District track and field: Avon boys win second title in three years

AMHERST — After two close battles with St. Ignatius the last two years, the Avon boys weren't going to mess around this time at the the Division I district track and field championships at the Richard S. Cooley Track. The Eagles amassed 133.5 points Friday to easily outdistance defending champ St. Ignatius (98) for their second district title in three years. Avon chalked up seven first-place medals out of 17 events, plus had a pair of second-place awards and two thirds. It avenged Avon's 125-123 district loss to St. Ignatius a year ago. But it wasn't just about the wins. It was also about Avon's multiple record-breaking performances. The Eagles broke their 2022 Lorain County records with a win (and meet record) in the 800-meter relay (1:27.38) and with a second in the 400-meter relay (41.82). Avon also had meet and school records in winning the 1,600-meter relay (3:18.85). Junior Luke Hamilton broke his school record in shot put for the second week with a toss of 58-4.75 in his district title defense. It was Hamilton's second district title defense in three days, following up his victory Wednesday in discus with a personal-record throw of 173-5. Tommy Ptacek, Drew Lindsay, Cole Kepner and Jakob Weatherspoon combined for the win in the 800-meter relay, which broke the 2014 meet record of 1:27.95 set by Berea-Midpark and the Avon's 2022 county mark of 1:27.99. The Eagles got a break when St. Ignatius was disqualified for a baton pass outside the zone on the first exchange. The two teams were tied for the No. 1 seed at 1:29.81. Ptacek, Weatherspoon, Daniel Colburn and Kepner clocked 41.82 for the 400-meter relay, which broke Avon's 2022 county mark of 41.93 and would have been a meet record, except St. Ignatius went 41.38. Ptacek, Lindsay, Jack Farney and Weatherspoon broke a 1993 meet record for the 1,600-meter relay with a winning time of 3:18.85. It also shattered the Eagles' school record of 3:22.28, set a week ago at the Southwestern Conference meet. In between all of that, Lindsay added to his pile of medals with victories in the 110-meter hurdles (14.71) and 300-meter hurdles (39.16). "Every race was so close," Lindsay said. "St. Ignatius was unfortunately disqualified in the 800 relay. We don't know would have won that. The 4x100, St. Ignatius pulled away. That race was crazy close. That was really fun to compete with them. It's always good to go against a program like St. Ignatius and beat them. I'm very happy. Four golds, you can't be upset about that. The 300 hurdles, I didn't run my smoothest race. I just had to grind the race out. I got it done, but I've got to keep improving. "It wasn't all about us running (track events) today. Hamilton cleaned up (field events). Michael Yaeger cleaned up (high jump, long jump). We need to go home, relax this weekend. Once you do it once, you do it again. Same thing (for regionals). Hopefully, we can advance all of our events out of prelims to finals and just go from there. We just have to keep surviving and improving every week, keep striving." Weatherspoon caught a break in winning the 400 meters (49.49) when Elyria junior Mateo Medina was disqualified for a false start. Medina outdueled Weatherspoon to win the 400 meters at the SWC meet, 48.49-48.59, as both athletes broke the conference record. "It was a good day all around, four golds and three records broken," said Weatherspoon. "That's just all practice right there. You don't practice to get it right. You practice until you can't get it wrong. The job today was to get ready for next week." "All four years that I've been in this program it's all been about the people around me and what we make of it," said Ptacek. "This year we're just doing everything we can. The results are good. We couldn't do anything without our coaches. They're the driving factor that pushes us every day. You can always improve our handoffs. We can always sharpen those up and just mentally and physically be prepared. Keep good health. That's all it is." The Avon girls bounced back from a tough third-place district finish last year to earn the runnerup trophy behind defending champ Westlake, 81-71. Avon's Rania Brown defended her district discus title with a personal-record throw of 144-4, 18 feet better than a year ago. Sarah Connor gave Avon its other win with a victory in pole vault (10-6). "I know my teammates and our coaches. We work hard til the very last minute of practice," said Brown. "Every day is a grind for these opportunities to represent Avon. I'm very proud of my teammates and have seen them work hard day in day out, and to come in second for our district is a symbol of all our hard work and what we do from here is only going to get better." "I thought our team was very well prepared today with the great coaches we have at Avon," said Connor. "We did what we needed to get to the place we are. Placing second at districts really shows that track is not just an individual sport but a collective effort." Lorain senior Nakeya Hermon defended her meet title in the 100 (11.94), plus added wins in the 200 (24.97) and as a member of the winning 400-meter relay (49.40) that included Iyanna Alves, Ineyah Palos and Dalasha Pruchinsky. She also advanced with a third-place finish as a member of the 800-meter relay (1:47.10). "My goal for my team is to keep advancing, to keep going to the next day, the next level," said Hermon. "That's all we can do. We can't control anybody but ourselves." Medina redeemed himself in a big way for the disqualification with a victory in the 200 meters. He clocked in with a county record and meet record 21.17. It broke the 1993 meet record of 21.50 held by John Marshall's Jonathan Burrell. He broke the 2022 county record of 21.31 set by Keystone's Ryne Shackelford. It also broke the 1976 school record of 21.3 (hand-timed) set by Eugene Wilson. Medina finished second in the 100 with a time of 10.70. "I'm so happy that I bounced back," said Medina. "That 400 really got to my head. It was a flip, man. I wanted to come out and show that they can't mess with me in the 200. I don't need the 400. I just want to go out and run my hardest with what I got. I'm just so happy and so blessed. I ran scared. I ran like I was running from some dogs. I just wanted to get out and to run as hard as I can. That's what I did." Contact Paul Heyse at 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com. Boys Team scores 1, Avon, 133.5; 2. St. Ignatius, 98; 3. Rocky River, 76; 4. Amherst, 69.5; 5. Midview, 65; 6. Avon Lake, 51.5; 7. St. Edward, 37; 8. North Ridgeville, 30; 9. Westlake, 25.5; 10. Lakewood, 21; 11. Olmsted Falls, 19; 12. Elyria, 18; 13. North Olmsted, 17 Top 4 finishers advance to Amherst regional, May 24, 26 100 meters: 1. Michael Bissler (St. Edward), 10.59; 2. Mateo Medina (Elyria), 10.70; 3. Brandon Webster (St. Ignatius), 10.72; 4. Cole Sigan (Olmsted Falls), 10.78; 7. Cole Kepner (Avon), 10.95 200: 1. Mateo Medina (Elyria), 21.17 (MEET RECORD, old record 21.50 set in 1993 by John Marshall's Jonathan Burrell); 2. Michael Bissler (St. Edward), 21.96; 3. Shane Morrison (St. Ignatius), 21.96; 4. Cole Sigan (Olmsted Falls), 22.00; 5. Cole Kepner (Avon), 22.17 400: 1. Jakob Weatherspoon (Avon), 49.49; 2. Benjamin Showman (St. Ignatius), 50.27; 3. Steve Allen (Midview), 50.68; 4. Grant Preto (Rocky River), 51.14 800: 1. Majid Abuan (Rocky River), 1:54.14; 2. Guillame Carroll (Rocky River), 1:55.92; 3. Bradan Schnabal (Avon Lake), 1:56.83; 4. John Corrigan (St. Ignatius), 1:57.29; 5. Dylan Robinson (Midview), 1:59.07; 6. Josh Pomfrey (Avon), 2:01.03 1,600: 1. Luke Bowlsby (Amherst), 4:22.26; 2. Tayo McLaughlin (North Ridgeville), 4:23.83; 3. Colin Martins (North Olmsted), 4:25.94; 4. Jared Robinson (Midview), 4:28.48 3,200: 1. Ty Perez (Amherst), 9:30.47; 2. Charles Payne (Lakewood), 9:33.49; 3. Jeremy Snyder (Westlake), 9:36.84; 4. Luke Bowlsby (Amherst), 9:37.17 110-meter hurdles: 1. Drew Lindsay (Avon), 14.71; 2. Austin Olinger (Avon Lake), 15.50; 3. Bob Starck (St. Ignatius), 15.53; 4. Owen Bier (Midview), 15.65; 7. Nyqueze Ortiz (Avon), 15.74 300-meter hurdles: 1. Drew Lindsay (Avon), 39.16; 2. Samurai Chung (St. Ignatius), 39.82; 3. Owen Bier (Midview), 39.90; 4. Bob Starck (St. Ignatius), 39.92; 5. Kayden Tackett (Amherst), 40.23; 6. Austin Olinger (Avon Lake), 41.79; 7. Nyqueze Ortiz (Avon), 41.82; 8. Henry Cislo (Amherst), 43.23 400-meter relay: 1. St. Ignatius, 41.38 (MEET RECORD, old record 42.00 set in 1993 by John Marshall); 2. Avon (Tommy Ptacek, Jakob Weatherspoon, Daniel Colburn, Cole Kepner), 41.82; 3. St. Edward, 42.91; 4. Midview (Dane West, Cullen McLaughlin, Mason Kucera, Jailen McNair), 43.38 800-meter relay: 1. Avon (Tommy Ptacek, Drew Lindsay, Cole Kepner, Jakob Weatherspoon), 1:27.38 (MEET RECORD, old record 1:27.95 set in 2014 by Berea-Midpark); 2. Amherst (Kayden Tackett, Austin Lugar, Evan Draga, Sean McQuate), 1:29.19; 3. North Ridgeville (Travis Good, Connor Costin, Mark Pierce, Devin Williams), 1:30.54; 4. Midview (Dane West, Cullen McLaughlin, Mason Kucera, Jailen McNair), 1:30.65 1,600-meter relay: 1. Avon (Tommy Ptacek, Drew Lindsay, Jack Farney, Jakob Weatherspoon), 3:18.85 (MEET RECORD, old record 3:20.11 set in 1993 by John Marshall); 2. St. Ignatius, 3:19.45; 3. Rocky River, 3:24.44; 4. Amherst (Kayden Tackett, Alex Stacey, Devin Ramirez, Evan Draga), 3:24.48; 7. Midview (Owen Bier, Zach Wallace, Max Kucera, Steven Allen), 3:31.01 3,200-meter relay: 1. Rocky River, 7:57.23; 2. St. Ignatius, 8:02.74; 3. Amherst (Devin Ramirez, Joseph Miller, Ty Perez, Luke Bowlsby), 8:04.50; 4. St. Edward, 8:07.61; 5. Avon (Josh Pomfrey, Franco Gallo, Logan Bittle, Cooper Tanski), 8:09.15 Shot put: 1. Luke Hamilton (Avon), 58-4.75; 2. Braeden Quigley (Avon Lake), 55-4.5; 3. Ethan Jones (Avon), 52-2.75; 4. Clay Broadhurst (Avon Lake), 50-9.25 Discus: 1. Luke Hamilton (Avon), 173-5; 2. Braeden Quigley (Avon Lake), 161-2; 3. Erich Frombach (Avon), 154-0; 4. Abel Sereika (Rocky River), 145-5 High jump: 1. Ryan Runser (Midview), 6-3; 2. Michael Yaeger (Avon), 6-3; 3. Colin Slomka (Rocky River), 6-0; 4. Nicholas Geraci (North Ridgeville), 6-0; 5. Evan Difranco (Midview), 5-10 Long jump: 1. Ryan Runser (Midview), 22-3; 2. Christian Cupp (St. Ignatius), 22-1.75; 3. Michael Yaeger (Avon), 21-7.25; 4. Jesse Kilgore (North Ridgeville), 20-9.25 Pole vault: 1. Hunter Maxey (Avon), 14-0; 2. Evan Draga (Amherst), 13-6; 3. Tie – Cooper Miller (Amherst) and Quinn Kroneker (Avon Lake), 12-0; 5. Kent Butler (Avon Lake), 12-0 Girls Team scores 1, Westlake, 81; 2. Avon, 71; 3. Olmsted Falls, 66.17; 4. Rocky River, 65.17; 5. Magnificat, 64; 6. Lakewood, 59.17; 7. Lorain, 57; 8. Avon Lake, 56; 9. Amherst, 54.33; 10. Midview, 33.17; 11. St. Joseph Academy, 16; 12. North Ridgeville, 14; 13. Bay, 10; 14. Elyria and North Olmsted, 5; 16. John Marshall, 3 Top 4 finishers advance to Amherst regional, May 24, 26 100 meters: 1. Nakeya Hermon (Lorain), 11.94; 2. Ella Baker (Amherst), 11.98; 3. Kaydence Doxley (Lakewood), 12.42; 4. Mary Sollars (Rocky River), 12.59; 5. Erica Baldoza (Midview), 12.71 200: 1. Nakeya Hermon (Lorain), 24.97; 2. Kaydence Doxley (Lakewood), 25.14; 3. Mary Sollars (Rocky River), 25.82; 4. McKenna Hunt (Lakewood), 25.87; 5. Erica Baldoza (Midview), 25.95; 6. Elizabeth Schiffbauer (North Ridgeville), 26.29 400: 1. Ella Baker (Amherst), 56.49; 2. Mikaela Davala (Magnificat), 59.65; 3. Brooklyn-Ramos-Kelly (Magnificat), 59.90; 4. Dalasha Pruchinsky (Lorain), 1:00.05; 5. Elizabeth Schiffbauer (North Ridgeville), 1:00.16 800: 1. Samantha Goodnough (Olmsted Falls), 2:15.25; 2. Maggie Hennessey (Westlake), 2:16.29; 3. Grace Lavelle (Rocky River), 2:17.27; 4. Sarah Colman (Westlake), 2:17.83; 5. Madeline Betz (Avon Lake), 2:18.45; 6. Aurora Wilson (Amherst), 2:20.20 1,600: 1. Sarah Peer (Westlake), 4:51.43; 2. Katie Clute (Olmsted Falls), 4:52.99; 3. Samantha Goodnough (Olmsted Falls), 5:05.96; 4. Sydney Peer (Westlake), 5:11.44 3,200: 1. Katie Clute (Olmsted Falls), 10:39.83 (MEET RECORD, old record 10:49.13 set in 2012 by Rocky River's Elyse Bierut); 2. Sarah Peer (Westlake), 10:48.73; 3. Kaitlyn Reese (Avon), 11;05.83; 4. Julia Richards (Westlake), 11:13.04; 5. Maddie Harrington (Avon), 11:13.64; 7. Kylie Bennington (Avon Lake), 11:40.85 100-meter hurdles: 1. Mary Sollars (Rocky River), 14.93; 2. Natalie Pleban (Amherst), 15.07; 3. Megan Mahaffey (Olmsted Falls), 15.71; 4. Ellie Harkins (Rocky River), 15.81; 5. Margaret Calabrese (North Ridgeville), 16.22 300-meter hurdles: 1. Elle Harkins (Rocky River), 46.83; 2. Ava Reed (St. Joseph), 47.08; 3. Alex Vargo (Amherst), 47.12; 4. Reginae Swanson (Elyria), 47.93 400-meter relay: 1. Lorain (Iyanna Alves, Ineyah Palos, Dalasha Pruchinsky, Nakeya Hermon), 49.50; 2. Avon (Makenzie Ptacek, Sarai Kittelberger, Alexis Titas, Molly Geiger), 50.42; 3. Lakewood, 50.53; 4. Westlake, 50.62; 6. Avon Lake (Sheehan, Elizabeth Manly, Wilson, Lengel), 51.49 800-meter relay: 1. Lakewood, 1:45.75; 2. Avon Lake (Sophia Wilson, Camryn Koski, Rachel Sheehan, Olivia Lengel), 1:46.72; 3. Lorain (Iyanna Alves, Dalasha Pruchinsky, Ineyah Palos, Hermon), 1:47.10; 4. Westlake, 1:47.19; 5. Avon, 1:47.53 1,600-meter relay: 1. Magnificat, 4:00.33; 2. Amherst (Jayla Cruz, Catherine Turner, Aurora Wilson, Ella Baker), 4:00.72; 3. Avon Lake (Olivia Lengel, Madeline Betz, Camryn Koski, Rachel Sheehan), 4:05.23; 4. Westlake, 4:06.34; 7. Avon (Anna Argabright, Layan Odeh, Noor Odeh, Lauren Tindera), 4:09.87 3,200-meter relay: 1. Westlake, 9:16.28 (MEET RECORD, old record 9:16.78 set in 2012 by Medina); 2. Olmsted Falls, 9:28.94; 3. Rocky River, 9:35.71; 4. Avon (Kaitlyn Reese, Maddie Harrington, Jessica Pendleton, Anna Argabright), 9:36.92; 5. Amherst (Aurora Wilson, Alaina Alflen, Sophia Pecora, Paige Miller), 9:37.15 Shot put: 1. Samone Whitt (Lorain), 41-1.75; 2. Claire Springer (Avon Lake), 40-4.25; 3. Megan White (Magnificat), 40-4.25; 4. Emily Agostin (Avon), 39-4.25; 5. Ava Luczak (Avon Lake), 38-7.5; 6. Mollt Drenick (Avon), 35-10.5; 7. Brajhia Phillips (Lorain), 32-8.75 Discus: 1. Rania Brown (Avon), 144-4; 2. Macy Brennan (Westlake), 128-9; 3. Addison Bartal (Olmsted Falls), 120-9; 4. Ava Luczak (Avon Lake), 119-5; 6. Bridget Bergen (Avon), 113-10; 7. Meghan Hubbard (Midview), 111-0 High jump: 1. Alexis Weber (Midview), 5-6; 2. Madison Miller (Magnificat), 5-2; 3. Stephanie Smith (Avon Lake), 5-1; 4. Megan McClain (North Olmsted), 5-1; 5. Natalie Pleban (Amherst), 5-0; 6. Reilly Elbert (North Ridgeville), 4-10; 7. Brianna Jones (Avon Lake), 4-10 Long jump: 1. Alexis Weber (Midview), 18-7.25; 2. Kaydence Doxley (Lakewood), 18-5.5; 3. Aniya Simmons (Lakewood), 16-9; 4. Megan Mahaffey (Olmsted Falls), 16-7.75; 6. Makenzie Ptacek (Avon), 16-6 Pole vault: 1. Sarah Conner (Avon), 10-6; 2. Allison Eppich (Magnificat), 10-6; 3. Sophia Hoffman (Avon Lake), 10-3; 4. Emily Allman (Magnificat), 10-0