High school track: Firelands boys, girls win titles at Lorain County League meet

HENRIETTA TWP. — Depth carried Firelands' boys and girls to successful title defenses of their Lorain County League championships Thursday. The boys held off Keystone 184.5-176 as it won its second straight league title. The Falcons amassed nine first-place finishes while adding four seconds and five thirds at the two-day meet which kicked off Tuesday. Keystone chalked up three firsts, nine seconds and four thirds. The girls won their third straight league title as they outdistanced Oberlin 193.5-118. The Falcons totaled seven firsts, six seconds and two thirds, while the Phoenix had six firsts, four seconds and a third. Juniors Ayden Fortner, Colton Clough and James Berry led Firelands. Fortner was seeded only No. 4 in the 200 after Tuesday's prelims but won Thursday's final over Brookside's Domenic Lundberg. Both clocked 22.81 but Fortner got the edge in a photo finish as he won by 0.003 of a second. "It all comes down to support," Fortner said. "There are so many people that come out and the energy really hits when you're coming in. I'm one of those guys that never really starts strong. My finish is what I pride myself in. I really kicked it in and pulled it off." Fortner later teamed with Clough, Andrew Pawlak and Aiden Bokulich for a meet-record win in the 1,600 relay (3:25.88). In between, Clough won the 400 as he held off Keystone's Logan Nagle, 49.72 to 49.87. "Right before we ran (the 1,600 relay) Pawlak told me to do it for my mom," said Clough, fighting back tears. "My mom (Barbara Clough) passed away five years ago from cancer. That really pushed me to run my heart out. It feels great to have my team's hopes and dreams on my back for conference or for whatever meet we're at. "I just want to thank Evan (two-time Division III state champ, 2023-24) and Jason Hudson, him and his dad, being patient, working and training with me. They've helped me to get to this point, to basically help me to feel like I'm Hudson's successor. I just want to go out and show the world what I can do." Berry had quite a performance in the two hurdle races. He won the 110 hurdles in a meet-record 14.77 and was third in the 300 hurdles (39.59). Senior Ariannah Floyd was the catalyst for the Firelands girls. Floyd defended her titles in the 100 hurdles (14.90) and 300 hurdles (43.77). She was also a member of the winning 1,600 relay with Jordyn Copley, Stella Frederick, and Audrey Smith that won in both a meet-record and school-record time of 4:01.84. The same Firelands girls placed second in the 800 relay (1:43.04). "To have the great challenge from Oberlin really motivated us," Floyd said. "To know that we're ranked No. 1 in the region for the 1,600 relay is a big motivator. I feel like that race was a miracle. We've run several 4:05s this season, so to run 4:01 is such a big accomplishment, a big step. To win the championship again means a lot. To have all these talented athletes and the support of our coaches brought us to victory." Firelands coach Steve Lias was understandably upbeat. In addition to sweeping the boys and girls titles, each team won six invites this season. "We always taught the kids that each time out that we've got to be better," Lias said. "They do. They step up every week." Firelands didn't steal the whole show. The Oberlin girls' 800 relay of Alyssa Webb, Aubrey Abeyta, Cayman Noble and Olivia Hudson won in a Division III state-record time of 1:41.25. It broke the 2009 mark of 1:41.31 set by Gilmour Academy. It also broke the 2013 Lorain County record of 1:41.40 held by Amherst. Hudson also had wins in the 400 (56.85, meet record) and 200 (25.96) and was a member of the second-place 1,600 relay (4:09.54). "We have three races left to lower that (the 800 relay record) even more," said Hudson, the defending Division III 400-meter champ. "We still have a lot of races (including postseason prelims) to run. Most of the season we really haven't had a lot of competition (in the 800 relay). We ran very well by ourselves despite that. It feels good. We've been running against time." Webb kicked things off for Oberlin by winning the 100 meters in a meet-record time of 12.44. Webb also teamed up with Abeyta, Noble and Jasmine McDearmon for a meet-record win in the 400 relay (49.59). "It feels very good," said Webb. "It was super satisfying to run today especially with good weather. It feels very good that all our hard work at practice is paying off. About a month ago our assistant coach suggested that we put the state record (held by Gilmour) on our relay baton. That was a nice motivator for us. Everything is coming together for us." Contact Paul Heyse at (440) 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com. BOYSTEAM SCORES: 1. Firelands, 184.5; 2. Keystone, 176; 3. Brookside, 95; 4. Wellington, 58.5; 5. Black River, 52; 6. Columbia, 37; 7. Clearview, 31; 8. Oberlin, 15100 METERS: 1. Corey Armelin (Clearview), 11.35; 2. Dominic Lundberg (Brookside), 11.38; 3. Emory Fedor (Keystone), 11.50; 4. Tyler Ohl (Keystone), 11.53200: 1. Ayden Fortner (Firelands), 22.81; 2. Lundberg (Brookside), 22.81; 3. Fedor (Keystone), 23.07; 4. Ohl (Keystone), 23.20400: 1. Colton Clough (Firelands), 49.72; 2. Logan Nagle (Keystone), 49.87; 3. Spencer Brasee (Wellington), 50.45; 4. Colton Cowling (Keystone), 50.55800: 1. Dane Vanderpool (Firelands), 1:59.74; 2. Luke Skala (Keystone), 2:00.59; 3. Noah Orgel (Black River), 2:01.28; 4. Eli McConoughey (Keystone), 2:01.741,600: 1. Joe Fox (Wellington), 4:34.27; 2. Sam McConoughey (Keystone), 4:35.05; 3. Eli McConoughey (Keystone), 4:35.65; 4. Merritt Davis (Firelands), 4:38.923,200: 1. Connor Rhein (Black River), 10:10.20; 2. Jamie Yuronich (Keystone), 10:24.44; 3. Vanderpool (Firelands), 10:33.64; 4. Craig Stroud (Keystone), 10:45.30110-METER HURDLES: 1. James Berry (Firelands), 14.77 (MEET RECORD); 2. Grady Whitacre (Keystone), 14.91; 3. Aiden Bokulich (Firelands), 15.23; 4. Domenic Rodriguez (Brookside), 15.69300-METER HURDLES: 1. Whitacre (Keystone), 39.47; 2. Bokulich (Firelands), 39.55; 3. Berry (Firelands), 39.59; 4. Rodriguez (Brookside), 41.03400-METER RELAY: 1. Firelands (Andrew Pawlak, Finn Pruitt, Austin Sutorius, Clough), 43.17; 2. Keystone, 43.47; 3. Clearview, 44.21; 4. Black River, 45.12800-METER RELAY: Keystone (Fedor, Cowling, Zach Shackelford, Ohl), 1:30.38 (MEET RECORD); 2. Firelands, 1:31.20; 3. Brookside, 1:32.45; 4. Columbia, 1:33.001,600-METER RELAY: 1. Firelands (Pawlak, Bokulich, Fortner, Clough), 3:25.88 (MEET RECORD); 2. Keystone, 3:29.31; 3. Wellington, 3:31.38; 4. Black River, 3:31.98LONG JUMP: 1. Lundberg (Brookside), 21-2.5; 2. Whitacre (Keystone), 20-11; 3. Alex Duke (Firelands), 19-4; 4. Jorge Somoza (Wellington), 19-1DISCUS: 1. Brett Beury (Firelands), 156-5; 2. Tyler Kitzberger (Brookside), 143-8; 3. Zy'Aire Marn (Brookside), 132-7; 4. Noah Angle (Firelands), 130-4 GIRLSTEAM SCORES: 1. Firelands, 193.5; 2. Oberlin, 118; 3. Brookside, 101; 4. Black River, 72; 5. Columbia, 62; 6. Keystone, 52.5; 7. Wellington, 50; 8. Clearview, 2 100 METERS: 1. Alyssa Webb (Oberlin), 12.44 (MEET RECORD); 2. Cayman Noble (Oberlin), 12.89; 3. London Marsinick (Firelands), 12.96; 4. McKylie Cusano (Columbia), 13.35200: 1. Olivia Hudson (Oberlin), 25.96; 2. Webb (Oberlin), 26.17; 3. Audrey Smith (Firelands), 26.60; 4. Emerson Zidar (Firelands), 27.76400: 1. Hudson (Oberlin), 56.85 (MEET RECORD); 2. Audrey Smith (Firelands), 58.41; 3. Jordyn Copley (Firelands), 1;01.62; 4. Aubrey Abeyta (Oberlin), 1:03.03800: 1. Natalie Smith (Firelands), 2:29.74; 2. Gianna Camera (Firelands), 2:33.66; 3. Kachina Smith (Oberlin), 2:35.40; 4. Ruby Johnston (Black River), 2:44.481,600: 1. Olivia Szmania (Black River), 5:36.07; 2. Natalie Smith (Firelands), 5:39.12; 3. Lauren Vannatter (Wellington), 5:45.93; 4. Dilynn Copley (Firelands), 6:07.963,200: 1. Szmania (Black River), 12:26.89; 2. Jade Mitchell (Black River), 13:32.82; 3. Emma Palmer (Brookside), 13:50.69; 4. Dilynn Copley (Firelands), 14:08.84100-METER HURDLES: 1. Ariannah Floyd (Firelands), 14.90 (MEET RECORD); 2. Avery Davis (Brookside), 15.18; 3. Alyssa Goebel (Columbia), 16.21; 4. Kendra Hardwick (Firelands), 16.86300-METER HURDLES: 1. Floyd (Firelands), 43.77; 2. Davis (Brookside), 45.77; 3. Goebel (Columbia), 48.15; 4. Octavia Gonzalez (Brookside), 48.21400-METER RELAY: 1. Oberlin (Abeyta, Noble, Jasmine McDearmon, Webb), 49.59 (MEET RECORD); 2. Firelands, 51.01; 3. Columbia, 51.84; 4. Black River, 52.14800-METER RELAY: 1. Oberlin (Abeyta, Hudson, Noble, Webb), 1:41.25 (MEET RECORD); 2. Firelands, 1:43.04; 3. Columbia, 1:49.54; 4. Keystone, 1:53.621,600-METER RELAY: 1. Firelands (Floyd, Jordyn Copley, Stella Frederick, Audrey Smith), 4:01.84 (MEET RECORD); 2. Oberlin, 4:09.54; 3. Wellington, 4:34.65; 4. Black River, 4:35.22SHOT PUT: 1. Ananda Wright (Brookside), 34-11.25; 2. Demagall (Columbia), 32-2.5; 3. Mari Banjoff (Brookside), 31-9; 4. Brooke Lehmkuhl (Wellington), 31-2HIGH JUMP: 1. Teaghan Jasinski (Firelands), 5-3 (MEET RECORD); 2. Jessica Linden (Keystone), 5-2; 3. Marissa Keener (Keystone), 4-10; 4. Cailyn Demagall (Columbia), 4-8POLE VAULT: 1. Sophia Stepp (Firelands), 8-9; 2. Kalynne Pickering (Wellington), 8-6; 3. Bella Diaz (Brookside), 8-6; 4. Tie - Izzy Plas (Keystone) and Morgan Parker (Firelands), 8-0