Track & Field | Seven takeaways from the Division II Lakeview district meet

Here are seven takeaways from the Division II Lakeview district track & field meet:

Streetsboro earns district runner-up trophy

Robb Kidd knew what he was going against as well as anybody.

The Streetsboro track and field coach understood that aiming for a district title against Woodridge, last year's state champ which happened to top the Rockets at last week's Metro Athletic Conference Championships, was unrealistic.

So the goal was second — and Streetsboro secured runner-up honors by a sizable margin with 96 points, 25.5 ahead of third-place Girard.

"We wanted to be runner-up," Kidd said. "We knew it would be very, very, very difficult to try to get first over Woodridge. We knew Girard was lurking. We knew there were a few other schools there, Garrettsville honestly right in the mix, so very pleased with the performance. The kids stepped up in every event and pulled off what we were hoping to do."

As has become a familiar story, the Rockets snagged a ton of points from their sprints with junior Micah Schuster winning the 100 and 400 and sophomore Kylan Rue snagging the 200 title. Add on sophomore Preston Hopperton's second-place finish in the 200 and third-place finish in the 100 and freshman Charles Ivory's seventh-place finish in the 400 and Streetsboro snagged 46 points from those three events alone. The Rockets boys also qualified all four of their relays to the regional meet.

Rockets relay sets meet record

The Rockets' sprinters even set a meet record in the 4x100 as Rue, Elijah Landres, Omari Steve and Hopperton combined to run a 42.84.

"They looked pretty good today," Kidd said. "I thought Preston ran a really nice leg to finish it and Omari looked great on his final turn so those kids are just peaking. I still think we have faster times than that."

As for Schuster, he won titles in all four events he participated in Saturday, including an intriguing 400 in which NDCL senior Tim Herczog gave Schuster a valiant battle before the Streetsboro junior won the race in 49.69.

"When he gets pushed, he responds," Kidd said. "It just makes him run better."

Portage County sprinters show off

It wasn't just Streetsboro's sprinters.

Crestwood senior Louie Blasiole added a second-place finish in the 100, particularly gratifying after he missed advancing to the regional meet by one spot in that event last year, and a third-place finish in the 200.

"He's a kid who really is tactical," Red Devils coach Josh Jakacki said. "We've really worked hard on his turnover, his strides have gotten stronger and there's no wasted movement in any of his runs right now, which has given him an opportunity to advance to regional."

Tack on Garfield senior Ryan Stoller's fourth-place finish in the 200 and Portage County accounted for all four qualifiers in the event.

While Rue avoided the madness, coming out of an outside lane to finish first in 22.49, Blasiole, Hopperton, Stoller and Champion's Ian Orwig were in a brutal battle through the finish line, with the four runners competing for the final three spots.

Ultimately, Hopperton took second in 22.84 while Blasiole (22.90) and Stoller (22.93) edged Orwig by mere hundredths of a second for that final qualifying spot.

"The adrenaline is insane," Blasiole said. "It's out of this world, something that only runners will experience. Just being in that situation and making it out makes you feel really good but also lucky because some kids don't get that chance."

Zoe Turner excels for Garfield

The sprinting success wasn't reserved solely for the boys.

Indeed, G-Men senior Zoe Turner turned in one of the day's most impressive performances.

After a pulled hamstring forced Turner to pull out of all of her individual events at last year's district meet, she showed what she was capable of a year later, qualifying in all three individual events in which she competed. Turner tallied two runner-up finishes, in the 200 (27.17) and 400 (1:00.40), and finished third in the 100 (13.44).

"The double from the four to the two is huge," G-Men sprints coach Kelliann Collins said. "I mean there was only about 25 minutes tops in there in between those two events, so to run a 60-second 400 and then be able to come back only 20-25 minutes later and still go quick in that 200, she's a very strong runner."

Perhaps most notable was the way Turner closed the 200 and the 400. Indeed, she was sitting roughly fourth or fifth in the latter before surging down the final straightaway.

"Her last 50 meters is always way stronger than most other people's," Collins said. "Typically, at the end of the race, people are getting tight, they're getting all bunched up on themselves, their stride starts to shorten, but she is the complete opposite of that."

Streetsboro senior Mariah Embry also advances in three events

While Turner qualified for the regional meet in three events for the G-Men, Mariah Embry did the same for the Rockets as the senior snagged the final qualifying spot in the 200 and was also part of two regional-qualifying relays (4x100 and 4x400).

Her work in the 4x400 was particularly impressive given she was only recently added to the relay and much prefers the 200.

"The 400, it has always been like a love and hate relationship with it," Embry said. "So to get back at it, I would always be so nervous before I run it, but I still love running it."

Her work in the 200 was particularly gratifying as she gets to run her favorite race at least one more time.

"I was really hoping to make it in that 200 because that's my favorite race and I was really excited when I was able to just push through," Embry said. "The 100 is just too short of a race for me. I feel like in the 200, I could still build up my speed, and sometimes if there's a person in front of me, I feel like I can track them down."

Ryan Stoller fends off challenge, rallies for 300 title

Garfield senior hurdler Ryan Stoller thought he had the 110 title, but Woodridge senior Kyle Carey nipped him at the end. It appeared he might be headed for a similar fate in the 300 when Girard's Nic Bengala took a sizable lead entering the final straight.

"He caught me and I wasn't going out like that," Stoller said. "I had to come back and get him."

Stoller surged down the home stretch, approaching the final hurdle in a virtual tie before clearing it perfectly to capture the district championship with a 39.81.

"Over that last hurdle, it was really whose form is better, because you're both moving at the same speed," Stoller said. "If you have better form and you get down off that hurdle quicker, you're going to win the race [over] the person who spends more time in the air."

That marked Stoller's first sub-40 in the 300. Add on the fact that he also went under 15 seconds for the first time in the 110 and it was a splendid performance from Stoller.

"It's just really nice getting a rep at people who are just as good as you and even better because you're not going to get any faster running against people two seconds slower," Stoller said. "You need to be running against people faster than you and around the same speed and that's when you're going to see times open up. So, I think seeing these times today really opens up what I can do at regional and what I can even do at state."

Crestwood senior Ava Mory on a roll

It's been a good month or so for Ava Mory.

She recently committed to play basketball at nearby Hiram College, earned Chagrin Valley Conference Valley Division Runner of the Year honors and advanced to the regional meet with a third-place finish in the 800 Saturday.

"I knew that I wanted to move on to regional and it was especially competitive because I knew it was my senior year," Mory said. "So it was like if you don't get out, it's going to be your last 800 ever."

Extra Points

The G-Men had their usual strong performance in the throws with senior Riley LaPorte (160-07) and junior Jesse Grace (145-03) going 2-3 in the discus Thursday and LaPorte earning a second district runner-up finish in the shot (56-09.00) Saturday. ... The Ravens snagged their lone regional qualifier in Saturday's opening event when junior Avonlea Jefferson took second in the 100 hurdles (16.29). ... Portage County is sending a number of hurdlers from Lakeview to Austintown. In addition to Jefferson and Stoller, Streetsboro's James Woods qualified in the boys 110, the Rockets' Kevin Murphey and the G-Men's Brody Swigonski qualified in the boys 300 and Garfield's Grace Spreitzer advanced with a third-place finish in the 300.

Team Scores

Boys: 1. Woodridge 138, 2. Streetsboro 96, 3. Girard 70.50, 4. Garfield 70, 5. NDCL 56.50, 6. CVCA 48.50, 7. Jefferson Area 41.50, 8. Hubbard 31, 9. Grand Valley 23, T10. Crestwood 18, T10. Lakeview 18, 12. Berkshire 11, 13. Conneaut 10.50, T14. Edgewood 10, T14. Champion 10, 16. Southeast 9.5

Girls: 1. Woodridge 128, 2. CVCA 101, 3. Lakeview 98, T4. Girard 63, T4. Garfield 63, 6. Streetsboro 47, 7. Edgewood 40, 8. Crestwood 37, 9. Champion 29, 10. Jefferson Area 25, 11. Ravenna 17, 12. Conneaut 9, 13. Southeast 3, 14. Hubbard 2

Regional Qualifiers

Boys

100 Dash: 1. Micah Schuster (Streetsboro) 11.35, 2. Louie Blasiole (Crestwood) 11.47, 3. Preston Hopperton (Streetsboro) 11.49, 4. Taysear Williams (Woodridge) 11.58

200 Dash: 1. Kylan Rue (Streetsboro) 22.49, 2. Preston Hopperton (Streetsboro) 22.84, 3. Louie Blasiole (Crestwood) 22.90, 4. Ryan Stoller (Garfield) 22.93

400 Dash: 1. Micah Schuster (Streetsboro) 49.69, 2. Tim Herczog (NDCL) 50.33, 3. Tino Pesce (Hubbard) 51.22, 4. Chase Carpenter (Conneaut) 51.88

800 Run: 1. Ricky Marsico (Girard) 1:55.81, 2. Gavin Johnson (CVCA) 1:59.37, 3. Brian Bates (NDCL) 2:00.84, 4. Nevin Miller (Girard) 2:01.68

1600 Run: 1. Drennan Akins (CVCA) 4:20.77, 2. Brian Bates (NDCL) 4:28.38, 3. Sam Su (Woodridge) 4:28.79, 4. Aaron Dutt (Woodridge) 4:29.17

3200 Run: 1. Seth Singer (Woodridge) 9:57.53, 2. Sam Su (Woodridge) 10:02.61, 3. Drennan Akins (CVCA) 10:03.18, 4. Zac Haley (Lakeview) 10:03.73

110 Hurdles: 1. Kyle Carey (Woodridge) 14.93, 2. Ryan Stoller (Garfield) 14.95, 3. Landan Bates (Hubbard) 15.98, 4. James Woods (Streetsboro) 16.13

300 Hurdles: 1. Ryan Stoller (Garfield) 39.81, 2. Nic Bengala (Girard) 39.96, 3. Kevin Murphey (Streetsboro) 41.65, 4. Brody Swigonski (Garfield) 42.52

4x100: 1. Streetsboro (Kylan Rue, Elijah Landres, Omari Steve, Preston Hopperton) 42.84, 2. Woodridge 43.61, 3. Girard 43.65, 4. NDCL 43.93

4x200: 1. Streetsboro (Kylan Rue, Omari Steve, Preston Hopperton, Micah Schuster) 1:29.53, 2. Woodridge 1:30.35, 3. NDCL 1:31.60, 4. Girard 1:34.04

4x400: 1. NDCL (Tim Herczog, Andrew Ryan, Javon King, Danny Yanick) 3:26.49, 2. Streetsboro 3:26.88, 3. Girard 3:28.23, 4. CVCA 3:30.93

4x800: 1. CVCA (Drennan Akins, Leo Smith, Jackson Sullivan, Gavin Johnson) 8:13.91, 2. Woodridge, 3. Streetsboro, 4. Girard

Discus: 1. Oliver Mayer (Woodridge) 162-00, 2. Riley LaPorte (Garfield) 160-07, 3. Jesse Grace (Garfield) 145-03, 4. Jeremiah Newsom (Woodridge) 133-00

High Jump: 1. Dominic Malito (Girard) 6-03.00, 2. Cooper Defrange (Woodridge) 5-10.00, 3. Robert Rogers (Grand Valley) 5-10.00, 4. Ty Bova (CVCA) 5-08.00

Long Jump: 1. Dominic Malito (Girard) 22-09.25, 2. Ryan Stoller (Garfield) 21-00.50, 3. Caden Bailey (Southeast) 20-07.75, 4. Nathan Boiarski (Grand Valley) 20-07.50

Pole Vault: 1. Reid Boczar (Jefferson Area) 12-06.00, 2. Danny Batyrbaev (Woodridge) 12-03.00, 3. Sam Chrzan (Berkshire) 12-00.00, 4. Will Holland (Woodridge) 11-00.00

Shot Put: 1. Charles Pawlosky (Lakeview) 58-01.25, 2. Riley LaPorte (Garfield) 56-09.00, 3. Oliver Mayer (Woodridge) 51-02.25, 4. Wade Woodworth (Jefferson Area) 48-11.25

Girls

100 Dash: 1. McKenzie Neal (CVCA) 13.02, 2. Marissa Khalil (CVCA) 13.15, 3. Zoe Turner (Garfield) 13.44, 4. Kylie Mattiotti (Lakeview) 13.50

200 Dash: 1. Marissa Khalil (CVCA) 27.04, 2. Zoe Turner (Garfield) 27.17, 3. McKenzie Neal (CVCA) 27.20, 4. Mariah Embry (Streetsboro) 27.59

400 Dash: 1. Sieasia Triplett (Girard) 59.63, 2. Zoe Turner (Garfield) 1:00.40, 3. Marissa Boone (Woodridge) 1:00.62, 4. Taylor Skinner (Jefferson Area) 1:00.84

800 Run: 1. Izzy Best (Woodridge) 2:14.05, 2. Reese Reaman (Woodridge) 2.19.72, 3. Ava Mory (Crestwood) 2:25.57, 4. Rachel Campolito (Lakeview) 2:27.53

1600 Run: 1. Reese Reaman (Woodridge) 5:23.50, 2. Izzy Best (Woodridge) 5:25.09, 3. Maddie Crooks (Edgewood) 5:26.03, 4. Jayna Cooley (CVCA) 5:26.13

3200 Run: 1. Eloise Willett (Woodridge) 12:27.90, 2. Tammy Liplin (Edgewood) 12:40.50, 3. Emily Bennett (Lakeview) 12:44.49, 4. Kylee Malloy (Streetsboro) 12:48.98

100 Hurdles: 1. Anna Rorrer (Woodridge) 16.09, 2. Avonlea Jefferson (Ravenna) 16.29, 3. Mattie Fell (Champion) 16.46, 4. Stasia Hall (Lakeview) 16.60

300 Hurdles: 1. Anna Rorrer (Woodridge) 46.96, 2. Stasia Hall (Lakeview) 48.01, 3. Grace Spreitzer (Garfield) 48.80, 4. Lexi Busefink (Lakeview) 49.13

4x100: 1. Lakeview (Eliza Farr, Stasia Hall, Brooke Schneider, Kylie Mattiotti) 51.18, 2. Streetsboro 52.06, 3. Champion 53.70, 4. CVCA 53.72

4x200: 1. Girard (Ar'Marna Wilson, Sieasia Triplett, Mia Malito, Olivia Coman) 1:46.70, 2. CVCA 1:49.15, 3. Streetsboro 1:53.33, 4. Lakeview 1:53.98

4x400: 1. Woodridge (Anna Rorrer, Reese Reaman, Marissa Boone, Izzy Best) 4:01.08, 2. Girard 4:08.42, 3. CVCA 4:15.51, 4. Streetsboro 4:16.09

4x800: 1. Woodridge (Reese Reaman, Marissa Boone, Eloise Willett, Izzy Best) 9:46.60, 2. Lakeview, 3. CVCA, 4. Edgewood

Discus: 1. Sam Pixler (CVCA) 113-06, 2. Kennedy Grace (Champion) 112-02, 3. Sarah Coxon (Edgewood) 112-02, 4. Teagan Pierce (Lakeview) 109-11

High Jump: 1. Mia Malito (Girard) 5-02.00, 2. Isabella Schuster (Lakeview) 4-10.00, 3. Hannah Kernig (Garfield) 4-10.00, 4. Izzie Howell (Woodridge) 4-09.00

Long Jump: 1. Mia Malito (Girard) 16-06.25, 2. Isabella Fix (Conneaut) 16-04.75, 3. Taylor Gearhart (Champion) 15-10.00, 4. Anna Rorrer (Woodridge) 15-06.00

Pole Vault: 1. Megan Brand (Jefferson Area) 9-00.00, 2. Raechel Sarafimov (Woodridge) 8-09.00, 3. Kathryn Kiley (Woodridge) 8-09.00, 4. Isabella Schuster (Lakeview) 8-09.00

Shot Put: 1. McKenzie Neal (CVCA) 36-06.00, 2. Sarah Coxon (Edgewood) 35-03.25, 3. Sam Pixler (CVCA) 34-04.00, 4. Kloe Kristoff (Garfield) 33-03.25

This article originally appeared on Record-Courier: Streetsboro boys track & field snags second, local sprinters excel