High school indoor track and field: Avon Lake's Rileigh Scarvelli repeats as champ in two events

For the fourth time since 2021, the Avon Lake girls brought home an indoor state track and field title in shot put. And for the second year in a row, the Shoregals repeated as state champion for the weight throw.The two wins were achieved by the same individual, sophomore Rileigh Scarvelli.Scarvelli won Saturday's Division 2 girls state shot put title at the Ohio Association of Track and Cross Country Coaches state meet at SPIRE in Geneva with a throw of 41-3.5. Her margin of victory was decisive, as she defeated Madison senior Addison Wesley (39-0.75).Scarvelli made it a clean sweep later in the meet, capturing the weight throw with a toss of 49-1.25, winning by over 6.5 feet over Massillon Washington's Isabella Haines (42-8.75).Scarvelli is the first Avon Lake girl to repeat as a state indoor track and field champion."It really means a lot," said Scarvelli. "Repeating definitely wasn't easy. There were a lot of strong competitors this year. I'm really happy to end the indoor season this way and am excited to see how it transfers to outdoor. It's still kind of sinking in honestly."My throws coach Alex Johnson and head coach Jeff Arra have been really supportive and helpful all winter long. My throws today weren't quite my best but I'm looking forward to keeping the momentum moving into the outdoor season."Scarvelli is enjoying another breakout year. She is the No. 1-ranked sophomore in the nation for the weight throw with a mark of 53-4, set Feb. 15 at the SPIRE Indoor Games."Being a four-time indoor state champion is very exciting," said Scarvelli. "Coming in, I tried not to think about being the defending champion in my events. Every year is different. My parents and coaches kept telling me it doesn't get easier, regardless of how many times I've been there. It reminded me a lot of last year, but it also felt different, because I knew how much work it took over the past year to get back to that point."Scarvelli was the 2025 Southwestern Conference field event MVP. She finished fifth in discus and eighth in shot put at the Division I state outdoor meet."She's such a humble kid," said Johnson. "I told her that she didn't fully realize how rare it is win two events, but to win two events two years in a row? I told her to try and imagine someone doing that in a different event. She wouldn't admit to it but she was fighting a cold this week. I don't think she was physically quite where she could be, although she still competed very well. When you look at her marks compared to last year, she's progressed."Scarvelli's first-round throws of 40-0 for shot put and 47-9.25 for the weight throw would have also won the competitions."She came out strong on her first two throws and from there it became a competition with herself," said Johnson.The Avon girls (Division 1), Avon boys (Division 1) and Amherst boys (Division 2) all finished third in their respective team categories to lead Lorain County. The Avon Lake girls were fifth in Division 2 girls.Contact Paul Heyse at 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com.Division 1BoysTeam scores1, Wayne, 48; 2. Westerville Central, 38; 3. Tie – Avon and Moeller, 29.5. Out of 49 teams.Top local results3,200-meter relay: 1. Dublin Jerome, 7:49.98; 8. Avon (Jose Alvelo, Owen Burns, Jared Keressi, Matthew Lochbiler), 8:02.85Long jump: 1. Key'Shawn Garrett (Wayne), 22-11; 3. Jackson Hughes (Avon), 22-8.5; 12. Jazion Moore (Lorain), 20-8.5High jump: 1. Elijah Harris (Westerville Central), 6-10; 2. Riley Jones (Berea-Midpark), 6-10; 3. Tie – Hughes (Avon) and Teague Boland (Moeller), 6-6Pole vault: 1. Ethan Ireland (Centerville), 16-1; 8. Thomas Smith (Avon), 13-6GirlsTeam scores1, Hilliard Davidson, 66; 2. Mason, 53; 3. Avon, 40. Out of 48 teams.Top local results60: 1. Azarae Hawkins (Mason), 7.42; 2. Ric'Keya White (New Albany), 7.49; 3. Ally Brediger (Avon), 7.56200: 1. Hawkins, 24.41; 10. Paige Justice (Avon), 25.29400: 1. Lillian LaRosa (Hilliard Davidson), 55.90 (55.895); 2. Brediger, 55.90 (55.896); 12. Jayla Antrum (Avon), 57.68800: 1. Celia Schulte (Hilliard Davidson), 2:09.41; 6. Kaitlyn Reese (Avon), 2:16.57; 7. Jessica Pendelton (Avon), 2:16.911,600: 1. Hannah Jicha (Strongsville), 4:53.91; 7. Reese (Avon), 5:04.9760-meter hurdles: 1. White, 8.36; 4. Justice, 8.681,600-meter relay: 1. Hilliard Davidson, 3:56.78; 3. Avon (Brediger, Antrum, Justice, Reese), 3:58.843,200-meter relay: 1. Hilliard Davidson, 9:19.92; 2. Avon (Kaitlyn Reese, Jessica Pendleton, Julianna Stein, Olivia Pajak), 9:27.77Division 2BoysTeam scores1, Tie – Butler and New Philadelphia, 29. 3. Amherst, 23. Out of 74 teams.Top local results800-meter relay: 1. Hartley, 1:29.39; 4. Amherst (Carter Boone, Julius Donald, Gaige Patton, Ben Thompson), 1:30.831,600-meter relay: 1. Butler, 3:20.08; 3. Amherst (Ethan Wilhelms, Ben Dotson, Julius Arnold, Ben Thompson), 3:23.723,200-meter relay: 1. Indian Hill, 7:59.18; 5. Avon Lake (Niko Koutouras, Luke Gunter, Liam Fritz, Alex Schulz), 8:07.27Shot put: 1. Drake Vander Cica (Hudson), 58-6.5; 8. Harrison Riley (Avon Lake), 50-5Pole vault: 1. Ryder Holtvogt (Piqua); 5. Cole Lugar (Amherst), 14-2. Grady Pellittieri (Amherst) and Caden Whitaker (Avon Lake) didn't clear opening heights.GirlsTeam scores1, Chaminade-Julienne, 50; 2. Loveland, 43; 3. Hathaway Brown, 31; 4. Tippecanoe, 24; 5. Avon Lake, 23. Out of 53 teamsTop local results60: 1. Cloie Williams (Chaminade Julienne), 7.68; 14. Kaitlyn Warner (Avon Lake), 8.05400: 1. Nia Poole (Ponitz CTC), 57.45; 6. Warner, 58.78Shot put: 1. Rileigh Scarvelli (Avon Lake), 41-3.5Weight throw: 1. Scarvelli, 49-1.25