Track and Field: Kyle Vonderau, Connor Rhein lead Black River to strong finish at Josh Olin Night Invitational

ORANGE TWP. — Kyle Vonderau and Connor Rhein burned the midnight oil Friday night. The duo powered the Black River boys to fourth place at the 11-team Josh Olin Night Invitational hosted by Mapleton, picking up the only individual victories for the Pirates. Vonderau won three events, taking the 300-meter hurdles in 42.0 and helping Black River win the 4x800 (8:34.8) to start the night and the 4x400 (3:33) to end it. "I think we're performing a lot better than we did last year," Vonderau said. "Me and Noah (Orgel) especially have dropped our times quite a bit. It's been a good season so far." Orgel was on both winning relays. Rhein was also on the 4x800 with Lucas Olive. The 4x400 was rounded out by Austin Pamer and Olive. Rhein also blew past the competition on a cold, windy and sometimes rainy night in the 3,200, taking it in 9:48.4. Rhein was a state qualifier in the 3,200 last season and feels even more prepared as a junior to build on that success. "I'm more fit," Rhein said. "I haven't PR'd yet, but I've ran faster than I did last year at this time. I'm looking forward to getting into some more fast races." The Black River girls were sixth of 11 teams and paced by the 4x100 runner-up finish in 53.9 behind Delaney Denger, Morgan Kubitz, Maddie Orgel and Hailee Moskal. Moskal added a third in the 200 (28.8) and Denger was third in the long jump (14 feet, 11/2 inches). Grace Racut was also third in the 400 (1:05.3). The Pirates' final top-three finish came from the 4x800 of Hailey Lambdin, Maddie Groesser, Ella McCann and Ruby Johnston. The quartet took third in 11:27.6. For the boys 4x800, Noah Orgel handed the baton to Rhein with a slight lead on the pack. Rhein extended that lead and Olive and Vonderau refused to give up any ground as Black River hopes to see the relay go far in the postseason. "We're feeling pretty good," Rhein said. "This one was definitely a confidence booster because we were running alone for most of the race and to tie our best time is good. "It shows we can go way faster once we're racing against more people and have people with us the whole race." Rhein's win in the 3,200 was much of the same, with him racing himself and his time more than the other competitors by the second of eight laps. Vonderau was equally impressive with his win in the 300 hurdles, taking off fast, getting out in front early and staying there. "I feel like we can push a lot harder," Vonderau said. "If we can get our times down just a little bit more, we'll be able to break the school record we've been chasing for so long (8:21 in the 4x800) and win some more meets." The win in the 4x400 was an excellent way to close the meet that went on well past 11 o'clock. The boys also got a couple of runner-up finishes with Noah Orgel taking second in the 800 (2:02.3) and Pamer finishing second in the long jump (18-0). Pamer was third in the 400 (54.2). Contact John Urchek at jurchek@medina-gazette.com. Boys Standings: 1. Triway 130.5, 2. Norton 93, 3. Hillsdale 90, 4. Black River 72, 5. New London 65.5, 6. Mount Gilead 65, 7. Mapleton 62, 8. St. Paul 43, 9. Ashland 26.5, 10. Mansfield Christian 15.5, 11. Monroeville 6. 4x800 — 1. Black River (Noah Orgel, Connor Rhein, Lucas Olive, Kyle Vondereau) 8:34.8. 110 hurdles — 1. Liam Krupp (Tri) 16.9. 100 — 1. Olley Krupp (Tri) 11.4, 7. Austin Pamer (BR) 12.2. 4x200 — 1. Hillsdale (Hayden McFadden, Cooper Baker, Braxten Burgett, Mikey Shenberger) 1:37.0. 1,600 — 1. Braylon Goon (Mapl) 4:31.9. 4x100 — 1. Triway (Gavin Rowe, Olley Krupp, Caden Colon-Henson, Brodric Flinner) 44.3. 400 — 1. Olley Knapp (Tri) 53.2, 3. Austin Pamer (BR) 54.2, 8. Hunter Varney (BR) 56.0. 300 hurdles — 1. Kyle Vonderau (BR) 42.0. 800 — 1. Braylon Goon (Mapl) 1:59.1, 2. Noah Orgel (BR) 2:02.3. 200 — 1. Hayden McFadden (Hill) 23.1, 7. Lucas Olive (BR) 24.9. 3,200 — 1. Connor Rhein (BR) 9:48.4. 4x400 — 1. Black River (Austin Pamer, Lucas Olive, Kyle Vonderau, Noah Orgel) 3:33. Discus — 1. Landen Harvey (Tri) 129-0, 5. Lincoln Combs (BR) 118-6. Shot put — 1. Dryden Shoemaker (Hill) 44-9.25, 8. Lincoln Combs (BR) 39-10. Long jump — 1. Hayden McFadden (Hill) 20-6, 2. Austin Pamer (BR) 18-0. High jump — 1. Jake Gabriel (Norton) 5-10. Pole vault — 1. Tate Mitchell (NL) 12-7. Girls Standings: 1. Triway 111.5, 2. St. Paul 101.6`, 3. Hillsdale 76.11, 4. Norton 72.11, 5. Mount Gilead 64.61, 6. Black River 55.61, 7. Mapleton 47.11, 8. New London 46.61, 9. Mansfield Christian 36, 10. Monroeville 33, 11. Ashland 27.72. 4x800 — 1. St. Paul (Jenny Schwanm Frances Donnelly, Kennedie Frazee, Kate Ware) 11:10.4, 3. Black River (Hailey Lambdin, Maddie Groesser, Ella McCann, Ruby Johnston) 11:27.6. 100 hurdles — 1. Adalyn Tipton (Hill) 18.1. 100 — 1. Cierra Kemery (Tri) 12.9, 7. Morgan Kubitz (BR) 14.3. 4x200 — 1. Ashland (Bella Besenti, Gwendolyn Dewiel, Kalea Burdette, Camryn Wires) 1:59.0. 1,600 — 1. Riley Patrick (MC) 5:15.0. 4x100 — 1. Hillsdale (Lilliana McCrory, Brenna Keller, Kailyn Miller, Carmen Gentry) 53.5, 2. Black River (Delaney Denger, Morgan Kubitz, Maddie Orgel, Hailee Moskal) 53.9. 400 — 1. Deanna Vazquez (St. P) 1:02.9, 3. Grace Racut (BR) 1:05.3. 300 hurdles — 1. Elise Wigal (Tri) 51.4, 5. Olivia Fralick (BR) 56.2. 800 — 1. Valery Henry (NL) 2:34.2, 7. Ella McCann (BR) 2:51.6. 200 — 1. Deanna Vazquez (St. P) 26.9, 3. Hailee Moskal (BR) 28.8. 3,200 — 1. Riley Patrick (MC) 11:10.6. 4x400 — 1. Triway (Elise Wigal, Zoey Baker, Gianna Rowe, Cierra Kemery) 4:19.1, 6. Black River (Hailee Moskal, Molly Johnson, Ruby Johnston, Grace Racut) 4:48.4. Discus — 1. Becca Hallett (Norton) 115-2, 4. Heidi Clark (BR) 96-7.5. Shot put — 1. Jaely Lease (MG) 35-8.5, 7. Heidi Clark (BR) 27-5.5. Long jump — 1. Lilliana McCrory (Hill) 15-4, 3. Delaney Denger (BR) 14-1.5. High jump — 1. Maelii Whipple (MG) 4-10, 5. Morgan Kubitz (BR) 4-3. Pole vault — 1. Raeann Mitchell (NL) 10-0, 6. Mallory Finkel (BR) 7-0, 6. Olivia Fralick (BR) 7-0.