Lipinsky looks to leave mark

By MARK W. MILLER
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
BOARDMAN -- Senior Mark Lipinsky of Boardman High has been running the hurdles since the seventh grade.
His goals are to get the school record in the 110-meter high hurdles (14.0 seconds) and 300 intermediate hurdles (38.3). Both are held by Matt Diffley.
So far this season, Lipinsky's best marks have been 14.6 in the high hurdles, which he ran at the Mahoning County meet, and 40.3 in the intermediates. He's unbeaten in Federal League competition.
Challenge
Asked why he likes to run the hurdles, Lipinsky said, "It's something about the feel to get it right. I guess it's like that for other races, but that what's right for me.
"It's still kind of the middle of the season and I am training hard and I am a little tired going into each race," said Lipinsky.
"I know my times are better than last year, and when I taper off some while training, it's more like maintaining what I am doing. Then I can concentrate on getting my times lower and hopefully break some records."
Lipinsky said he would like to run his best times of the season at Saturday's Optimist meet at Austintown Fitch High School.
"I'm not sure who is going to be there, although some of the best hurdlers from Cleveland, Akron and the rest of the state will compete," said Lipinsky.
He said the Optimist meet will be a stepping stone, so that he can work on dropping his times for future meets.
"John DePietro is my hurdle coach," said Lipinsky. "He has been great in helping correct my form and keeping everything positive.
"He and Coach [Dave] Pavlansky have done so much for me and everybody else on our team to make us better athletes."
National competition
Lipinsky was a goaltender for Boardman's soccer team last fall and was a member of Boardman's indoor track team last winter. He placed 14th at the Nike Indoor National Championships at Landover, Md., in March.
"It was a lot of fun running against some of the best high school kids in the country," said Lipinsky. "I didn't finish as well as I would have liked to, but it was a good time."
Lipinsky will attend Kent State in the fall and said he might compete with the track team.
He's active in his church, is a deacon and sings in the choir.
Pavlansky said Lipinsky is a versatile and talented athlete, and that he competes well all the time.
"He has the ability to find something extra when it is required," said Pavlansky. "He's intelligent and willing to try new things to improve.
"When he was a freshman, our hurdles coach said Mark was the real deal," said Pavlansky. "He is focused and it helps him quite a bit because he knows about other hurdlers.
"Our kids try to get good at what they do, whether they are hurdlers, jumpers, throwers or runners," added Pavlansky. "Mark is a great example of a guy who has fallen in love with what he does."