Seven things to know from the John Kudley Invitational

Here are seven things to know about Friday's John Kudley Invitational:

1. Young Greenmen girls capture title

The Greenmen were the returning champions at their home invitational Friday night.

Still, Aurora hardly felt like favorites.

With many times more freshmen and sophomores (43) than upperclassmen (six), and a new coach to boot, it was hard to know what to expect from the Greenmen.

According to first-year coach Greg Cicero, top two was his goal.

He’ll take top one, though, as Aurora topped runner-up Mayfield 153-138 to snag its second consecutive John Kudley Invitational title.

“This team's a lot different than the team they had last year,” Cicero said. “Last year, they had Lauren Tincher, Morgan Schmitt, who were just studs. I mean, they were fantastic All-Ohio athletes, and for us to come out with I think we ran 18 kids that have not run invitationals before tonight and so to get them out there and get them experience and then for them to perform the way they did is awesome.”

For Kassidy Fry, one of the team’s few upperclassmen who picked up two of the Greenmen’s five individual titles, the team championship was not one to take for granted.

“I definitely think it was really cool for all of us,” Fry said. “I know we have so many young people on our team, so many freshmen coming in that are doing so well, like Isabella Cicero, and I think we all just really came together and did what we had to do at once and we ended up beating Mayfield, and it was really cool as a team.”

Five first-place finishes is not an overwhelming number.

Indeed, the runner-up Wildcats had seven.

So how did the Greenmen win the team title?

Well, Aurora was competitive in everything, including the events Mayfield won.

For example, although the Wildcats won the 3,200 meters, the Greenmen took second and fourth. As a result, Aurora actually outscored Mayfield 12-10 in the event.

“I definitely think just having two strong people in each event really helped us,” Fry said. “Mayfield won so many events, but us being able to get second and third or third and fourth really just allowed us to take the win today.”

Outside of Fry’s titles in the high jump (5-1) and the 100 hurdles (16.30), Aurora’s other wins came from senior Grace Barto (800), sophomore Felicite Williams (shot put) and Cicero (400).

2. Kassidy Fry stars for Aurora

Last season as a first-year hurdler, Fry nearly captured the John Kudley Invitational championship in the 100 hurdles.

Even though she finished as the runner-up by a mere two-thousandths of a second, Fry was hardly disappointed by her close call against Ravenna’s Avonlea Jefferson.

“Last year was my first year hurdling,” Fry said. “So even being close to her was amazing because I knew she had been so good before.”

Still, coming back and edging Jefferson for the title Friday (16.30 to 16.53) was a sweet feeling for the Greenmen junior.

“I knew I had improved,” Fry said. “I learned how to three-step, learned how to get my trail leg through and I know I can definitely even do better than my time today, but I still think that overall it’s really cool to go out there and compete with her. She made me be better”

Fry was equally impressive in earning her second straight John Kudley Invitational high jump title, rising from 4-10 last year to 5-1 Friday night.

“She has big goals,” Cicero said. “We want to get 5-4 by the end of the season in the high jump, so anytime we can take jumps in a meet and work toward getting higher, we're going to take them.”

3. Streetsboro boys overcome injury, capture team title

A third-place finisher at last year’s John Kudley Invitational, Streetsboro’s 2023 title hopes took an immediate hit when star sprinter Preston Hopperton strained his hamstring in the 100 meters.

That the Rockets shook off Hopperton’s victory, won both relays in which they had to hurriedly replace him and captured Friday's team title by 16 points was a tremendous testament to their depth.

“I think it's really important for our confidence,” said Streetsboro senior Micah Schuster, who won four events (200, 400, 4x200, 4x400) en route to meet MVP honors. “I mean, we lost a couple seniors last year. We've got a couple guys coming back from injuries. I think it's just a big confidence boost and it really shows everybody what we can do.”

With the 4x200 coming shortly after the 100, there was little time or space to practice exchanges. Garrett Tiller simply had to enter the lineup cold and do his best.

Tiller turned in a solid leg, and with Streetsboro trailing first-place Mayfield around the final turn, Omari Steve came up with an impressive pass down the home stretch for the title.

Then, it was sophomore Preston Laryea’s turn to replace Hopperton in the 4x100, joining Kylan Rue, Steve and Tiller, with the quartet turning in a championship run of 45.62.

That depth was one thing that stood out Friday, as runners like Laryea and Tiller were able to step into Hopperton’s spot and perform admirably as the Rockets ended up winning all four relays.

Streetsboro's versatility also stood out.

The Rockets have long been known for their relays and sprints. On Friday, they got contributions from all over, including their throws, as seniors Colin Swanson (45-5) and Chris Labedz (44-5) went one-two in the shot put. The duo also went four-five in the discus to tack on six more points.

“They work all summer long,” said Streetsboro distance runner Zachary Vales, who was part of the championship 4x400 and 4x800 relays and was second in the 800 and 1,600. “Chris was out there every day. If I drove by, I’d see him throwing. Colin's been putting up some big PRs.”

Tack on senior Micah Schuster’s wins in the 200 and the 400, in which he set a meet record (49.90), and Streetsboro snagged seven first-place finishes overall.

“I think the mindset of our kids and the preparation from the first day of practice all the way up and through this point is a huge part of it,” Rockets coach Robb Kidd said. “Our kids have a lot of goals. They’re team oriented, we're family-oriented and so this is probably the best well-rounded team we've had in terms of field events and contributions from basically every event that we step on the track.”

4. Streetsboro's relays shine

On one hand, it’s not surprising the Rockets swept Friday’s relays given their history.

On the other hand, it’s rather remarkable.

After all, Streetsboro faced steep competition from Aurora and Mayfield throughout the evening, with the Wildcats boasting the high-caliber sprinters capable of challenging the Rockets.

According to seed time, Streetsboro had the slightest of edges entering the 4x400 (3:33.63 to Mayfield’s 3:35.63) and 4x800 (8:29.31 to Mayfield’s 8:29.59).

And the Rockets were actually seeded second in the 4x100 (44.37 to the Greenmen’s 43.90) and 4x200 (1:31.66 to the Wildcats’ 1:29.00).

So none of the relays were guaranteed, and a sweep seemed unlikely, and that was before Preston Hopperton, a key component of the Rockets’ relays, went down with an injury in the 100.

Somehow, Streetsboro soldiered on, with Garrett Tiller taking Hopperton’s place in the 4x200 and Preston Laryea doing the same in the 4x100.

And so the Rockets’ great tradition lived on.

5. Streetsboro girls, Aurora boys also excel

It should be noted that while the Rockets boys and Greenmen girls stole the spotlight by capturing team trophies, the Aurora boys and Streetsboro girls also fared quite well.

The Aurora boys surged by Mayfield as the night went on to place second behind Streetsboro despite winning just one event — senior Max Bailey won the discus with a 136-5.

Instead, the Greenmen garnered points seemingly everywhere, racking up a flurry of second-, third-, fourth-, fifth- and sixth-place finishes. Indeed, they had two scorers (top-six finishers) in eight of 13 events in which they had two entries.

In fact, Aurora’s late push past Mayfield was powered by seniors Zach Nemet and Tyler Ertle placing second and third in the 200 to gain 14 points on the Wildcats, immediately followed by sophomore Zack Ploskunak and freshman Nathan Eminian snagging second and third in the 3,200 to outscore Mayfield 14-5 in the event.

The Streetsboro girls, meanwhile, finished third behind Aurora and Mayfield, with freshman Olivia Johnson-Wilson capturing the 300 hurdles championship (49.10).

6. Hunter Yoder shines for Crestwood

Hunter Yoder delivered a highlight-reel performance for Crestwood, including a closely contested championship in the high jump (6-2).

Yoder actually was down a tiebreaker to Mayfield senior Aidan Arth after picking up a strike at 5-10, but turned the tiebreaker in his direction at 6-2.

That’s when Yoder managed to clear the bar on his second attempt while Arth needed three attempts. That turned out to be the difference after neither cleared 6-3.

“There was definitely a lot of good jumpers that were here today,” Yoder said. “I respect my fellow jumpers. It's not a thing that a lot of people do anymore, but my main takeaway is that we're always improving, always getting better.”

Not that Yoder was done.

The Red Devils senior also earned runner-up honors in the discus (135-7) and long jump (19-6).

7. Avonlea Jefferson, Pavel Henderson put up strong performances in the hurdles for Ravenna

Per usual, the Ravens were highly competitive in their hurdles, including Pavel Henderson and Avonlea Jefferson earning runner-up honors in the high hurdles.

Jefferson also was third in the 300 hurdles (50.96).

Ravenna junior Samantha Weber also contributed third-place finishes in the 100 (13.50) and 200 (27.28) as well as the 4x100 (53.62).

Ravens junior Kaelan Edwards added a bronze medal in the high jump. He clinched a top-three finish by clearing 6-0 and, better yet, cleared 6-0 on his first attempt.

Sophomore Robert Melzer also was third in the shot put (43-9½).

This article originally appeared on Record-Courier: Seven things to know from the John Kudley Invitational