Tidying track season's leftovers

Earlier in the year, a sportswriter at this paper wrote a column that may have insinuated that Ohio High School Athletic Association track officials like to yell.
(I'm not sure who wrote it.)
Anyhow, I'd like to apologize on behalf of that reporter. He was wrong to say those things. Sure, some officials may yell at times (during meets, for instance), but they also do a great job.
So to all the fine track officials -- especially Jim Fox, Dick Kenney, John Jeren and Ken Jacubec -- I say thanks for all the good work.
Now please stop hassling me about that column.
Cheers and jeers
Favorite track athletes to watch: Maplewood senior Dave Pykare, Columbiana senior Derek Garrod, Boardman junior Rich Lepore (before his hamstring injury), Boardman junior Monica Cuevas and Ursuline junior Amber Miller (does she ever stop smiling?).
Favorite athletes to talk to: Salem senior Jason Greenamyer, West Branch junior Lisa Davies, Liberty junior Jasmine Smith, Western Reserve junior Anna Marie Ricciardi and pretty much anyone from Boardman or Maplewood.
Things I dislike about the men's restroom at Fitch Stadium (Motto: Almost as good as a gas station.): The door is open, it's dark, it's dank, there's no hot water and they have bar soap instead of liquid soap.
Everything else about Fitch is first class. And if you stick around long enough, they'll sell you Arby's sandwiches and pepperoni rolls for $1 each. Reilly Stadium in Salem has excellent hot chocolate. (Just so you know.)
My only complaint about Salem is that they didn't list the names of the runners in qualifying relay teams at the district meet. (And I've heard grumblings about needing to borrow Western Reserve's FinishLynx system when Salem has one sitting unused in storage.)
Least favorite moment: The F.E. Cope Invitational on April 5. It was cold. Real cold. I'm way too skinny to be walking around in weather like that. (Side note: A certain member of the Poland High track coaching staff allegedly passed himself off as a Vindicator reporter that night so he could sit in the press box. For shame.)
Saying it with style
One of the things I love best about track season is that I don't have to talk to as many coaches. (Sample track coach quotes: "We need to improve the split times on our relays." Or, "We're tapering our distance training this week.")
Here are the five track quotes I loved the most:
Garrod, who will play football at Ohio Northern this fall, finished sixth in the 100-meter dash at the state meet as a sophomore, and was sixth in both the 100 and 200 last year.
He was a little tired of sixth place. To wit:
U"I'm definitely not getting sixth again this year," he said at the Tri-County League meet. "I'll get 12th before I get sixth."
U"If I get sixth again, I'll shoot myself," he said after winning both the 100 and 200 at the Division III regional at Navarre.
U"If I'm coming in and there are five people ahead of me, I'll just pull a hamstring," he said at this year's state meet.
Garrod placed second in the 100 and fifth in the 200 this year at state.
Maplewood senior Christen Clemson won the Division III state discus title as a junior. After winning this year's regional, she was asked about repeating as state champion.
"I think about it, yes, but am I nervous?" she said, smiling. "Yes."
Pykare anchored Maplewood's state title-winning 4x800 relay. After running, Pykare grabbed one of the blue buckets conveniently located in the rest area of Welcome Stadium.
I won't tell you what the buckets are for, but when Pykare was finished he told a reporter, "I hope I didn't get any on your shoe."
He didn't.
XJoe Scalzo covers high school sports for The Vindicator. Write him at scalzo@vindy.com.