High school track: Black River girls fourth, girls boys at Lorain County League meet

HENRIETTA TWP. — The Black River track and field teams matched their performances from a year ago Thursday at the sixth Lorain County League Meet, as the girls finished fourth and the boys fifth.Freshman Heidi Clark's victory in discus (102 feet, 5 inches) on Tuesday was the lone win for either team at the two-day meet, but Black River still had plenty to feel very good about.The girls got third-place finishes from the 4x100-, 4x200- and 4x400-meter relays. Lucy Gavlak, Grace Racut, Madelyn Orgel and Delaney Denger combined for a time of 1:52.55 in the 4x2, Morgan Kubitz, Hailee Moskal, Denger and Orgel teamed for a 52.19 in the 4x1 and Moskal, Ruby Johnston, Ella McCann and Racut ran a 4:31.80 in the 4x4."We've added a lot of freshmen, so we have a lot coming back next year," coach Aaron Munyan said. "Just with our girls, we had some huge PRs from Hailee (Moskal, 5th, 27.84) and Morgan (Kubitz, 6, 28.13) in the 200. Hailee finally hit the 27 club, so we're going to keep building on that next week when we go to districts (at Cuyahoga Heights)."Our girls in long jump finished 3-4 (Delaney Denger, Livy Fralick). Heidi Clark winning the discus that was awesome and a surprise. Livy Fralick in the 300 hurdles (5th, 55.43) had a great effort."I was a high school and college sprinter. I'm excited. We're building something here for the future as sprinters. Everyone's healthy. I'm just hoping the weather holds together."Junior Connor Rhein and senior Noah Orgel were the workhorses for the boys.Rhein came back from his second-place finish in the 3,200 Tuesday (9:36.72) to finish second in the 1,600 (4:28.57). It was the first time in the history of the meet that the 3,200 was switched to the first day.The two-day break between the distance races definitely was a benefit to Rhein, as it gave him fresher legs to challenge Keystone senior Eli McConoughey. McConoughey ultimately chalked up meet records for both events with times of 9:33.08 and 4:27.60."Painful. A big shock to the legs," Rhein said. "Happy that I got second (for the 1,600). I was sixth for that event last year. I prefer it (the 3,200) on the first day. The 3,200 was a three-second PR and a school record. The 1,600 was a five-second PR. Eli didn't seem to want to take things out fast in the 1,600, me and (Keystone's Jamie) Yurnonich (third, 4:31.02) did, so I'm glad we went out hard and actually got to run fast."Rhein split 2:03 as a member of the third-place and school-record 4x8 Tuesday (8:18.55)."Usually by this time of the season I haven't even broken 9:50 (for the 3,200) yet, so this has been a great meet," Rhein said. "To be 9:36 coming off a hard double (from the 4x8 on Tuesday) because I only had 40-minute break it's a huge confidence-booster. The relay split (2:03) wasn't near my PR, but it's my fastest split this year. We broke the school record for that (4x8) by three seconds."Orgel was third in the 800 (1:59.94) behind Eli McConoughey's other win (1:57.25).Orgel wrapped up the day anchoring the second-place 4x4 (3:32.75) that included Austin Pamer, Lucas Olive and Kyle Vonderau. Orgel, Rhein, Olive and Vonderau were members of the school-record 4x8."Our team definitely gave it a very good effort," Orgel said. "Again, a lot of us aren't fresh. I just came from an 800 so I'm tired, but other than that our team put together a strong effort."We definitely are stronger (than earlier in the season) and we're definitely in shape. We're definitely ready to rip the postseason."Munyan was upbeat about his boys' performances."Being from a smaller school in the conference, our kids have worked their butts off all year long. I couldn't be any more proud of all the athletes, even the ones that didn't qualify for the finals," he said. "They've shown so much improvement from day No. 1 to today. Hats off to the coaches as well running them through workouts, implementing my workouts being there and being supportive in the weight room and everything that they did in the winter with coach (Steve) Rhein. That was a great foundationally basis for our boys mid-distance and sprints."This the year that Connor (Rhein) has shown the most mental resiliency. I'm very excited to see him in the postseason."Contact Paul Heyse at sports@medina-gazette.com.ResultsBOYSStandings: 1. Firelands 185.5, 2. Keystone 169, 3. Brookside 96.5, 4. Wellington 71, 5. Black River 57, 6. Columbia 39, 7. Clearview 18, 8. Oberlin 9.100 — 1. Wyatt McKee (K) 10.91. 200 — 1. Colton Clough (F) 21.82. 400 — 1. Clough (F) 49.02. 800 — 1. Eli McConoughey (K) 1:57.25, 3. Noah Orgel (BR) 1:59.94. 1,600 — 1. McConoughey (K) 4:276, 2. Connor Rhein (BR) 4:28.57. 3,200 — 1. McConughey (K) 9:33.08, 2. Rhein (BR) 9:36.72, 8. Archer Combs (BR) 11:55.32. 110 hurdles — 1. Ari Wreyford (W) 15.7. 300 hurdles — 1. Elijah Lopez (Brooks) 40.18, 5. Kyle Vonderau (BR) 42.11. 4x100 — 1. Brookside 43.97. 4x200 — 1. Firelands 1:30.02. 4x400 — 1. Firelands 3:29.23, 2. Black River (Austin Pamer, Lucas Olive, Vonderau, Orgel) 3:32.75. 4x800 — 1. Keystone 8:14.87, 3. Black River (Orgel, Rhein, Olive, Vonderau) 8:18.55. High jump — 1. Liam Goran (K) 6-6. Long jump — 1. Goran (K) 21-4.5, 5. Pamer (BR) 19-2.5. Pole vault — 1. Lukas Griesz (F) 13-6. Shot put — 1. Luke Devore (K) 50-11.5, 6. Lincoln Combs (BR) 38-6.5. Discus — 1. Brett Beury (F) 172-1, 5. Combs (BR) 121-9.GIRLSStandings: 1. Firelands 201, 2. Oberlin 118, 3. Brookside 94.5, 4. Black River 77, 5. Wellington 72, 6. Keystone 64.5, 7. Columbia 24, 8. Clearview 2.100 — 1. Alyssa Webb (O) 12.29. 200 — 1. Olivia Hudson (O) 25.73, 5. Hailee Moskal (BR) 27.84, 6. Morgan Kubitz (BR) 28.13. 400 — 1. Hudson (O) 57.89, 5. Grace Racut (BR) 1:04.96. 800 — 1. Natalie Smith (F) 2:24.26, 8. Hailey Lambdin (BR) 2:51.53. 1,600 — 1. Smith (F) 5:38.31. 3,200 — 1. Amme Wilson (K) 12:46.47. 100 hurdles — 1. Avery Davis (Brooks) 15.04. 300 hurdles — 1. Davis (Brooks) 45.4, 5. Livy Fralick (BR) 55.43. 4x100 — 1. Oberlin 49.72, 3. Black River (Morgan Kubitz, Moskal, Delaney Denger, Madelyn Orgel) 52.19. 4x200 — 1. Oberlin 1:42.45, 3. Black River (Lucy Gavlak, Grace Racut, Orgel, Denger) 1:52.55. 4x400 — 1. Oberlin 4:07.12, 3. Black River (Moskal, Ruby Johnston, Ella McCann, Racut) 4:31.8. 4x800 — 1. Firelands 10:36.06, 3. Black River (Lambdin, Scarlett Olive, McCann, Johnston) 11:12.15. High jump — 1. Teaghan Jasinski (F) 5-3, 4. Kubitz (BR) 4-6. Long jump — 1. Cayman Noble (O) 16-6.5, 3. Denger (BR) 15-5, 4. Fralick (BR) 14-11.75. Pole vault — 1. Stella Frederick (F) 9-0, 6. Fralick (BR) 7-6. Shot put — 1. Cailyn Demagall (Col) 30-7.5, 7. Heidi Clark (BR) 27-7.25. Discus — 1. Clark (BR) 102-5.