Ricciardi is state champ

By JOE SCALZO
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
DAYTON -- There is a wound on Anna Marie Ricciardi's left leg.
And for the last week, there's been a slight wound on her pride.
On Friday, you wouldn't have noticed either one.
The Western Reserve junior jumped five feet, six inches to win the high jump at the Division III state track meet at Welcome Stadium.
It is believed to be Western Reserve's first girls state championship.
"It feels great; it feels so great," Ricciardi said. "This really helps. I was hoping to get down in the 100 hurdles, and when I fell..."
She looked down at her left leg. She scraped it on the track at last week's regional meet when she hit the last hurdle in the finals of the 100 hurdles. Instantly, she went from first to seventh. She failed to qualify in her two other events that day.
Only the high jump was left. It's all she needed.
Inspiration
"I have to credit my dad, Sam Ricciardi," she said. "He's always behind me. He's the one who tells me, 'You know you have a shot to win it. You know it's in you.' He tells me go out and jump and do my best."
Ricciardi didn't make the finals in the event two years ago and finished eighth last year. She injured her ankle just before districts last year and learned to jump off the other foot.
This year she was healthy. It showed.
"Being here before was a big help," she said. "I've been really relaxed this week. I tried not to use my legs so much so they would be rested and I did a couple practice meets to get some of the pressure off."
Ricciardi is also a standout basketball player for the Blue Devils. Basketball is still her first love, but...
"It's becoming hard to decide," she said with a smile. "I like big meets. This is a lot of fun."
Other results
Maplewood freshman Jen Grayson took seventh in the high jump. Grayson also finished sixth in her heat in the 110 hurdle preliminaries. The top four in each heat advance to today's finals.
Badger's 4x800 relay team of Tessa Bonar, Christine Miller, Ashley Miller and Amanda Myers finished 11th in the day's only running final.
Columbiana junior Kristen Wilkes placed eighth in her heat in the 100 preliminaries and sixth in her heat in the 200 preliminaries.
Warren JFK's 4x200 relay team and Lowellville's 4x400 relay failed to qualify for today's finals.
scalzo@vindy.com