CHESTERLAND–West Geauga hosted the 2023 Kurt Frankel Track and Field Invitational on Saturday. In addition to the Wolverines, multiple other Chagrin Valley Conference teams participated in the meet including Chagrin Falls, Grand Valley, Orange, Lakeside, and Wickliffe.
Several CVC athletes took home top honors in their respective events including Orange’s Brian Gent, who won first place in both the 1600 (4:19.61) and the 800 (2:03.00).
“It was a good race,” Gent said of his 1600. “Went out in 64 and came through at about 2:10ish. I was sitting on (West Geauga’s) Danny (Kearns), the whole time. That third lap, it started to get hard. I was worried for a bit, but went around the last lap, and with 200 to go, I was confident in my ability. I have been working on my kick, so I just had to put trust in myself and came around the curve and in the home stretch just gave it all I got and I was lucky to out-sprint him.”
Wickliffe’s Colby Humbert took first place in the 200-meter dash with a time of 22.56, Kearns outran the competition in the 3200 (9:56.92), and Orange’s Naashon Calliens won the 110-meter hurdles in 16.08.
“Running in this race despite the cold, I realized that I had to bring my all and do my all, and in the end, it ended up working for me,” Calliens said.
Grand Valley’s Robert Rogers won the high jump by clearing 5 feet, 8 inches.
“It was a little cold out, bad weather conditions,” Rogers said. “I just went out and did my best, try to put my team in a good spot to win the meet.”
West Geauga’s 4×800-meter relay team took first with a time of 8:22.98 and Orange’s 4×400-meter relay team won in 3:32.22.
Three girls also claimed individual titles.
Chagrin Falls’ Mila Gresh cruised to the win in the 1600 (5:24.21).
“It felt really great, there was some really great competition here,” Gresh said. “All these girls are such amazing runners and it was great to compete against them. They really made me push. It was amazing.”
Wickliffe’s Annabella Stoehr won the long jump (15-0.5) and West Geauga’s Megan McGinnis claimed the title in the high jump (4-10).
