District track and field: Firelands girls win third title in four years

BAY VILLAGE — The Firelands girls had it all Saturday afternoon.With regional qualifiers in 13 of 17 events, including all four relays, the Falcons powered their way to their third district championship in four years at Saturday's Division II meet at Bay High School.Firelands finished with 115 points, as it held off second-place Fairview (111.5).Firelands was second to Bay on the boys' side, 134-124, as the Falcons also advanced athletes in 13 of 17 events, including all four relays. The Keystone boys placed third with 113.25 points, advancing athletes in 11 of 17 events.Sophomore Natalie Smith gave the Firelands girls their only win in the 800 (2:26.60). She was also a member of second-place finishes in the 3,200-meter relay (10:18.60) Thursday and the 1,600-meter relay (4:08.94) Saturday."It feels great knowing that I have a great spot for regionals," said Smith. "It was a good race and I had someone up there to push me the whole time. I know that I have a pretty strong kick and that I probably can hold everyone off. It feels very good knowing that I came in here as the top seed and finished as the top seed and I have a chance to make it farther next week."Junior Stella Frederick was also one of the many key contributors for the Falcons. Frederick had two personal records en route to a second-place finish in pole vault (9-8)."I had a bit of a rough practice (Friday). I landed on my bar and bruised my lower back. It hurt bad," said Frederick, a first-year pole vaulter. "I wasn't sure if I was good enough to qualify. I just tried to have fun. I just needed to remember to stick to my form."Frederick was a member of three regional-qualifying relays. She was a member of the 800 relay that salvaged a fourth (1:50.47) despite a baton mishap on the second exchange. She was also a member of second-place finishes by the 400 relay (50.58) and 1,600 relay (4:08.94).Depth carried the Firelands boys. Keystone, with six first-place awards, and Bay and Glenville with four firsts, all had more first-place finishes than Firelands, which had two. The Falcons' two firsts came from sophomores Brett Beury in discus (177-1) and Lukas Grisez in pole vault (13-6) Thursday. Beury added to the medal count with a second in shot put (47-4.5) Saturday."It was rough at first," said Beury. "I fouled my first throw but then came back with 47-4.5 on my second. To make it out is good. First would be good but (Keystone's Luke) Devore was first. The wind was rough for discus on Thursday. I had to change discs going into finals because the wind was different here. After that, it finally came back. I've never had to do that before. Both discs are UCS brand, but the second one has a lower rim weight."Senior Colton Clough qualified in three events for the Firelands boys. He was third in the 400 (50.16) and fourth in the 200 (22.58) and as a member of the second-place 1,600 relay (3:25.17)."I feel like crap," said Clough. "My body has been hurting, but God is good and God got us through (the 1,600 relay) and because of his grace we get to move on.""The kids do what they're supposed to do," said Firelands coach Steve Lias. "Our kids like to compete. I've been lucky. From the seniors down to the freshmen, when it's time to step up, they stepped up. One of the best things that happened was Stella Frederick stopping to pick up the baton in the 800 relay, when we slipped and fell, and outrunning everyone to get us fourth place and to regionals."Senior Eli McConoughey, along with sophomores Jamie Yuronich and Devore, led the Keystone boys.McConoughey had a hand in three wins. He came back after winning Thursday's 3,200 (9:36.74) to win the 800 (1:58.64). Yuronich came back after taking second in the 3,200 (9:39.78) to win the 1,600 (4:30.29). Both were also members of Thursday's winning 3,200-meter relay (8:19.42) that also included Eli's brother, Sam, a sophomore, and senior Craig Stroud. Eli was also a member of the fourth-place 1,600 relay (3:30.60) that qualified."It was a pretty solid race. I was happy to go out there and get it done," said McConoughey after winning the 800. "I was confident in myself. I love that backstretch. It felt great. I came through a little hotter on the first lap than last week but overall I felt pretty good."Devore was only seventh (47-1.5) in district shot put a year ago as a freshman at Orrville, but came through big this time. Devore eclipsed his previous best mark of 50-11.5 four times en route to a career-best 52-1."I felt good from the start," said Devore, who also plays first base for the Wildcats. "I felt like I had a shot today. Last year, I got hurt right before the season started. I fractured my left kneecap playing baseball in (January) during winter workouts. When I came back from that, it really wasn't 100 percent. I wasn't allowed to throw discus last year because they didn't want my spinning with it."Brookside had a pair of hurdles champions in senior Avery Davis and sophomore Elijah Lopez. Davis swept the 100-meter hurdles (15.43) and 300-meter hurdles (45.86). It was her second district win in three years in the 100 hurdles and first career district win in the 300 hurdles."(The 300 hurdles), I wasn't as super energized as I was for Thursday's prelims due to some hamstring and ankle problems," said Davis, a four-time regional qualifier in the 100 hurdles and 300 hurdles. "I'm happy I finished it. I just need some more recovery and I'll be fine."Lopez finished only seventh at districts a year ago (45.86) but made school history as the Cardinals boys' first district hurdles winner in a time of 40.30."It feels amazing," said Lopez. "The prelims wasn't the result I wanted. To go out there and to win it means a lot. It's definitely huge. Just to finally do it makes me proud of myself."Elyria Catholic junior Ben Essenmacher won the 110-meter hurdles, as he edged Bay senior Max Fischer, 15.44 to 15.46. EC's"I spiked my hand," said Essenmacher, also a member of the district-qualifying 400 relay. "I guess I did it around the sixth hurdle. I've bloodied my knees before but never my hand like this. It was definitely not my best race. I need to be better. I hit every hurdle. I never hit that many hurdles. Last year I made district finals but then I got smoked in the finals (eighth place, 16.62)."Contact Paul Heyse at 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com.BOYSTEAM SCORES1, Bay, 134; 2. Firelands, 124; 3. Keystone, 113.25; 4. Glenville, 100; 5. Elyria Catholic, 52.25; 6. Holy Name, 50; 7. Lutheran West, 28; 8. Brookside, 27; 9. Benedictine, 19.25; 10. Cleveland Central Catholic, 8; 11. Clearview, 5.25Top 4 finishers advance to Austintown regional100 METERS: 1. Jayden Perrine (Bay), 10.82; 2. Wyatt McKee (Keystone), 11.23; 3. Dionte Shephard (Glenville), 11.29; 4. Kayden Parker (Holy Name), 11.44200: 1. Jay'Vier Kerr (Glenville), 21.40; 2. Perrine (Bay), 21.65; 3. Shephard (Glenville), 22.43; 4. Colton Clough (Firelands), 22.58400: 1. Kerr (Glenville), 47.70; 2. Colton Cowling (Keystone), 50.02; 3. Clough (Keystone), 50.16; 4. Aiden Simms (Firelands), 51.71800: 1. Eli McConoughey (Keystone), 1:58.64; 2. Mikey Taylor (Bay), 2:01.15; 3. Fernando Taylor (Glenville), 2:01,62; 4. Dane Vanderpool (Firelands), 2:01.641,600: 1. Jamie Yuronich (Keystone), 4:30.29; 2. Meka Balas (Holy Name), 4:32.79; 3. Craig Stroud (Keystone), 4:35.14; 4. Zach Jules (Holy Name), 4:35.623,200: 1. McConoughey (Keystone), 9:36.74; 2. Yuronich (Keystone), 9:39.78; 3. Stephen Murphy (Bay), 10:11.42; 4. Grant Tomecko (Holy Name), 10:12.18110-METER HURDLES: 1. Ben Essenmacher (Elyria Catholic), 15.44; 2. Max Fischer (Bay), 15.46; 3. Connor Lattea (Elyria Catholic), 15.82; 4. Alex Duke (Firelands), 16.16300-METER HURDLES: 1. Elijah Lopez (Brookside), 40.30; 2. Duke (Firelands), 40.58; 3. Fischer (Bay), 40.72; 4. Jordin Johnson (Glenville), 41.19400-METER RELAY: 1. Bay, 43.39; 2. Glenville, 43.59; 3. Firelands (Finn Pruitt, Max Brown, Landon Becker, Ayden Fortner), 43.96; 4. Elyria Catholic, 44.55800-METER RELAY: 1. Bay, 1:29.28; 2. Glenville, 1:29.46; 3. Firelands (Simms, Duke, Fortner, Andrew Pawlak), 1:30.05; 4. Brookside, 1:30.571,600-METER RELAY: 1. Glenville, 3:24.24; 2. Firelands (Pawlak, Vanderpool, Fortner, Clough), 3:25.17; 3. Brookside, 3:29.55; 4. Keystone, 3:30.60SHOT PUT: 1. Luke Devore (Keystone), 52-1; 2. Brett Beury (Firelands), 47-4.5; 3. Diondre Taylor (Glenville), 46-4; 4. Canaan Regis (Elyria Catholic), 43-11HIGH JUMP: 1. Jackson Smith (Bay), 6-1; 2. Lute Harmon (Bay), 6-0; 3. Demetrius Bryant (Glenville), 5-10; 4. Max Brown (Firelands), 5-10GIRLSTEAM SCORES1, Firelands, 115; 2. Fairview, 111.5; 3. Beaumont, 91; 4. Buckeye, 86; 5. Trinity, 67; 6. Brookside, 55.5; 7. Lutheran West, 50; 8. Holy Name, 39; 9. Keystone, 22; 10. Bard Early College, 21Top 4 finishers advance to Austintown regional100 METERS: 1. Kayla Harris (Beaumont), 12.92; 2. London Marsinick (Firelands), 13.09; 3. Nia Jemison (Lutheran West), 13.14; 4. Aria Leflore (Trinity), 13.17200: 1. Jemison (Lutheran West), 26.48; 2. Harris (Beaumont), 26.66; 3. Marsinick (Firelands), 26.99; 4. Ashanti Lundy (Trinity), 27.25400: 1. Molly Koczur (Fairview), 59.05; 2. Addison Gilbert (Fairview), 59.30; 3. Audrey Smith (Firelands), 59.90; 4. Kaida Washington (Bard), 1:00.45 800: 1. Natalie Smith (Firelands), 2:26.60; 2. Chloe Dahler (Fairview), 2:26.87; 3. Sophia Regiec (Buckeye), 2:27.32; 4. Sienna Nemitz (Holy Name), 2:32.201,600: 1. Bella Dinya (Holy Name), 5:36.72; 2. Zamia Call (Bard), 5:42.84; 3. Dahler (Fairview), 5:43.90; 4. Ella Wheaton (Beaumont), 5:44.753,200: 1. Josephine Holody (Beaumont), 11:51.78; 2. Dahler (Fairview), 12:15.11; 3. Call (Bard), 12:31.11; 4. Grace McDonald (Holy Name), 12:38.60100-METER HURDLES: 1. Avery Davis (Brookside), 15.43; 2. Blakely Herman (Buckeye), 16.44; 3. Addison Schrader (Firelands), 16.57; 4. Lilly Keely (Brookside), 17.93 300-METER HURDLES: 1. Davis (Brookside), 45.86; 2. Herman (Buckeye), 47.27; 3. Octavia Gonzalez (Brookside), 47.58; 4. Zidar (Firelands), 47.77400-METER RELAY: 1. Trinity, 49.67; 2. Firelands (Teaghan Jasinski, Stella Frederick, Madison Howard, Marsinick), 50.58; 3. Lutheran West, 51.14; 4. Buckeye, 51.38800-METER RELAY: 1. Trinity, 1:43.99; 2. Fairview, 1:46.74; 3. Beaumont, 1:48.31; 4. Firelands (Zidar, Jordyn Copley, Frederick, Audrey Smith), 1:50.471,600-METER RELAY: 1. Fairview, 4:06.99; 2. Firelands (Natalie Smith, Jordyn Copley, Frederick, Audrey Smith), 4:08.94; 3. Trinity, 4:14.88; 4. Beaumont, 4:17.21DISCUS: 1. Parker Gorley (Beaumont), 96-4; 2. Emma Wilson (Keystone), 92-8; 3. Autumn Weidus (Lutheran West), 89-10; 4. Maddy Velick (Buckeye), 85-10LONG JUMP: 1. Madeline Eckert (Fairview), 16-9.25; 2. Aria Leflore (Trinity), 16-3; 3. Erin Salazar (Buckeye), 15-5.25; 4. Zidar (Firelands), 15-3POLE VAULT: 1. Ellen Steppenbacker (Buckeye), 10-0; 2. Frederick (Firelands), 9-8; 3. Leah Bengough (Buckeye), 9-0; 4. Bella Diaz (Brookside), 8-6