CUYAHOGA HEIGHTS—Grand Valley’s and Cuyahoga Heights’ boys’ track teams are in first place after the first day of competition at the Division III district meets at Ralph P. Adams Stadium on Wednesday.
The Mustangs lead the B District with 40 points while McDonald is in second place with 32.
“It was great to see the guys step up today and compete the way that they did,” said Grand Valley coach Kurtis Fisher. “We are looking to continue to see what more we can do on day two. We are all excited for what was done today.”
Leading the charge for the Mustangs were Nathan Boiarski and Robert Rogers, who placed first and second, respectively, in the long jump and punched their ticket to next week’s regional meet, and Dylan Hivick and Charlie Clason, who went 1-2 in the pole vault and will join their teammates at the Norwayne Regional.
Boiarski won the long jump with a best leap of 20 feet, 9 inches while Rogers was second with a best jump of 20 feet, 4 ¾ inches.
Hivick cleared 12 feet to win the pole vault while Clason finished with a best height of 10 feet, 6 inches.
“The consistent work that has been done in practice and the confidence they have gotten in the last few meets has been key,” Fisher said of his athletes and their performance. “The boys have been putting in extra work with the coaches to keep working on the technical parts of the events.”
The Mustangs also advanced several athletes to Friday’s district finals.
Boiarski placed eighth in the 100-meter dash prelims with a time of 12.10 and Alex Hunt finished sixth in the girls’ 300-meter hurdles prelims with a time of 58.21 seconds.
Gavin Crawford, Cameron Wade, Tanner Lee, and Nicolas Johnson placed eighth in the 4×200-meter relay prelims with a time of 1:54.71, and Rogers, Tanner, Hivick, and Boiarski advanced to the finals in the 4×100-meter relay with a time of 46.59 seconds, good for fourth in the preliminary heats.
“We had a good day with the 4×100, and we are looking for David (Steimle) to come out strong on Friday and hope to get a few more qualifiers on both the boys’ and girls’ teams.”
Cuyahoga Heights leads the boys’ A district with 42 points while Wellington is a distant second with 18 and Trinity is in third place with 14 points.
The Red Wolves won district titles in the discus and 4×800-meter relay.
Francis Connors cruised to the district championship in the discus with a best throw of 147-feet, 7 inches and Bradyn Rusch, Logan Apathy, Zander Mooney, and Caden Buccier finished the 4×8 in 8:40.98 to win the district crown.
Also placing in final events for the Red Wolves were Nicholas Armbrust, who placed fourth in the long jump with a best leap of 19 feet, 8 ¼ inches, Hyatt Taylor, who placed second in the pole vault (12-0), Noah Wilson, who was third in the pole vault (11-6), Tamir Julious, who finished eighth in the long jump (17-11), and Angelo Rocco, who finished seventh in the discus (113-6).
Jacob Stewart finished first in the 100-meter dash preliminary race with a time of 11.71 seconds and will compete in Friday’s district finals.
Other Red Wolves to advance to Friday’s finals include Armbrust (400), Buccier (800), Anthony Coutouzis (200), Joe Shay (800), Zach Unger (110 hurdles, 300 hurdles), and Noah Wilson (300 hurdles).
Independence’s boys’ 4×800-meter relay team consisting of Charlie Meyer, Manoli Fourtounis, Kyle McGovern, and James Kitagawa placed second in 8:53.20 and will compete at next week’s regional meet.
Other CVC athletes to score in District A Day 1 finals included Cardinal’s Angelo Kozelka (7th, Pole Vault, 9-0) and Max Soltis (2nd, Discus, 133-1), Independence’s Beck Crist (8th, Pole Vault, 9-0), Sam Pascarella (6th, Pole Vault, 9-6), Kirtland’s Will Beers (2nd, Long Jump, 20-1 ½), and Trinity’s Zavion Biggs (6th, Discus, 117-6), Jordan Seay-Thompson (7th, Long Jump, 18-7), and LeDon Turner (3rd, Discus, 126-0).
Advancing to Friday’s district finals were Cardinal’s Ethan Bosch (100, 200), Troy Champlin (300 Hurdles), Oliver Kumher (800), Ryan Miller (800), and Kyle Sinclair (200); Independence’s Mike Andryszczyk (100), Sam Eisenmann (110 Hurdles, 300 Hurdles), Jack Korinek (110 Hurdles, 300 Hurdles), Charlie Meyer (800), Tyler Miller (400), and Matt Wisniewski (100, 200); Kirtland’s Austin Leland (800) and Will Sayle (400); Richmond Heights’ Darius Munford (100); and Trinity’s Drew Carter (800), Cameron Corrothers (110 Hurdles, 300 Hurdles), and Leiland Thompson (200).
Richmond Heights’ boys’ swept a pair of preliminary relay heats.
Domarrius Frazier, Kamauri Hall, Michael McWilliams, and Munford finished first in the 4×200 with a time of 1:33.12 and the 4×100 in 44.48 seconds.
Cuyahoga Heights, Kirtland, Trinity, and Independence also advanced to the finals in the 4×200, and Cuyahoga Heights, Independence, Trinity, Cardinal, and Kirtland moved on to the finals in the 4×100.
The host Red Wolves finished Day 1 in second place of the girls’ competition.
Laurel leads with 24 points while the Red Wolves finished the day with 18 and Independence, the two-time defending district champions, is in third with 17 points.
Cardinal’s 4×800-meter relay team consisting of Lily Ayer, Ava Gough, Riley Homa, and Aubreigh Kitzmiller punched its ticket to the regional meet by finishing as the district runner-up with a time of 11:02.94.
Other regional qualifiers on the first day of district competition include Cuyahoga Heights’ Janasia Bridges, who won the district title in the high jump by clearing 4 feet, 10 inches, Independence’s Casey Adams, who placed second in the high jump with a best height of 4-10, and Independence’s Kaitlyn Grill, who placed fourth in the shot put with a best toss of 33 feet, 9 ¼ inches.
Cuyahoga Heights’ Paige Henley, Trinity’s Miracle Head, and Cardinal’s Anna Layman finished fifth, sixth, and seventh, respectively, in the high jump to earn team points, and Cardinal’s Audrey Avalon and Cuyahoga Heights’ Sophia Winslow placed fifth and seventh in the shot put.
Advancing to Friday’s finals are Cardinal’s Ayer (400), Ronee Collins (300 Hurdles), and Layman (100 Hurdles); Cuyahoga Heights’ Bridges (300 Hurdles), Katie Buccier (400), Mariama Hopkins (100 Hurdles), Samantha Vallee (100 Hurdles), and Lauryn Wilson (300 Hurdles); Independence’s Adams (100, 200) and Alberta Moreal (300 Hurdles); and Trinity’s Iniya Charlton (100, 200), Marlena Dowell (100 Hurdles), Kiarrah Hall (100 Hurdles, 300 Hurdles), and Head (200).
Cuyahoga Heights advanced its 4×100, 4×200, and 4×400 relay teams to Friday’s finals. Cardinals’ 4×400 and Independence’s 4×400 and 4×100 relay teams also advanced to the finals, and Trinity sent all three of its relay teams to the finals.
