Hudson girls track sends seven on to regional meet
Senior Lauren Pacsi broke the Hudson school record in the 400-meter dash with a second-place time of 57.5 seconds in a Division I district track and field meet at Nordonia, which was held May 18 and 20.
“Lauren had an absolutely legendary performance as she broke the school record by a nice gap while running into a real strong headwind,” Explorers head coach Jeff Hildebrand said. “I admire her toughness.”
Overall, Pacsi and seven other Hudson athletes qualified for a regional meet at Austintown-Fitch, including five district championships. The top four finishers in each event advanced to regionals.
“We had stellar performances,” said Hildebrand. “This is an incredible result for these girls as they gave it their all. Their determination showed as they thrived under the pressure while setting personal bests in hot, windy conditions.”
Senior Story Jones captured the district title in the 1,600 with a personal-best time of 5:28.83. Junior Emma Liesen ran a personal-best time by two seconds of 12:02.26 in finishing fourth in the 3,200.
“Story has come a long way in four years, and she had big shoes to fill as a talented group of distance runners graduated last year,” Hildebrand said. “Even though it wasn't, she made it look easy. Emma ran in conditions that were not at all ideal. Having to run eight laps into a fierce wind is so hard, but she handled it like the great runner that she is.”
Senior Klaudia Kosa captured the district title in the 100 hurdles with a time of 15.25.
“Klaudia once again had a dominating performance and remains undefeated this season,” said the coach. “Her skill, speed and power have opened the door for a special postseason run.”
Freshman Ellie Miele finished third in the 200 with a time of 26.06, while sophomore Ruby Jacops placed third in the 800 with a clocking of 2:19.86.
“Ellie improved on her fifth-place prelim time,” Hildebrand said. “This is quite an accomplishment for a freshman at such a big meet. This was a challenging field of runners, but Ruby kept her head down and focused on the job at hand to fight for her spot in the regionals.
Jones, Jacops, Pacsi and Ellie Gallagher teamed to win the district title in the 3,200 relay with a time of 9:33.23.
“This group of girls is pretty special by evidence of winning the district championship,” said Hildebrand. “They work and support one another so well, and that translates on the track and the stopwatch.
Junior Grace Merrick captured district titles both in the shot put with a throw of 38-4 and the discus with a toss of 122-9. Senior Lindsey Havens placed second in the pole vault with a vault of 11 feet.
“Grace is really spectacular,” Hildebrand said. “On Wednesday she dominated the shot put throw, and Friday she handled an adverse wind and banged out a huge throw on her last effort to win the district championship. For Lindsey, it was just another good day for this impressive athlete. She played it cool knowing that bigger goals are ahead and managed the event well.”
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Hudson girls track sends seven on to regional meet
