The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Lake Catholic hires new girls basketball coach
Michael Pecjak, a 1986 graduate of Lake Catholic, has been hired as the Cougars’ girls basketball coach. Pecjak previously coached boys basketball at St. Gabriel.
There was a buzz around the hallways of Lake Catholic on April 19, with the school set to announce its new girls basketball coach later in the day.
“Is it who we hope it is?” was a common line as girls filtered into the gymnasium.
When Michael Pecjak walked around the corner, the players in attendance applauded loudly.
Pecjak, 50, has been announced as Lake Catholic’s new girls basketball coach, taking over for Lori Suttell, who stepped down following the 2017-18 season.
Pecjak is no stranger to Lake Catholic. A 1986 alum, Pecjak has been coaching the eighth grade boys basketball team at St. Gabriel’s for the past 16 years. He also helped out last year as an addition to Suttell’s staff.
“I’m very excited,” Pecjak said. “It’s great to be here. I’m a graduate of Lake. There’s a lot of excitement to get things going here.”
Pecjak is in the process of formulating his high school staff, but hopes to have that solidified in the coming weeks.
He is not a teacher, but rather is part of a family business in Mentor. He said he wants to hit the ground running.
“There’s some work to be done,” he said. “The biggest thing is to get out there and be visible. I have deep ties with CYO in Lake County. We want to keep those kids interested in basketball and get them to come to Lake.”
Pecjak has three children in the Lake Catholic school system: John (a senior), Katie (a junior) and Sophia (eighth grade).
Gilmour signing day
A dozen student-athletes at Gilmour signed letters of intent to play sport on the college level. The group includes:
• Dylan Henry (track and field at Villanova)
• Ava Thomas (track and field at Yale)
• Kelly Cingel (hockey, Miami, Ohio)
• McKena Gehner (hockey, Midland University)
• Dechlan Kirincic (basketball, Marian University)
• Logan Wright (baseball, Walsh University)
• Lucia Cannata (track and field, John Carroll)
• Chase Filicko (volleyball, Mount Union)
• Erin O’Connell (volleyball, Capital) • Ben Foltz (golf, Wooster) • Morgan Tefft (ice hockey, Norwich University)
• Gabrielle Venne (hockey, Hamilton College)
Additionally, Daniel Menges signed a tender to the North American Hockey League, where he will play for the Coulee Region Chill.
Culotta signs
Gabby Culotta, a senior at Andrews Osborne, signed a letter of intent to play college basketball at Allegheny College.
Rayner to Mount Union
Justin Rayner, a senior at Chagrin Falls, has accepted an offer to continue his athletic and academic career at Mount Union.
Rayner was a first team all-CVC performer this year. He was a four-year letterwinner at Chagrin in wrestling, and also ran cross country.
Rayner plans a major in Criminal Justice at Mount Union.
Summer duals at Madison
The second annual Madison Summer Duals (wrestling) will be held June 1516 at Madison High School.
The field will be open to the first 15 teams. Each team’s fee is $250. There will be three pools of five teams apiece. Each team is guaranteed five matches.
For more information, email Coach Andrew Tomaso at Andrew.Tomaso@ madisonschools.net.