Track & Field | Marlington 4x800-meter relay wins regional crown in Division II

AUSTINTOWN — The talent-laden Marlington boys 4x800-meter relay punched its second straight ticket to the state meet after winning an individual crown at the Division II regional track & field championships at Greenwood Falcon Stadium on Thursday.

The Dukes won with a clocking of 7 minutes, 57.36 seconds, nearly two full seconds ahead of runner-up Beachwood (7:59.05).

The Dukes’ foursome of junior Cohen Boyce, senior Liam Blake, senior Noah Graham and sophomore anchor runner Colin Cernansky will make a second consecutive trip to Columbus. They finished fourth at the state meet last season with a time of 8:02.98.

“We really didn’t run what we really wanted to today, time-wise, but we’ll be back,” said Blake.

“It feels good, a little bit better than last year,” added Boyce. “We’ve got a little bit more confidence this year. We’re so close together, we’re with each other all the time and there are no days off — that’s what we do.”

Cernansky feels the Dukes will be going to Columbus with a more definitive goal this year.

“I think we knew we were going to end up going, but this year, we’re going with intentions to win,” he said. “Last year, we went just to run a fast time with a podium finish, but this year we want it all.”

Graham likes where the Dukes are positioned heading to Columbus.

“Last year was a lot of firsts and being happy to be there,” he said. “We were fourth at the state meet, so that was cool and we were definitely happy, but there was a lot of newness to it and the goal was definitely passed today. These guys are putting in the work, they’re doing great and I think we’ve got a lot still out there.”

The Dukes will run Friday at Ohio State’s Jesse Owens Memorial Track.

The top four finishers in each final on Thursday at Fitch advanced to the state meet.

Only a select number of field event finals and only one running event final — the 4x800 relay — were held Thursday. The remaining field events and running finals will be held Saturday, starting at 11 a.m. with field events and noon for running finals.

Another area athlete placing on Thursday and just missing a state berth was West Branch junior Dru DeShields, who finished sixth in the finals of the boys long jump with a distance of 20 feet, 1.50 inches.

“I’m pretty happy, I thought I could do a little better but sixth isn’t bad,” said DeShields, who switched from baseball to track this spring.

Finishing ninth in the long jump finals was Southeast senior Caden Bailey with a jump of 19-6.

“I could have done better,” said Bailey. “We came up here the other day and I was practicing off the other board and it got moved up to the front one, so I think that kind of messed with my head a little bit. But I was happy with this year, this was my second year jumping, so I was happy with myself.”

Marlington senior Lauren Keathley was 15th in the girls shot put finals with a throw of 32-5.75.

In the girls high jump finals, West Branch junior Claire Brunner was 10th with a height of 4-10.

The Marlington girls 4x800 relay earned a sixth-place finish. The Dukes’ contingent of Kenna McElroy, Stella Blake, Emily Gainer and Bella Graham produced a time of 10:05.96.

The West Branch girls also competed in the 4x800 relay Thursday. The contingent of Eris Dugan, Avah Stull, Clarice Martin and Kaylee Burcaw was 14th in 10:48.07.

Many area runners were involved in preliminary running events at Fitch Thursday and advanced to Saturday’s regional finals. Those finishing in the top eight in the prelims moved on to Saturday.

Among those athletes were Marlington junior Elizabeth Mason who burned the third-fastest qualifying time in the girls’ 100 meters of 15.94.

Meanwhile, West Branch sophomore standout Sophia Gregory recorded the third-fastest qualifying time in the 400 meters at 58.37 to move on to Saturday’s action.

Three of the West Branch girls relay teams advanced to the finals.

The Warriors’ 4x200 relay of Kennedy Berger, Lauren Gossett, Anna Lippiatt and Sophia Gregory had the fourth-fastest qualifying time of 1:45.92.

Later, the Warriors’ 4x100 relay of Gossett, Berger, Zoe Sanders and Lippiatt turned in the third-fastest qualifying time of 51.19 to advance.

Capping off the evening, the Warriors’ 4x400 relay of Gossett, Emily Sprowl, Kaylee Burcaw and Gregory advanced with a seventh-place clocking of 4:12.12.

In the boys 110 hurdles, West Branch’s Ryan Irwin advanced to Saturday’s action with the seventh-fastest qualifying time of 15.24.

Also competing in a prelim race Thursday was DeShields, who finished 14th in the 400 in a time of 52.87.

The 800, 1600 and 3200 races will be held Saturday and will include a number of area standouts.

This article originally appeared on The Alliance Review: OHSAA regional track and field meet was held at Austintown Fitch