Paul
Heyse | The Chronicle-Telegram
WESTLAKE — If the
Westlake girls track team was feeling a little down about its luck this season,
the doubt was boldly cast aside Saturday afternoon at Lou Duchez Field.
The Westlake girls captured their second straight title at the 43rd annual
Westlake Relays. They rang up eight firsts in 16 events, including the last
four of the meet. Westlake outscored Strongsville 40-26 over the last four
events en route to a
123-108 win over the Mustangs in an eight-team field.
“We came through,” said Westlake girls coach Duane Miller. “When you win a meet
with an event schedule like this one, everyone contributes. Strongsville kicked
our butts earlier in the year. We’ve improved, but so have they. It was a good
meet for us.”
The Hudson boys team also won its second straight at Westlake, outdistancing
North Olmsted, 120-93. Last year, the Explorers defeated the Eagles by a point.
Westlake sophomore Megan Davis earned the Larry Nickel Outstanding Athlete
Award for the girls meet.
She won the 400 (1:00.7) and was a member of the winning 800-meter (1:48.7),
1,600-meter (4:13.3) and 3,200-meter (10:07.5) relays.
“I knew the meet was close, but we didn’t know how close for most of the day,”
said Davis. “I had a great day, but I care more about my team than my
individual goals. The competition was tough, but we stuck it through the whole
meet. It was nice beating Strongsville after they beat us in a tri-meet earlier
in the season.”
Westlake amassed two of its eight wins in field events. The discus relay of
junior Bridget McNeill, junior Emily Stephenson and sophomore Jenna Daghstani
won by nearly 39 feet with a combined distance of 311-7. A 2007 Division I
state qualifier, McNeill had the best individual toss with 124-8. She fouled
what was believed to be a 140-footer.
“It was a tough day keeping my throws inbounds,” said McNeill. “I was releasing
too early. I fouled three out of four throws. I was satisfied with the one I
got because it helped my team get first in discus.”
Junior Jordan Hoppel and sophomore Josh Price led the North Olmsted boys.
Hoppel won the 100 meters (10.9) and anchored the winning 400 relay (43.6).
Price was a member of the winning shuttle hurdles, long jump and high jump
relays.
“My starts are a whole lot better this year,” said Hoppel. “My start today was
probably my best of the season. I felt comfortable. I got out and reacted very
well.”
Elyria senior Torri Miller made up for some disappointment last weekend by
winning the girls 100 meters (12.6). Miller was disqualified last Saturday for
a false start at Wooster.
“It was a difficult race at the beginning,” said Miller. “I was very slow out
of the blocks, but my training from indoor track pulled me back into the race.
I reacted very slow to the gun, so I knew I had to pick it up.”
Avon senior Dan Smith broke Brian Holowecky’s 1985 school record (4:25.25) with
a third-place finish in the 1,600 (4:23.9). It was a personal record by six
seconds.
“I’m very surprised by this kind of time drop,” said Smith. “I wasn’t expecting
something like this before districts. I’m way ahead of pace.”
Contact Paul Heyse at 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com.
Boys
Team standings
1. Hudson (H), 120; 2. North Olmsted (NO), 93; 3. Strongsville (S), 83; 4.
Westlake (W), 72; 5. Avon (A), 61; 6. Avon Lake (AL), 50; 7. Elyria (E), 10; 8.
Garfield Heights (GH), 6
Individual results
100 meters: 1. Jordan Hoppel (NO), 10.9; 2. Bryant Robertson (A), 11.3; 3.
Davis (H), 11.4; 4. Kevin Zacharyasz (S), 11.6; 5. Dave Weisbarth (W), 11.7; 6.
Jeff Tell (AL), 11.8
400: 1. Kendall Gregory (S), 49.0; 2. Steve Fisher (H), 51.7; 3. Mike Mansnerus
(AL), 52.5; 4. Tom Shroka (NO), 53.1; 5. Hamed Abu Hamden (W), 53.1; 6. Matt
Kaczmarek (A), 54.6
1,600: 1. Alex Nye (H), 4:19.7; 2. Colby Alexander (S), 4:22.1; 3. Dan Smith (A),
4:23.9; 4. Jack St. Marie (W), 4:52.2; 5. Josh Allen (NO), 5:00.0; 6. Aaron
Grimm (E), 5:04.8
3,200: 1. Tyler Saunders (H), 9:46.5; 2. St. Marie (W), 10:10.4; 3. Andy
Ventura (A), 10:37.5; 4. Neal Brodnik (S), 10:41.0; 5. James Zurke (NO),
10:51.9; 6. Josh Taylor (E), 10:56.4
110 hurdles: 1. Bosman (H), 15.5; 2. Scott Bechtel (Westlake), 15.9. No names
given 3rd, 4th and 5th - 3. (Avon), 16.1; 4. (NO), 16.2; 5. (Garfield Heights),
16.6
400 relay: 1. North Olmsted (Keith Troyer, Pat Tomko, Corey Molnar, Hoppel),
43.6; 2. Hudson, 44.1; 3. Avon Lake, 44.4; 4. Strongsville, 44.7; 5. Elyria,
44.9; 6. Westlake, 45.2
800 relay: 1. Hudson (Dan Frost, Tony Davis, Steve Fischer, Ryan Bosman),
1:31.7; 2. Strongsville, 1:31.7; 3. North Olmsted, 1:32.7; 4. Westlake, 1:35.0;
5. Avon Lake, 1:35.3; 6. Avon, 1:36.8
1,600 relay: 1. Strongsville (Mike Masteller, Aaron Moran, Ryan Oblak, Derek
Halladay), 3:25.6; 2. Hudson, 3:26.5; 3. North Olmsted, 3:36.7; 4. Westlake,
3:39.0; 5. Avon Lake, 3:41.0; 6. Avon, 3:44.7
3,200 relay: 1. Strongsville (Mark Warman, Brad DeFauw, Alexander, Joey
Cherico), 8:06.0 (MEET RECORD, old record 8:09.8 set in 1993 by Bay); 2.
Hudson, 8:10.0; 3. Avon Lake, 8:34.8; 4. Westlake, 8:37.9; 5. North Olmsted,
8:39.8; 6. Avon, 8:55.5
6,400 relay: 1. Hudson (Matt Woods, Mark McConnell, Nick Kelly, Alex Erdmann),
18:16.6; 2. Strongsville, 18:19.4; 3. North Olmsted, 19:38.9; 4. Avon, 20:09.9;
5. Westlake, 20:24.9; 6. Avon Lake, 20:39.6
Shuttle hurdles: 1. North Olmsted (Zach Rybarczyk, Josh Price, Alex Ramos, Cory
Molnar), 1:03.9; 2. Hudson, 1:04.9; 3. Avon, 1:09.5; 4. Avon Lake, 1:09.7; 5.
Westlake, 1:11.7; 6. Garfield Heights, 1:15.4
Shot put: 1. Westlake (Luke Ranta, Ferris Sarrouh, Steve Maat), 131-01/2; 2.
Avon Lake, 125-51/4; 3. Avon, 120-71/4; 4. Hudson, 119-7; 5. Strongsville,
118-3; 6. North Olmsted, 110-6 1/4. INDIVIDUAL BEST: Sean McCann (Avon Lake),
46-21/2
Discus: 1. Westlake (Maat, Chris Katsaros, Elyas Chbeir), 402-0; 2. Avon,
381-0; 3. Avon Lake, 380-0; 4. Hudson, 353-11; 5. Garfield Heights, 312-1; 6.
Strongsville, 310-7. INDIVIDUAL BEST: Alex Bushong (Avon), 162-5
High jump: 1. North Olmsted (Chris Arlinghaus, Price, Pat Tomko), 17-7; 2.
Strongsville, 17-6; 3. Avon Lake, 17-6; 4. Hudson, 17-0; 5. Avon, 16-10; 6.
Westlake, 16-0. INDIVIDUAL BEST: Arlinghaus, 6-4
Long jump: 1. North Olmsted (Price, Rodney Dukes, Bryan Kasberg), 58-113/4; 2.
Hudson, 55-73/4; 3. Elyria, 55-61/4; 4. Avon, 54-4; 5. Westlake, 53-6; 6.
Garfield Heights, 50-81/4. INDIVIDUAL BEST: Price, 21-1
Pole vault: 1. North Olmsted (Griffin Beach, John Piazza, Nate Wiles), 34-0; 2.
Westlake, 33-3; 3. Strongsville, 30-0; 4. Hudson, 28-6; 5. Avon Lake, 11-6; 6.
Avon, 11-0. INDIVIDUAL BEST: Scott Bechtel (Westlake), 13-3
Larry Nickel Outstanding Athlete Award: Gregory (S)
Girls
Team standings
1. Westlake, 123; 2. Strongsville, 108; 3. North Olmsted, 74; 4. Avon, 55; 5.
Elyria, 47; 6. Avon Lake, 45; 7. Admiral King (AK), 22; 8. Garfield Heights, 20
Individual results
100 meters: 1. Torri Miller (E), 12.6; 2. India Prince (GH), 12.8; 3. Hanna
Dixon (W), 12.8; 4. Megan Drews (NO), 12.8; 5. Christi Bolinger (AK), 12.9; 6.
Lyndsay Corrigan (S), 13.0
400: 1. Megan Davis (W), 1:00.7; 2. Kelsey Hayas (AL), 1:02.9; 3. Kara Gut
(NO), 1:03.3; 4. Danielle Husak (S), 1:03.8; 5. Mallory Balmert (A), 1:04.8; 6.
Taylor Deskins (GH), 1:08.3
1,600: 1. Alyssa Moran (S), 5:23.6; 2. Miranda Weed (AL), 5:31.0; 3. Andria
Bazilevich (NO), 5:32.8; 4. Erin Schneider (A), 5:34.7; 5. Jessica Sykes (E),
5:39.9; 6. Maddie Jenkins (W), 6:11.1
3,200: 1. Melissa Leonard (S), 11:51.0; 2. Lauren Ledek (W), 12:10.7; 3. Alyssa
Molnar (AL), 12:18.25; 4. Philly Dixon (NO), 12:44.1; 5. Morgan Schaffer (A),
12:59.3; 6. Marisa Ilievaska (E), 13:04.2
100 hurdles: 1. Jessica Gardenhire (S), 16.5; 2. Alex James (W), 16.7; 3. Mary
Mullins (A), 16.7; 4. Stephanie Heim (NO), 16.9; 5. Katy Newton (E), 17.8; 6.
Michelle Bortini (AL), 18.9
400 relay: 1. Admiral King (Sheral Robinson, Jasmine Garcia, Tiara Ammons,
Bolinger), 50.7; 2. Elyria, 50.9; 3. Garfield Heights, 51.1; 4. Elyria, 51.4; 5.
Avon, 53.2; 6. North Olmsted, 53.2
800 relay: 1. Westlake (Dixon, Liz Stark, Natalie Bechtel, Davis), 1:48.7; 2.
Strongsville, 1:49.4; 3. Avon, 1:51.4; 4. Garfield Heights, 1:51.9; 5. Elyria,
1:52.6; 6. North Olmsted, 1:54.4
1,600 relay: 1. Westlake (Bechtel, Beth Moroney, Liz Stark, Megan Davis),
4:13.3; 2. North Olmsted, 4:14.9; 3. Avon, 4:15.2; 4. Strongsville, 4:23.5; 5.
Avon Lake, 4:34.9; 6. Garfield Heights, 4:55.7
3,200 relay: 1. Westlake (Ledek, Julia Fulton, Davis, Megan Dunlap), 10:07.5;
2. Avon, 10:10.8; 3. Strongsville, 10:16.9; 4. Avon Lake, 10:27.6; 5. North
Olmsted, 10:30.0; 6. Elyria, 10:58.8
6,400 relay: 1. Westlake (Dunlap, Maeve Goode, Jen Tomasch, Alesha Beverly),
22:44.6; 2. North Olmsted, 23:10.2; 3. Strongsville, 23:23.6; 4. Avon Lake,
23:33.5; 5. Avon, 23:36.8
Shuttle hurdles: 1. Westlake (Lauryn Smith, Shelly Koski, Heather Smith,
James), 1:06.7; 2. Strongsville, 1:10.2; 3. Avon, 1:11.6; 4. North Olmsted,
1:12.7; 5. Elyria, 1:14.3
Shot put: 1. North Olmsted (Christine Kanis, Amanda Taylor, Carla Bittner),
96-71/2; 2. Strongsville, 92-93/4; 3. Westlake, 91-9; 4. Elyria, 90-0; 5. Avon,
85-31/2; 6. Avon Lake, 75-21/2. INDIVIDUAL BEST: Christina Herbst (Avon),
36-01/2
Discus: 1. Westlake (Bridget McNeill, Emily Stephenson, Jenna Daghstani),
311-7; 2. North Olmsted, 272-8; 3. Avon, 248-3; 4. Elyria, 236-6; 5. Avon Lake,
235-6; 6. Strongsville, 1765-2. INDIVIDUAL BEST: McNeill, 124-8
High jump: 1. Strongsville (Anna Casella, Loren Thomas, Kristen Toth), 14-6; 2.
Westlake, 14-5; 3. Admiral King, 14-0; 4. Elyria, 13-9; 5. North Olmsted, 13-6;
6. Avon, 9-0. INDIVIDUAL BEST: Amelia Serrat (Westlake), 5-2
Long jump: 1. Westlake (James, Dixon, Julie Wang), 47-2; 2. Strongsville,
46-21/4; 3. Elyria, 43-10; 4. Admiral King, 40-93/4; 5. North Olmsted, 39-9
1/2; 6. Avon Lake, 37-91/4. INDIVIDUAL BEST: James, 16-111/4
Pole vault: 1. Strongsville (Casella, Bevin Blake, Jen Greenham), 26-6; 2. Avon
Lake, 26-0; 3. Westlake, 17-0; 4. North Olmsted, 10-0; 5. Avon, 7-0; 6. Elyria,
7-0. INDIVIDUAL BEST: Tiffany Platko (North Olmsted), 10-0
Larry Nickel Outstanding Athlete Award: Davis (W)