Clear Fork's Stupka, Shelby's cast, shine at 90th annual Mehock Relays

MANSFIELD — In what has been a hallmark tradition in track and field in not just in Mansfield but throughout the state of Ohio, the annual Mehock Relays had its 90th edition on Saturday.

In a pretty stacked field of 24 schools, East Kentwood took home team titles in both the boys and girls competitions. The boys piled up 110.5 points, while Mansfield Senior came in the third with 59 points. In the top 10 from the Richland County/Ashland area were Shelby in sixth (45), Crestview seventh (38), Ashland tied for eighth (34) and Clear Fork 10th (20).

On the girls side, East Kentwood carried the day with 131 points, which was 31 points more than second-place Colonel Crawford (100), with Shelby placing third (88). Rounding out the top 10 were Ashland in fifth (46), Crestview seventh (22) and Clear Fork ninth (19).

A great moment during the middle of the event was Mansfield Senior coach Tyree Shine being honored for his 47 years of coaching throughout the Mansfield area, with this being his last season.

Now to the good stuff. Here were the major takeaways:

Clear Fork's Joe Stupka stays hot

Clear Fork's Joe Stupka probably came into this track season not on many people's radar in Richland County. Well, he's serving notice this season that he is for real, and he's not slowing down for anyone.

Stupka, started the season off by sweeping the 100, 200 and 400 meters at the Madison Invitational against a pretty good field of sprinters that included Mansfield Senior's Keontez Bradley in the 100 and 200. Last week, he went to Millersburg and swept all three again. Coming into the Mehock Relays on Saturday, the stage was set for him to strut his stuff against some of the best not just in the area but throughout the state.

You can put a check by "Mission Accomplished" for the Colts sprinter.

Stupka dashed his way to wins in the 100 and 200 and left Mehock with sweet vindication.

"Very famous meet," said Stupka, who ran at Mehock last year for Madison. "Last year, I didn't place very high. I was looking for a little redemption. That was the goal today, and I think I got that."

Stupka started things out smoothly in the prelims of the 100 where he was side-by-side Plymouth's Caiden Allen, one of the fastest sprinters in the state.

No problem for Joe.

He won that heat and had the fastest prelim time (10.91) in the 100. In the 100 final — which was a stacked field that included Bradley, Allen, and two of Beechcroft's fastest in Jesufewa Adediran and Joel Owusu — Stupka went even lower in time and produced a 10.78 to win.

"I knew right away it was going to be a fast time," said Stupka. "We've been waiting for that competition push this year. I was running like 10.9s with really not much competition around. I came out today, had a big push and ran a 10.78."

If the 100 wasn't enough, the junior looked every bit the part in the 200, where in the final he was matched up against Bradley again, plus Shelby's Issaiah Ramsey.

Bradley won the 100, 200 and 400 at last year's Mehock Relays, and had one heck of a day on Saturday as well. He was a runner-up in the 100, 200 and 400. The only problem is he ran into Stupka, who's in a zone right now.

Stupka got on the better end this time as well and he put the burners on once he made the turn and distanced himself from his competitors. He took the 200 in 21.86.

"I kind of stumbled out, then I stayed patient on that curve because he [Bradley] has a good curve and a good start," Stupka said. "I came around the straight away and I had it there. I kept my form and trusted my training."

Keep your eyes on Stupka as the season goes along.

High-end competition all-around

With more than 20 schools and some of the top track programs in Ohio participating at Mehock, the top-level competition was sure to bring the best out of the athletes. And it did.

Let's start with Shelby. The Whippets are always a good place to start.

The boys 3,200 final — toward the end of the day — was neck-to-neck, with Shelby's Huck Finnegan (in his strongest individual event), Sunbury Big Walnut's Gabe Ghering, and East Kentwood's Owen Lawrence and Isaac Tanis all in the mix through the first six laps before Finnegan stepped on the gas in the last two laps to pull away for the victory.

The girls 3,200 final was a two-horse race between Shelby's Kayla Gonzales and Colonel Crawford's Cecelia Chase, with Chase prevailing in a time of 11:17.42. Gonzales went second in 11:28.19.

Shelby's Marshall Moore grabbed first-place honors in the 800 final (2:02.29), where he was staged right with the pack during the second lap before his pacing and sense of when to make his move paid dividends as he created a gap between himself and the other runners in the last lap. Ashland's Lukah Will finished second.

"I didn't like being back that far with the start but I ran a fast lap," said Moore. "I knew once I got to the 100 mark on the second lap I could just make a move right there and leave them behind. If it came down to a kick, I think I got it but I didn't want to leave room for that."

Moore, who's turned the 800 into his top individual event, said he's getting more and more comfortable in the two-lap race and with his top-end speed toward the end of the event, he'll be hard to deal with as the season progresses come postseason time.

"So last year, it was definitely hard for me to double," said the junior. "I ran the 4x800 today and split around the same time and last year that would have been a lot harder for me. It's just the confidence. Doing the work and having success in other races are big confidence boosters. That's the biggest thing for me."

Speaking of the 4x800 relay, the Whippets four of Moore, Finnegan, Indy Mayer and Luke Dininger did damage and coasted to the podium to collect their first-place medals with a time of 8:08.74 and even lapped a couple of teams in the process. They were way ahead of second-place East Kentwood (8:23.01).

"I like starting it off," said Moore, who usually anchors for the Whippets in the relay. "That was actually my first time starting it off. I was just trying to get out and put the team in a top position cause Ashland was right with me."

Moving to the sprints, Shelby's Ava Bowman was on her "A" game, as she was a 100-200 double winner.

"I felt really good coming into today. I've been preparing for this meet," said Bowman after her 100 win. "There's a lot of good competition out here and this meet is really known, so I'm just glad to be running today."

Bowman started things off well in the 100 prelims, where she beat Madison's Nevaeh Lewis with a personal-best 12.52, and then went on to run a 12.54 in the final.

"I had a big PR today," said Bowman, who ran a 26.32 in the 200 final. "I PR'd on Thursday with a 12.65, so I was glad to end prelims with a 12.52."

Bowman, who's just a sophomore, has found success in the 100 and 200 in multiple meets in the early part of the season and believes she's getting better in the sprint events.

"Yeah, I've been working real hard on my block starts and getting all the little things right to run good," said Bowman, who also ran the first leg on Shelby's first-place 4x100 relay team.

Ontario's Arialyn Bischak made some noise in the 400, placing third, and enjoyed her time in the event.

"It was really fun. I love running the 400," said Bischak. "I normally run the 300 hurdles, so it was really nice being able to run the 400 today."

Bischak came in first in her heat, making a nice turn on the curve and taking off from there.

"Yeah, it was crazy, especially since no one was running in front of me," she said of her run. "I just had to compete with myself."

A key highlight of the day was the 300 hurdles final that featured defending Division I state champion Jayden Douglas of Beechcroft and Mansfield Senior's Aaron Thornton. Douglas came out as the victor but Thornton put up a solid effort at the end to place third.

"I'm pretty happy with my performance. With everything I did today, I could've done better but that's the goal every week," said Thornton, who also finished third in the 100 final. "I started the race perfectly. The curve I could've done a lot better but I finished it strong."

Thornton said he was pushed by the strong field in the 300 hurdles.

"It's great. I feel I got some of the best competition I'll get all year with Jayden and the kid from Brush [Tyrell Cloud]," he said. "They both pushed me hard, and they're going to continue to do that. It was some hard competition at that."

Crestview's Bailey and Ashland's Frazier go top four in pole vault

The competition also extended over to the field events, particularly in the pole vault, where Crestview's Shawn Bailey (a All-Ohioan last year in the pole vault) and Ashland's Dana Frazier (last year's girls pole vault winner at the Mehock Relays) both finished in the top-four. Bailey came in second in the boys pole vault and Frazier fourth in the girls.

"Like today, I don't know what it is here but all of the vaulters struggled to get in the pit here. So, we took it on the short poles today from a shorter run. Got over 13-6," said Bailey. "Got plenty on 14 and came down on it. We wanted a 14-6 or a 15-foot jump today, but for the way I felt today, I didn't feel great, but I'll take it for today."

Bailey said he felt fine but recognized he was up against some other fine vaulters as well.

"Technique-wise, I felt good," he said. "I felt a little slow but not too bad. Obviously, I'm jumping against the best in the state. Good competition."

For Frazier, her highest vault clearance on the day was 10 feet, which she said was her PR.

"10-6 — that's my PR and that was the time I got this season," said Frazier, who mentioned the level of competition was better this year compared to last year when she won the event at Mehock.

"I love it. It's fun," she said of competing in the Mehock Relays. "Last year was a little rough because it was rainy."

Other winners and top-placers at Mehock were:

Shelby's Channon Cundiff, first in 800

Shelby's Alainah Carmel, fourth in 300 hurdles

Madison's Mylah Davis, first in long jump

St. Peter's Peyton Bodnar, fourth in 400

Clear Fork's Adrian Wuertz, second in high jump

Mansfield Senior's Ahmaan Thomas, second in shot put

Ashland's Aveline Wilhelm, second in discus and third in shot put

Mansfield Senior's Nathanial Haney, second in long jump

Shelby's Ferron Pena, second in discus

jsimpson@gannett.com

Twitter- @JamesSimpsonII

This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Clear Fork's Stupka, Shelby's cast, shine at 90th annual Mehock Relays