Five things to know from the Don Faix Invitational

MANTUA — The biggest Portage County story coming out of Saturday's Don Faix Invitational was the Roosevelt girls team capturing its first tournament title in recent memory.

However, that wasn't the only highlight Saturday.

Here are five other things to know about the longtime meet held on Bridget Franek Track at Jack Lambert Stadium Saturday:

1. Field throwers remain in the spotlight

One true test of a program is its staying power. Can it remain toward the top even after graduating a special athlete?

The Falcons' throwing program has passed that test numerous times.

Last year, Field both Emily Davis and Ali Morris on the girls discus podium at the state tournament.

With both graduated, juniors Michaela Herendeen and Reagan Daugintis finally are getting their chance to start for the Falcons, and all they did Saturday was land a one-two finish.

"It means a lot," said Herendeen after capturing Saturday's Don Faix Invitational championship in the discus. "Like last year, we were watching them throw and learning from them, and we got to see how the team is led and how the best get to perform. And I think that kind of helped today, just watching past things and remembering how to do them."

Beyond finishing at the top Saturday, the Falcons duo shattered their own records. After Herendeen set her personal record with a 111 feet, 7 inches on her fourth throw, Daugintis did the same on her fifth toss, a 105-0. Then, for good measure, Herendeen broke her own personal record yet again, by a long shot, unfurling a 127-6.

"I was just going all out," Herendeen said. "I was like if I'm going to go out, I'm going to go out with a bang, so I just tried my hardest, and that's the result."

"She's never even thrown that in practice before," Falcons discus coach Levi Miller marveled. "So that kind of surprised me a little bit that she got into one that hard."

Maybe the craziest aspect of their performance Saturday was that the day began with Herendeen sending her first throw into the net surrounding the ring and Daugintis throwing a modest 72-5. It wasn't long before they put those throws, and their old records, far in the rearview mirror.

"This is their first invitational so they were both really nervous," Miller said. "Overall, I was impressed with both of them, especially after the first throws. Reagan's first throw went about 70-some feet, and Mickey's first throw was actually a foul — her shoe tore off — so in the back of my mind because Ali was standing there, I was like, 'I don't know how we're gonna do this this year. I mean, they might foul out today.' So they actually recovered pretty well from the first couple throws."

2. Bobby Melzer a thrower on the rise for Ravenna

The takeaway for Melzer Saturday after he earned runner-up honors in the shot put with a toss of 43-6½ was clear.

That result came on his second throw, when the Ravens sophomore said he was at his most relaxed.

At other times, he pushed too hard, with his other five throws all landing between 39-9½ and 41-½.

"I definitely think I could have thrown farther," Melzer said. "I was trying to hit 47 because I wanted to win that really badly. I just got in my head and I just kept thinking about it too much, and I should have just had fun with it because the one shot where I threw and I had fun with it, I threw a 43, which was my best of the day."

It should be noted that all of this is a remarkable improvement from a year ago. Back then, anything in the low 40s was a good mark for Melzer, but now the sophomore expects much more out of himself and has already delivered a 45-8 this year.

"I think it's because I've been lifting way more and I've just been working on my explosiveness, too," Melzer said. "Like all of my lifts have gone up, I've been getting faster, and I think that's helped me a lot with throwing farther."

The Ravens also got a standout performance from junior Samantha Weber, who won the 200 meters with a time of 27.45.

3. Crestwood girls finish third, led by Abby Guyette's big day

The Red Devils girls finished in third place at their home invitational, just two points behind runner-up St. Vincent-St. Mary.

Crestwood's 4x200 relay of Audrey Fusci, Hannah Ward, Reagan Mory and Grace Lesnak looked to be in midseason form with a number of smooth handoffs, ultimately placing first (1:56.99) by more than a full second over runner-up Normandy.

Red Devils sophomore Abby Guyette also impressed with runner-up finishes in the 800 and 1,600, including a late pass from third to second in the latter event.

4. Ravenna, Roosevelt battle for hurdles supremacy

Portage County has had more than its share of excellent hurdlers over the past several years, including the last local state champion (Mogadore's Connor Kerr in 2019) along with longtime Division II and Division III staples like Field's Hannah Siudak, Mogadore's Mason Murphy, Garfield's Ryan Stoller and Rootstown's Marinna Atanmo.

On Saturday, practically every hurdles event turned into a Ravenna-Roosevelt battle for the championship.

In the high hurdles, the Ravens and Rough Riders exchanged a pair of one-two finishes. Ravenna senior Pavel Henderson edged Roosevelt junior Daniel Hido in the 110 hurdles, while Rough Riders senior Lea Parham pushed past Ravens senior Avonlea Jefferson in the home stretch of the 100.

"That was a lot of fun running the 110s against someone that far off ahead of me," Hido said of battling Henderson in the 110. "It really pushed me. I PR'ed by like 0.2 seconds, which is a decent amount, especially early in the season."

Then, Roosevelt swept the 300, with Parham winning by a wide margin and Hido and teammate Micah Sheller landing a one-two finish in the boys race.

"It's a lot of fun; we're able to push each other," Hido said. "He's catching up to me, but it's always fun going one-two. We've done it a lot, especially the past two years."

5. Portage County high jumpers excel

Although Portage County has long been known for its throwers, and recently has assembled a long list of talented hurdlers, the jumpers also stood out Saturday morning.

In particular, local student-athletes earned the top three spots in the boys high jump, led by Crestwood senior Hunter Yoder, who cleared 5-11 on his first attempt to secure first place.

Field freshman Trevor Dixon took runner-up honors after he cleared 5-10 on his final attempt, and Ravenna junior Kaelan Edwards finished third (5-9).

This article originally appeared on Record-Courier: Five things to know from the Don Faix Invitational