Track and Field: Firelands boys and girls sweep Vermilion Invitational again

VERMILION — Firelands continued its dominance Friday at the 48th Vermilion Track and Field Invitational, as the girls team won for the fourth year in a row and the boys took home top honors for the third straight year. The Firelands girls amassed 140 points, outdistancing North Ridgeville (106) and Oberlin (96). The Firelands boys totaled 148.5 points, with North Ridgeville (91) and Vermilion (88) rounding out the top three. The girls chalked up four first-place awards, a pair of seconds and five thirds en route to their third invite win of the season. The boys had eight firsts, a second and three thirds as they won their fifth invitational of the season. Sophomore Natalie Smith led the Firelands girls but had plenty of help. Smith defended her meet title in the 800 (2:35.90) after earlier winning the 1,600 (5:49.28). She also anchored the winning 3,200-meter relay (10:35.72). "Overall our team performed well despite the weather," said Smith. "Personally I was happy with the two wins. It was good competition going into the conference meet next week. It's amazing that we have won it four years in a row. This was extra special, though, as it's one of the last ones that I will be running with my sister (Audrey) because it is her senior year." The Firelands girls got a win from junior Stella Frederick in pole vault, as she cleared a personal-record 9 feet. Frederick was also a member of the second-place 400 (51.18) and 1,600 (4:19.47) relays plus the third-place 800 relay (1:47.22). "The weather wasn't particularly the greatest but I thought we did very well," said Frederick. "This is my first year competing pole vault and I cleared 9-foot today after four weeks of practice. Pole vault is a lot about focusing on form so that you can try to get the perfect jump. "We know that it's important to try and stay out in front of our conference competition here (Oberlin, Brookside and Keystone) in every race so we know the points that we need to get for conference next week. It was important to run our best so that we get our workouts in. We still need to work on our handoffs as many days as we can so that we perfect them." Senior Colton Clough earned meet MVP honors in leading the Falcons boys. He took first in the 400 (49.76) and 200 (22.19). He also teamed with junior Andrew Pawlak, senior Dane Vanderpool and senior Ayden Fortner to win the 1,600 relay (3:30.04) for the second year in a row. Clough opened the meet with a sixth in the 100 (11.30). "It's awesome to come out and run fun races, run close races. I've been missing the close races," he said. "I'm surprised that I even won that (the 200). I tied my PR and I was dead because after the 400 I felt the lactic acid everywhere. I was tired but something clicked that last 60 meters. "With our 4x400 I just went out there and did my job. I wasn't trying to split anything crazy. I just wanted to secure the win and get that done. Three wins today. I'm very happy with that. It's a tune-up for conference." The Firelands boys also received a big win from the 800 relay as Pawlak dived for the finish line to edge North Ridgeville 1:30.80 to 1:30.81. Sophomore Aiden Simms, junior Alex Duke and Fortner also contributed. The Falcons also got wins from Vanderpool in the 800 (2:01.66), Duke in the 300 hurdles (40.02) and sophomore Lukas Griesz in pole vault (14-2). Sophomore Brett Beury broke the school discus record for the fourth time this season with a toss of 177-9. "It all comes down to next week, everything that we've done to this particular point," said Firelands coach Steve Lias. "I was happy with our times. I've always said our kids compete. They go hard. Conference is going to be a challenge. We know Keystone and us on the boys side and Oberlin and us on the girls side. It'll be fun." Seniors Olivia Hudson and Alyssa Webb were catalysts for Oberlin. Hudson chalked up four first-place awards as she earned meet MVP honors on the girls side. She won the 400 for the fourth year in a row in 58.37. She also won the 200 for the third time in four years in 26.09. With Hudson the anchor and Webb handling the leadoff, they combined with senior Aubrey Abeyta and sophomore Cayman Noble to win the 800 relay for the fourth year in a row (1:46.02). Hudson capped the day by anchoring the winning 1,600 relay (4:13.41) that included Abeyta, sophomore De'Shyana Freeman and freshman Hailey Petzak. "I definitely think this evening was definitely sort of a preview for conference," said Hudson. "It was important for us to run well despite not the greatest weather. I think it shows that we're ready for next week and that we're ready for districts, regionals and state. We're the same people from last year basically. We just continue getting better. We'll be good." Webb also had a particularly good day. She opened the meet with a victory in the 100 (12.68) over Vermilion senior Brooke Whisenant (12.71). Webb also anchored the winning 400 relay (50.78) that included Freeman, Noble and Abeyta. She capped the day with a third in the 200 (26.76). "It's very satisfying, especially in this cold weather," said Webb. "We've put in so much hard work between indoor then coming to outdoor track right away. The adjustment between indoor and outdoor track takes some getting used to because the outdoor track is so much bigger. The main focus now is our handoffs. We had some trouble with it earlier but we keep working on it and it's coming together very nicely." Senior Brady Parker led the Vermilion boys. He won the 100 over North Ridgeville sophomore Javon Harris 10.99 to 11.05. He later took second in the 200 (22.24) behind Clough. In between he helped Vermilion to third in the 400 relay (44.54) and fourth in the 800 relay (1:32.55). "It's been kind of crazy with the rain. I didn't expect to run this fast, but with Senior Night I had to. PRs across the board," said Parker, who plans to major in aerospace technology at Ohio State. "It was a home meet. Senior Night. A bunch of people watching me. I had to perform. I see different competition here than I see at conference so it sets the stakes up. I like it." Contact Paul Heyse at (440) 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com. BOYSTEAM SCORES1. Firelands, 148.5; 2. North Ridgeville, 91; 3. Vermilion, 88; 4. Keystone, 74; 5. Mansfield Madison, 59.5; 6. Brookside, 54; 7. Lorain, 47; 8. North Olmsted, 36; 9. Elyria Catholic, 15; 10. Oberlin, 7 100 METERS: 1. Parker (Vermilion), 10.99; 2. Harris (North Ridgeville), 11.05; 3. Moore (Lorain), 11.10; 4. Pawlak (Firelands), 11.19200: 1. Clough (Firelands), 22.19; 2. Parker (Vermilion), 22.24; 3. Moore (Lorain), 22.37; 4. Pawlak (Firelands), 22.38400: 1. Clough (Firelands), 49.76; 2. Kaufmann (North Ridgeville), 51.25; 3. Moore (Lorain), 51.65; 4. Vrba (North Ridgeville), 52.61800: 1. Vanderpool (Firelands), 2:01.66; 2. Hill (North Olmsted), 2:03.22; 3. Rothacker (North Ridgeville), 2:07.53; 4. Hovinetz (Vermilion), 2:09.011,600: 1. E. McConoughey (Keystone), 4:29.88; 2. Hovinetz (Vermilion), 4:46.51; 3. Harvey (North Ridgeville), 4:47.00; 4. Larsen (Madison), 4:47.003,200: 1. Yuronich (Keystone), 9:39.72; 2. Stroud (Keystone), 10:04.14; 3. Fratini (North Olmsted), 10:44.17; 4. Woods (Firelands), 10:47.42110 HURDLES: 1. Essenmacher (Elyria Catholic), 15.56; 2. Spraggins (Lorain), 16.11; 3. Dutta (North Ridgeville), 16.14; 4. Duke (Firelands), 16.20300 HURDLES: 1. Duke (Firelands), 40.02; 2. Lopez (Brookside), 40.11; 3. Dutta (North Ridgeville), 40.16; 4. Born (Firelands), 40.23400 RELAY: 1. Brookside (Gabet, Juchnik, Roberts, Casey), 43.80; 2. North Ridgeville, 44.36; 3. Vermilion, 44.54; 4. Madison, 44.56800 RELAY: 1. Firelands (Simms, Duke, Fortner, Pawlak), 1:30.80; 2. North Ridgeville, 1:30.81; 3. Madison, 1:31.68; 4. Vermilion, 1:32.551,600 RELAY: 1. Firelands (Pawlak, Vanderpool, Fortner, Clough), 3:30.04; 2. North Ridgeville, 3:31.18; 3. Keystone, 3:33.71; 4. Vermilion, 3:38.663,200 RELAY: 1. Keystone (S. McConoughey, Stroud, Yuronich, E. McConoughey), 8:16.09; 2. North Ridgeville, 8:21.85; 3. Firelands, 8:34.94; 4. North Olmsted, 8:46.31SHOT PUT: 1. Stancombe (Madison), 48-4; 2. Beury (Firelands), 46-6; 3. Stacy (Madison), 40-10; 4. Lewis (Vermilion), 40-8.5DISCUS: 1. Beury (Firelands), 177-9; 2. Stancombe (Madison), 141-7; 3. Jak (North Olmsted), 120-11; 4. Benesh (Vermilion), 120-6HIGH JUMP: 1. Plott (Vermilion), 5-9; 2. Cowling (Keystone), 5-9; 3. Tie - Becker (Firelands) and Moore (Madison), 5-6LONG JUMP: 1. Moore (Lorain), 21-7; 2. Smith (Vermilion), 19-9.5; 3. Fedor (Keystone), 19-9; 4. Casey (Brookside), 19-4POLE VAULT: 1. Griesz (Firelands), 14-2; 2. Holzhauer (Keystone), 11-6; 3. Cogar (Firelands), 11-6; 4. Likakis (North Ridgeville), 11-6MVP: Clough (Firelands) GIRLSTEAM SCORES1. Firelands, 140; 2. North Ridgeville, 106; 3. Oberlin, 96; 4. North Olmsted, 77.5; 5. Vermilion, 72; 6. Brookside, 50.5; 7. Lorain, 41; 8. Mansfield Madison, 31.5; 9. Keystone, 29; 10. Elyria Catholic, 18.5 100: 1. Webb (Oberlin), 12.68; 2. Whisenant (Vermilion), 12.71; 3. Marsinick (Firelands), 12.85; 4. Noble (Oberlin), 12.92200: 1. Hudson (Oberlin), 26.09; 2. Cass (North Ridgeville), 26.68; 3. Webb (Oberlin), 26.76; 4. Chavez (Lorain), 27.17400: 1. Hudson (Oberlin), 58.37; 2. Whisenant (Vermilion), 59.49; 3. Edge (North Ridgeville), 1:00.48; 4. A. Smith (Firelands), 1:01.81800: 1. N. Smith (Firelands), 2:35.90; 2. Fabian (North Ridgeville), 2:38.66; 3. D. Copley (Firelands), 2:39.71; 4. Smith (Oberlin), 2:42.431,600: 1. N. Smith (Firelands), 5:49.28; 2. Bunn (Vermilion), 5:31.39; 3. D'Alessandro (North Olmsted), 5:57.65; 4. D. Copley (Firelands), 5:59.673,200: 1. A. Wilson (Keystone), 13:07.81; 2. Bunn (Vermilion), 13:21.63; 3. Groshek (Elyria Catholic), 13:55.99; 4. Menges (Keystone), 14:13.30100 HURDLES: 1. Roberts (Lorain), 15.92; 2. Davis (Brookside), 15.99; 3. Schrader (Firelands), 16.66; 4. Awad (North Olmsted), 16.99300 HURDLES: 1. Davis (Brookside), 46.46; 2. Awad (North Olmsted), 48.81; 3. Gonzalez (Brookside), 49.09; 4. Zidar (Firelands), 49.26400 RELAY: 1. Oberlin (Freeman, Noble, Abeyta, Webb), 50.78; 2. Firelands, 51.18; 3. North Ridgeville, 51.16; 4. Lorain, 52.09800 RELAY: 1. Oberlin (Webb, Abeyta, Noble, Hudson), 1:46.02; 2. North Ridgeville, 1:46.86; 3. Firelands, 1:47.22; 4. Vermilion, 1:49.961,600 RELAY: 1. Oberlin (Abeyta, Freeman, Petzak, Hudson), 4:13.41; 2. Firelands, 4:19.47; 3. North Ridgeville, 4:19.57; 4. Vermilion, 4:34.803,200 RELAY: 1. Firelands (D. Copley, Vanderpool, Camera, N. Smith), 10:35.72; 2. North Ridgeville, 10:56.83; 3. North Olmsted, 10:58.40; 4. Brookside, 11:32.14SHOT PUT: 1. Okasinski (Vermilion), 29-10.25; 2. Sasis (Madison), 29-7.5; 3. Reiter (Madison), 29-6.5; 4. Grabowski (North Olmsted), 29-2DISCUS: 1. Schueszler (North Olmsted), 98-2; 2. Clark (Madison), 90-6; 3. Grabowski (North Olmsted), 89-1; 4. E. Wilson (Keystone), 82-8HIGH JUMP: 1. Miller (North Ridgeville), 5-2; 2. Jasinski (Firelands), 5-0; 3. Frenk (Vermilion), 4-9; 4. Rufener (North Olmsted), 4-9LONG JUMP: 1. Noble (Oberlin), 16-4; 2. Harris (North Ridgeville), 15-0; 3. Miller (Lorain), 14-6.5; 4. Zidar (Firelands), 14-5POLE VAULT: 1. Frederick (Firelands), 9-0; 2. Diaz (Brookside), 8-6; 3. Parker (Firelands), 8-6; 4. Keely (Brookside), 7-6MVP: Hudson (Oberlin)