Takeaways from the Mogadore Wildcat Invitational

Here are seven takeaways from Friday's Wildcat Invitational:

1. Streetsboro boys overcome prom absences to capture title

As one of the largest schools competing at Memorial Stadium Friday and with a rich history of success on the track, the Rockets made for an unlikely underdog.

Still, with a good portion of his team at prom, Streetsboro coach Robb Kidd wasn't quite sure what to expect.

"We did not expect to come out of here in first place," Kidd said. "I wasn't really even thinking about second place. I just wanted everyone to run well, wanted to be healthy, but these kids saw an opportunity. They stepped up."

Thanks to remarkable performances by junior Micah Schuster, who won the 100 (11.48), 200 (11.48) and 400 (50.90); sophomore Kylan Rue, who took third in the 100 and second in the 200; and a number of young runners who filled voids and helped the Rockets win three of four relays, the Streetsboro boys prevailed by a healthy 20-point margin over runner-up Garfield.

"I just think it's super cool that we were able to put a group together with like half of our team missing," Schuster said. "I think it was really important for our younger guys to get some high-intensity work and see what it's like to win a meet."

While Schuster won all four events he participated in Friday, Rue also ran at a high level.

"He looked phenomenal," Kidd said. "I've never seen him run as technically sound and just bio-mechanically perfect as he did today. His arm swing, his posture, everything was fire today and he was feeling it."

Freshman Charles Ivory, part of all three Streetsboro championship relays, also impressed.

"He is a phenom," Kidd said. "I don't even want to say that's going to happen because it's happening now, but that kid is going to be fantastic over the next four years. He is going to open some eyes and shock people."

Sophomore Eric Tiller and junior Zachary Vales also participated in numerous relays, while freshmen Preston Laryea and Devon White stepped into the 4x100 and 4x200 thanks to all of Streetsboro's prom absences and delivered.

"I was the pop-off and I know I had to set the intensity for everybody else," White said. "So I just did the best I could."

"It shows that we have a lot of depth and then it also shows the longevity that we'll have for the next few years," Laryea added. "That even if we're losing some seniors, that we still have a great roster without them."

2. Rootstown girls leap to title

At the same site where the Rovers girls won last year's Portage Trail Conference championship, they delivered another impressive performance, winning the Wildcat Invitational by a 131-105 margin.

Rootstown senior Marinna Atanmo had a particularly successful return to Memorial Stadium, where she first tried the hurdles a year ago, capturing this year's 300 title in 46.78, by a margin of more than four full seconds.

"She's only been running them for a year," Rovers coach Kyle Rodstrom said. "She's just continuing to get better every day and she's learning how to hurdle."

Rootstown got a ton of points from its jumps, earning 1-3 finishes in the high and long jumps Friday. In the high jump, Kelsie Hamrick (5-00.00) took the title while teammate Aubrey Kline (4-06.00) finished third. In the long jump, Cameron Kuharich (15-07.25) won while Rylee Durbak (14-09.25) snagged third. All told, the Rovers got 32 of a possible 36 points in the two events.

3. Brooklynn McIntyre comes up clutch for Rootstown

After earning runner-up honors in the shot put (34-10.75), Rovers sophomore Brooklynn McIntyre sat in fourth entering the final throw of the discus.

"It started off really rough, like it was going really bad," McIntyre said. "It wasn't feeling right. The release wasn't feeling right, and then the last two kind of felt better, and then the last one just felt smooth. It just came out correctly."

After struggling through her first five throws, McIntyre delivered a beauty on her final toss, capturing the Wildcat Invitational championship with a 106-03.25.

"It was a matter of getting the rotation," Rootstown coach Joe Mackle said. "Her first couple throws, she just wasn't getting off her hand, and that last throw, the footwork wasn't great, but she did have the rotation off her hand and that's where it came from."

McIntyre might as well get comfortable at Memorial Stadium.

After all, the Rovers have a dual meet with the Wildcats, then the league championship meet coming up, both of which will be hosted by Mogadore.

"We're here next week for a dual meet, which is big, big, big, and then we're back here for the league meet the next week," Mackle said. "So it's great to come here and be able to throw three times in a row."

4. Ravenna's Pavel Henderson, Avonlea Jefferson excel at hurdles

It wasn't just that the Ravens swept the short hurdles Friday. It was the competition juniors Pavel Henderson and Avonlea Jefferson edged out.

Jefferson went first and managed to win the 100 hurdles with a time of 16.70, topping Division III state qualifier Carlee Clifford (Rootstown).

"She's been working her butt off to get to this point and we're starting to peak at the right time, and we got a plan in place to help her get down to Columbus hopefully and take care of business," Ravenna coach Joe Callihan said. "She was obviously real excited about this, seeing some of the other teams and kids running today, and she did an awesome job."

Henderson faced equally stout competition in the 110, including Division III state qualifier Ryan Stoller (Garfield), and edged Stoller, 15.31-15.44.

"Pavel ran probably the best race he's run ever," Callihan said. "Pavel is a super energetic kid that thrives on competition, and he saw who was running and I told him, 'Hey, you're going to have to get going to compete today,' and he's like, 'Okay, Coach, gotcha,' and he did. He did what he said he was going to do."

5. Garfield's Riley LaPorte, Jesse Grace sweep discus, shot

Riley LaPorte's shot title Friday came as no surprise.

Even his superb mark of 58 feet was no surprise.

After all, the G-Men senior has been putting up massive figures in the shot all spring as he approaches the school record held by coach Matt Pfleger.

What was most encouraging, then, was his 161-04.25 in the discus.

"It was a pretty good day," LaPorte said. "That 161 came out of nowhere. ​I mean, last meet, I threw 143 or something like that, and I haven't really practiced disc much this year and we've recently just started practicing it."

Nor was LaPorte alone, as junior teammate Jesse Grace finished right behind him in both the discus and the shot as the G-Men throwers racked up 36 points.

"Jesse did well today," LaPorte said. "I for sure thought he was going to beat me because he had a 140 stand easily in the warm-ups and he's been working hard. He's going to get there. I for sure thought he was going to throw 170."

6. Mogadore girls deliver in distance races, earn runner-up honors

The Wildcats girls finished second in the team standings Friday, led by their success in the distance runs. That included junior Rachel Whetstone and sophomore Mia Gaetjens winning titles in the 1600 and 3200, respectively. Mogadore also won the 4x400 (Katie Lane, Brook McIntyre, Amber Morris and Julie Tompkins) and 4x800 (Lane, McIntyre, Morris and Whetstone).

Senior Mason Murphy also had a big day at his home meet, capturing titles in the 300 hurdles (40.93) and high jump (6-02.00). In the latter, he came mere centimeters from setting a personal record as he barely grazed the bar at 6-03.

Ryan Keren also impressed with his victory in the 1600, while fellow sophomore Jamie Loughney competed in the seated 100 (53.46) and shot put (7-06.00).

7. Caden Bailey leads Southeast

The Pirates' top performances came in the jumps Friday.

Senior Caden Bailey led the way with a title in the long jump (20-07.25) and a runner-up finish in the high jump (5-04.00). Sophomore Samantha Lemmon added a runner-up finish in the girls high jump (4-06.00).

Boys

Team Scores: 1. Streetsboro 115.75, 2. Garfield 95, 3. Rootstown 84.75, 4. Mogadore 83.75, 5. Southeast 57.75, 6. Ravenna 28, T7. Lake Center 14, T7. Akron North 14

100 Dash: 1. Micah Schuster (Streetsboro) 11.48, 2. Nick Roberts (Rootstown) 11.56; 3. Kylan Rue (Streetsboro) 11.58

200 Dash: 1. Micah Schuster (Streetsboro) 23.28, 2. Kylan Rue (Streetsboro) 23.31, 3. Mason Murphy (Mogadore) 24.50

400 Dash: 1. Micah Schuster (Streetsboro) 50.90, 2. Donovan Birkett (Rootstown) 52.36, 3. Jacob Wyder (Lake Center) 53.06

800 Run: 1. Brady Fillmore (Rootstown) 2:08.97, 2. Eric Tiller (Streetsboro) 2:11.09, 3. Chase Osborne (Southeast) 2:15.38

1600 Run: 1. Ryan Keren (Mogadore) 4:55.48, 2. Alejandro Navarrete (Mogadore) 4.56.22, 3. Logan Mackey (Southeast) 4:57.16

3200 Run: 1. Caleb Cutright (Rootstown) 11:01.55, 2. Ryan Keren (Mogadore) 11:03.95, 3. Ben Garlich (Garfield) 11:05.01

110 Hurdles: 1. Pavel Henderson (Ravenna) 15.31, 2. Ryan Stoller (Garfield) 15.44, 3. James Woods (Streetsboro) 16.44

300 Hurdles: 1. Mason Murphy (Mogadore) 40.93, 2. Kevin Murphey (Streetsboro) 43.20, 3. Aiden Rodstrom (Rootstown) 44.28

4x100 Relay: 1. Ravenna (Kaelan Edwards, Justice Haven, Eathan Cobbin, Pavel Henderson) 46.72, 2. Streetsboro 46.83, 3. Southeast 47.59

4x200 Relay: 1. Streetsboro (Devon White, Charles Ivory, Preston Laryea, Kylan Rue) 1:33.81, 2. Garfield 1:34.71, 3. Ravenna 1:38.06

4x400 Relay: 1. Streetsboro (Eric Tiller, Zachary Vales, Charles Ivory, Micah Schuster) 3:36.13, 2. Rootstown 3:42.89, 3. Mogadore 3:44.25

4x800 Relay: 1. Streetsboro (Eric Tiller, Zachary Vales, Mario Puleo, Charles Ivory) 8:39.23, 2. Rootstown 8:54.10, 3. Mogadore 8:59.86

High Jump: 1. Mason Murphy (Mogadore) 6-02.00, 2. Caden Bailey (Southeast) 5-04.00, 3. Brady Fillmore (Rootstown) 5-02.00

Long Jump: 1. Caden Bailey (Southeast) 20-07.25, 2. Ryan Stoller (Garfield) 20-03.50, 3. Colin Lysiak (Garfield) 19-10.25

Discus: 1. Riley LaPorte (Garfield) 161-04.25, 2. Jesse Grace (Garfield) 158-07.50, 3. Andrew Kelchner (Southeast) 135-01.25

Shot Put: 1. Riley LaPorte (Garfield) 58-00.00, 2. Jesse Grace (Garfield) 44-11.00, 3. Linden White (Rootstown) 41-05.75

Seated 100: 1. Jamie Loughney (Mogadore) 53.46

Seated Shot Put: 1. Jamie Loughney (Mogadore) 7-06.00

Girls

Team Scores: 1. Rootstown 131, 2. Mogadore 105, 3. Garfield 86, 4. Lake Center 70, 5. Streetsboro 38, 6. Ravenna 33, 7. Southeast 27, 8. Akron North 5

100 Dash: 1. Medgine Wojton (Lake Center) 12.96, 2. Melanie Plecko (Rootstown) 13.56, 3. Laniya Lindsey (Streetsboro) 13.81

200 Dash: 1. Medgine Wojton (Lake Center) 27.02, 2. Zoe Turner (Garfield) 27.55, 3. Ta Misha Twitty (Lake Center) 27.78

400 Dash: 1. Zoe Turner (Garfield) 1:00.86, 2. Amber Morris (Mogadore) 1:01.69, 3. Julie Tompkins (Mogadore) 1:01.80

800 Run: 1. Katie Plecko (Rootstown) 2:33.92, 2. Megan Schaefer (Garfield) 2:39.57, 3. Madelyn Hajec (Streetsboro) 2:42.08

1600 Run: 1. Rachel Whetstone (Mogadore) 5:44.54, 2. Katie Campbell (Southeast) 5:57.25, 3. Sydney Munger (Rootstown) 5:57.56

3200 Run: 1. Mia Gaetjens (Mogadore) 12:57.50, 2. Kylee Malloy (Streetsboro) 13:09.16, 3. Taylor Coates (Rootstown) 13:23.06

100 Hurdles: 1. Avonlea Jefferson (Ravenna) 16.70, 2. Carlee Clifford (Rootstown) 17.24, 3. Grace Spreitzer (Garfield) 17.28

300 Hurdles: 1. Marinna Atanmo (Rootstown) 46.78, 2. Grace Spreitzer (Garfield) 51.04, 3. Ava Pletcher (Lake Center) 51.99

4x100 Relay: 1. Lake Center (Ta Misha Twitty, Morgan Swartzentruber, Faith Hayslip, Medgine Wojton) 51.23, 2. Rootstown 51.74, 3. Ravenna 52.73

4x200 Relay: 1. Lake Center (Ta Misha Twitty, Morgan Swartzentruber, Kloe Maninga, Medgine Wojton) 1:47.91, 2. Rootstown 1:48.47; 3. Ravenna 1:52.94

4x400 Relay: 1. Mogadore (Katie Lane, Brook McIntyre, Amber Morris, Julie Tompkins) 4:12.56, 2. Rootstown 4:34.52, 3. Lake Center 4:36.41

4x800 Relay: 1. Mogadore (Brook McIntyre, Rachel Whetstone, Amber Morris, Katie Lane) 10:14.41, 2. Streetsboro 10:36.64, 3. Rootstown 10:46.12

High Jump: 1. Kelsie Hamrick (Rootstown) 5-00.00, 2. Samantha Lemmon (Southeast) 4-06.00, 3. Aubrey Kline (Rootstown) 4-06.00

Long Jump: 1. Cameron Kuharich (Rootstown) 15-07.25, 2. Hannah Kernig (Garfield) 15-01.00, 3. Rylee Durbak (Rootstown) 14-09.25

Discus: 1. Brooklynn McIntyre (Rootstown) 106-03.25, 2. Brooklyn Beckford (Mogadore) 103-08.50, 3. Sophia Scott (Garfield) 101-03.50

Shot Put: 1. Brooklyn Beckford (Mogadore) 36-06.75, 2. Brooklynn McIntyre (Rootstown) 34-10.75, 3. Lauren Holler (Mogadore) 32-10.50

This article originally appeared on Record-Courier: Wildcat Invitational takeaways: Streetsboro, Rootstown win titles