  “I’m dying in there,” she said.  “I don’t understand the Electoral College at all.”  A lot of Americans would definitely say the same thing.

In a few weeks Anastasiya will make the 5000-mile trip back to Ukraine to finish her home high school career and prepare for college entrance exams.  Like her parents, she is considering a career in medicine but she also has a strong interest in becoming an interpreter and would like to learn French and German.  In her region of Ukraine, Russian is the dominant language so being fluent in both English and Russian could afford her many job opportunities and a chance to travel, which she really wants to do. 

Anastasiya realizes what a great opportunity she was given by spending so much time in America and has obviously enjoyed her time here.  She plans on making a life for herself in her native Ukraine and her experience in America will have an impact on the shape of that life.

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The DIII Sectional Championship game between the Lady Vikings of Evergreen and the Lady Indians of Wauseon, held at Lake High School, was close for first four minutes of the first quarter.  But the scoring duo of Wauseon’s Marissa Seiler and Haley Meyer began to dominate inside on the offensive end.  And, when those opportunities were not there, Indian guards Ellie Rodriguez and Kaden Carroll hit from long range and the game quickly became no contest as Wauseon defeated the Vikings 63-33 to advance to the District Tournament.

Seiler and Meyer each scored 10 points in the first half and Rodriquez and Carroll drained two triples apiece as Wauseon opened leads of 18-10 in the first quarter and 34-15 at halftime.  Seiler added 10 more points and Meyer another six as the advantage ballooned to an unsurmountable 52-25 after three quarters.

Evergreen’s Bekah Bowser scored 11 points in the second half, nine of which came on three-pointers, but it was not enough to keep the Vikings from falling further back until the margin reached 30 points.

Seiler finished with a game-high 23 points for Wauseon.  Meyer scored 16 points, Rodriguez added eight, Carroll and Autumn Pelok had seven each and Kaylin Ersham had two.

Bowser led Evergreen with 15 points.  Addison Ricker scored nine points, Lucy Serna had four, Jessica Riggs and Jocelyn Schuster added two apiece.

Click on the link above to access photos from the game. Photos are in the jpeg format to allow editing and can be downloaded for no charge courtesy of the fultoncountymedia.com website.

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The Archbold Lady Blue Streaks defeated the Lake Lady Flyers 80-63 to capture the DIII Sectional Championship at Southview High School in Sylvania on Saturday afternoon.  It was a highly physical and fast-paced game that, at times, seemed to see bodies bouncing off the floor more often than the basketball.  The two teams combined to commit 47 fouls and were sent to the free throw line 67 times.

“I thought we were very well prepared and I thought we handled their pressure well,” said Archbold coach Brian Ziegler referring to Lake’s full-court defensive pressure they used for the entire game.  “Our plan was to slow it down because we did not want to get into a race with them.  But we kept pushing the pedal to the metal and it worked out for us.”

The 17-point margin at the end of the game was in no way indicative of just how close this contest was.  There were multiple ties and lead changes throughout the first three quarters with Lake leading 17-15 after one and Archbold ahead by one point, 37-36, at halftime.  The third quarter was no different until a pivotal moment occurred towards the end of the frame that swung the momentum in favor of the Streaks and held through the rest of the game.

With Archbold holding a 50-48 advantage, Sophie Rupp drove to the basket and was fouled by Lake’s Brigid Enright.  Enright protested the call was assessed a technical foul.  The end result was two made free throws by both Rupp and Addie Ziegler, the ball out of bounds and a sudden six-point lead for the Streaks, the widest margin of the game at that point.  Archbold then dominated the fourth quarter, outscoring Lake 24-12 with 10 of those points coming from the foul line on 13 attempts.

A major part of the Streaks’ second-half surge was the play of Ziegler who scored 22 points and had a career-high 35 for the game.  “Addie had a phenomenal game.  That’s a game you hope a senior has and steps up when you need it the most,” said Coach Ziegler.  “The girls did a great job finding her for open shots.  She converted inside off some easy looks that Leah (McQuade) and Addie (Moyer) gave her and just held her composure.  A senior needs to keep everyone composed out there and she was the one that did that.”

Ziegler appeared to be in a zone with her shooting, hitting from almost anywhere on the floor including three baskets from behind the arc and converting 12 of 15 free throws.  “We played amazing tonight.  We had all week to prepare.  Unlike other teams we took a bye so we had all week,” she said, preferring to talk about her team’s performance rather than her own.  “We were so well prepared.  We broke down every single play and every single out of bounds.  We knew what they were doing so that really helped us come out with the win.”

In addition to Ziegler’s 35-point explosion, Sophie Rupp scored 16 points.  Leah McQuade added eight points, and Karsyn Hostetler, Addie Moyer and Harley Phillips had seven apiece.

The Lady Blue Streaks will now face the winner of the Wauseon/Evergreen game this Thursday, February 24, at 7:30 p.m. at Anthony Wayne High School.

Pictured:  Addie Ziegler

Click on the link above to access photos from the game. Photos are in the jpeg format and can be downloaded for no charge courtesy of the fultoncountymedia.com website.

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Finishing with a relatively easy 56-31 victory over the visiting Bryan Golden Bears, the Swanton Bulldogs boys’ basketball team captured their 20^th win of the 2021-2022 regular season against just two losses.  The victory also gave the Bulldogs a 7-0 record in the NWOAL and an 11-0 record at home in the Kevin J. McQuade Gymnasium.  Their only two losses came on the road, both by two points.

In the final game, Nic Borojevich led Swanton with 20 points.  Lathan Pawlowicz scored 11 points, Cole Mitchey and Kayden Davis each added nine, Luc Borojevich had four and Hayden Callicotte finished with three.

Pictured:  Seniors Sam Betz, Nic Borojevich and Lathan Pawlowicz exit the final home game of their Bulldog careers.

Click on the link above to access photos from the game. Photos are in the jpeg format to allow for editing and can be downloaded for no charge courtesy of the fultoncountymedia.com website.

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The Swanton Lady Bulldogs fell to the Lake Lady Flyers 64-23 in a Sectional Semi-Final game played at Sylvania Southview High School.

Click on the link above to access photos from the game.

Swanton High School held a celebration last Friday to commemorate the induction of Peter Najarian and Lori Chamberlain Sullivan into their Distinguished Alumni Hall of Fame.  First, there was a luncheon in the school’s Media Center followed by a tour of the high school facilities.  Later that evening, at halftime of the boys’ basketball game against the Archbold Blue Streaks, the two recipients were presented to and honored by the crowd.

Chris Lake, Swanton School’s Superintendent, introduced Mr. Najarian and Ms. Sullivan at the luncheon.  “This is one of my favorite days at Swanton High School, exclaimed Mr. Lake.  “This day really represents where a Swanton education can take you.  It’s here we lay the foundation for future success.  On induction day you can hear and see all the wonderful things the inductees have done.” 

Mr. Lake then read the prepared bios beginning with Peter Najarian.

Mr. Najarian graduated from Swanton High School in 1956. He was class treasurer his freshman year and class president his sophomore, junior and senior year and student council president his senior year. Najarian played football, basketball, baseball and track while at Swanton.

He decided to attend the University of Toledo and graduated in 1960 with a degree in mechanical engineering. In 1961 he started a 40-year career working for General Motors Corporation.

In 1962, Najarian received his master’s in mechanical engineering and was recognized as the Outstanding Graduate Student in all of the graduate school students with straight A’s.  In 1966, he was promoted to General Supervisor of Production and in 1970 he again was promoted to Superintendent of Production.

In 1973, Najarian was again promoted to Department Head of the Industrial Engineering Department. Then in August 1974 he was transferred to the Muncie, Indiana Chevrolet plant for 13 years as the General Superintendent of Production overseeing the activities for 2,000 employees.  In Muncie, he was active in the Chamber of Commerce elected as president and served on the board of directors. Najarian played a significant role in getting a new four-lane highway to connect it to Interstate 69. The road was nicknamed Pete’s Pike for his work on this project for Muncie.

In 1987, he was transferred to the Toledo Powertrain Transmission Plant where he was responsible for 4,000 employees. This plant produced 42,000 transmissions per week.

In June 2000 Najarian retired and enjoys playing golf, doing yard work and traveling with his wife, Donna.

Lori Chamberlain Sullivan’s bio was read next.

Sullivan is a 1987 graduate of Swanton High School. At Swanton she was a varsity cheerleader, class officer, a member the National Honor Society, worked on the Hoop Tree for four years, helped with bloodmobile drives, and ran track.

After graduation, she attended The University of Detroit and received her bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering. She then continued her education and received a Masters of Science in Engineering at Rensselear Polytechnic Institute.

She started to work for General Motors where she was responsible for vehicle mass reduction and fuel economy. While there she started “Lite News” that provided technical communications to 500 employees in various departments.

In 1995, Sullivan moved to product research where she was responsible for design exploration, design direction and brand character for future products. She supervised, trained and developed 10 analysts in market research, analysis and communication techniques.  Sullivan then became brand character manager for the Saturn brand which included design philosophy, brand positioning, and target market analysis.

From 2003-2005, she was Internet and Direct Marketing Manager for the Saturn brand. She planned and executed spending for an annual budget that ranged from $6.5 million to $9 million. 

Then she became the Strategy and Media Planning Manager where she was responsible for overall marketing strategy and development of a media plan, which resulted in a 12% increase in retail share, 20% revenue growth and 20% share increase.  She managed a media budget of $150 million, covering all types of media. She then transferred to Business Planning Manager for General Motors.

In 2009, Sullivan started her own consultant business and has worked for Coke, Hallmark, Visa, Chase, and Kellogg. Her group develops strategies to help the companies grow.

In 2010, she joined the MRM Worldwide where she works on strategic planning and is now their Leadership and General Management Group account director. Sullivan leads a team of more than 200 supporting the General Motors retail and sales marketing client. They have achieved an account revenue growth of 20% over three years.

In her spare time Sullivan enjoys photography, wine charm making and writing blog posts. She is married to Todd and has two children, Sydney and Noah.

Pictured:  Lori Chamberlain Sullivan and Peter Najarian

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Sophomore Macy Chamberlain scored 10 of her game-high 23 points in the fourth quarter as the Evergreen Lady Vikings took control of the game, which had been tight since the opening tip, defeating the Delta Lady Panthers 58-45 in a DIII Sectional Semi-Final girls basketball game played at Sylvania Southview High School.  It was a bounce-back victory for Evergreen after having lost to these same fellow NWOAL foe Panthers, 50-39, just days earlier.

“We knew Kelsey (Delta coach Gillen) and her kids play really hard.  We put in a new offense to counter what they did to us the last time they played us,” explained Viking coach Brittaney Cymbolin.  “But their kids played really hard and we’re really excited that our kids listened and cut to the ball and they ended up getting nice stops at the end.”

Chamberlain opened the Evergreen scoring with a three-pointer, a precursor, as it turned out, of what was to come.  With Delta employing a highly effective shut-down defense on Viking scoring machine, Bekah Bowser, Chamberlain and her teammates had to pick up the slack.  “It was definitely a team effort.  A lot of us stepped up.” said Chamberlain, acknowledging what it took to replace Bowser’s 18 points per game.

“We actually talked about that after the first time we played them,” said Coach Cymbolin.   “Bekah had a 22-point night and I told them in order to win we need you guys, you four, to step up.  And they did.”

The Lady Panthers kept the pressure on the entire contest until about halfway through the final quarter when their shooting went cold and they committed several turnovers while scrambling to get back in the game.  Evergreen held a slim one-point lead after the first quarter at 11-10 and the game was tied at 24 at halftime.  Both offenses were clicking in the third quarter with the Vikes scoring a bit more to take a 41-38 advantage into the fourth.  With Chamberlain running the offense and scoring almost at will, Evergreen outscored Delta 17-7 for the final 13-point margin.

Adding to Chamberlain’s 23 in the scoring column for the Lady Vikings was Lucy Serna with nine points.  Bowser and Jocelyn Schuster had six points each, Lydia Valentine and Addison Ricker scored five points apiece, and Jessica Riggs and Brooke Sintobin each had two.

Delta also placed eight players on the scoring stat sheet led by Sophia Burres with 13 points and Alani Haas with 10.  Khloe Weber had six points, Kate Friess scored five, Kendal Sprow added four, Grace Munger had three and Jersey Irelan and Olivia Smith each had two.

Evergreen moves on to face another NWOAL opponent in the Wauseon Lady Indians on Saturday at 3:00 PM at Sylvania Southview.  Delta’s season is now complete. 

Pictured:  Macy Chamberlain shoots from 12 feet out.

Click on the link above to access photos from the game. Photos are in the jpeg format and can be downloaded for free courtesy of the fultoncountymedia.com website.

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This past Saturday the 2022 NWOAL Bowling Tournament for the girls and boys teams was held at the Swanton Sports center. The Delta Panther bowling program served as the host school and did a great job organizing the tournament and making sure everything ran smoothly. The Liberty Center Lady Tigers took home the girls tournament title and the Bryan Golden Bears captured the boys trophy.

Click on the link above to access photos from the tournament. Photos are in the jpeg format for editing and can be downloaded for no charge courtesy of the fultoncountymedia.com website.

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Swanton’s Drew Smigelski scored four or more points in every quarter and 21 for the game as the Bulldogs slipped past the Archbold Blue Streaks 36-33 in a home boys’ Junior Varsity basketball game. The contest was tight in the first half with the score tied at six after the first quarter and the Streaks holding a one-point lead, 17-16, after the second.

However, in the third quarter, Smigelski knocked down two three-pointers and Keyon Johnson-Couch hit a triple and a deuce as Swanton outscored Archbold 13-4 to lead 29-21 entering the final frame. The Bulldogs maintained the eight-point advantage throughout most of the fourth quarter before the Blue Streaks made a final run but could not get any closer than the three-point final margin.

Smigelski drained four three-point shots as part of his game-high 21 points. Charlie Wood scored eight points, Johnson-Couch added five and Ryan O’Shea had two. Archbold got balanced scoring from Madden Valentine with 10 points, Sonny Phillips with nine, Evan Wendt with seven, Chase Miller with four and Mason Bickel with one.

Pictured: Drew Smigelski about to attempt a free throw.

Click on the link above to access photos from the game.