The postseason is officially underway for track athletes at Cardinal, Independence and Kirtland after completing the 2018 Chagrin Valley Conference Valley Division track meet at Cuyahoga Heights High School on Thursday.
Hawken placed first in both the girls and boys competition while Cardinal’s girls finished second and the Huskies boys came in fourth. Independence placed third in both and Kirtland’s teams both finished fifth overall.
Independence earned seven individual CVC championships with Mason Crist and Christina Brunsman taking home two each.
Crist swept both the 110-meter and 300-meter hurdles for the second straight season.
He ran a time of 16.24 in the 110, which broke his own meet record, and a 42.87 in the 300.
“It’s great to be able to go out and earn first team all-conference again,” Crist said. “It was also awesome breaking my own meet record in the 110s. I had a great day to go out and do my job and that’s what I did. It always feels good taking first, but it’s a new week approaching and I have to keep running like I’m chasing someone.”
Crist also finished second in the pole vault (13-feet) and long jump (19-4 ½) and he is eager to run at next week’s district meet.
“This being my last postseason, in high school at least, I have to come in with an aggressive mindset,” he said. “I’m going to have to run harder and faster than I usually do and keep putting down good times and heights.”
Brunsman won the 100 and 400-meter dashes and continues to set new personal records nearly every meet.
“Winning them as a senior is a huge accomplishment for me,” Brunsman said. “I have been working extremely hard and noticing myself improve and to PR in my events each time really demonstrates that. I am happy I am going out strong as senior. As far as the next three weeks, I plan to continue to improve. With the weather being nice now it really helps. With prom this weekend, I still will be getting work in; if it doesn’t suck, you know you’re not working hard enough. I look forward to the upcoming meets.”
She ran a time of 13.71 in the 100 and 1:02.62 in the 400 and also placed second in the 800 with a time of 27.84 and ran a leg in the 4×400-meter relay that finished third. Josie Lee, Emily Skoczen and Paige Westerburg also competed in that event.
Independence’s other CVC champions included Luke Clymer in the discus (138-3), Ryan Zygmunt in the 400 (52.8), and P.J. Oschmann in the 3200 (10:42.42).
The Blue Devils also claimed two runner-up finishes thanks to the 4×800 meter relay team of Lee, Makenna McGhee, Skoczen and Westerburg, who finished in 10:13.53 and the boys 4×800 team of Oschmann, Collin Patton, Jimmy Senick and Zygmunt, who finished in 9:06.77.
Cardinal won two CVC championships.
Anna Avalon claimed the shot put title with a throw of 33-8 ¼ and Jacob Revak, Michael Lucarelli, Tyson Sinclair and Ben Lobdell combined to win the 4×200 with a time of 1:35.08.
“It felt great to win,” Avalon said. “It’s nice to see all the work I’ve put in for the past few years pay off. I feel confident heading into districts. I’ve put in a lot of work this season and I feel ready to compete.”
Avalon also finished second in the discus (110-6).
Other Huskies to finish as conference runners-up included Kaylee Klepper in the discus (31-9 ¼), Marina Cooper in the 100 hurdles (17.8), Hayden Cummins in the 110 hurdles (16.68), Revak in the 100 (12.12), Anna Blubaugh in the 400 (1:03.51), Taylor Zeigler in the 300 hurdles (50.29), and the girls and boys 4×400-meter relay teams.
Jenna Ayer, Zeigler, Sarah Shahan and Blubaugh ran a time of 4:19.08 while Revak, Lucarelli, Lobdell and Sinclair finished in 3:36.61.
Kirtland took home four runner-up finishes.
Emily Ungrady was second in the long jump (15-3 ¼), Joey Zovko placed second in the 800 (2:09.76) and Jenna Sayle finished second in both the 1600 (5:23.16) and the 800 (2:28.77).
“The CVC Valley meet was extremely competitive,” said Kirtland coach JP Moran. “Jenna took runner-up in the 1600 and 800 and had a really good meet. Emily did a real nice job in the long jump and senior leaders Danielle and Kristi Bryll were workhorses the whole meet. We had many people qualify for finals and that was encouraging. We were in every final on the track except one. The district meet will be interesting with us moving up to Division II this year, so we will have to look at what lineup options will give our athletes the best chance at advancing to regionals.”
