McCluggage sweeps distances

The J-M star won both the 1600- and 3200-meter runs.
& lt;a href=mailto:scalzo@vindy.com & gt;By JOE SCALZO & lt;/a & gt;
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
AUSTINTOWN -- Moments after Luke McCluggage finished his final lap in the 1600-meter run, a rival runner came up to him and said, "That was awesome, man. Your last lap was crazy."
McCluggage smiled, said thanks and put his hands on his knees.
"My legs were gone," McCluggage said. "I felt bad the whole race."
And now?
"I feel great right now," he said.
McCluggage, the Jackson-Milton High senior, won both the 1600- (4 minutes, 25.42 seconds) and 3200-meter runs (9:32.28) at Saturday's Optimist Meet at Fitch High School, once again establishing himself as the area's best distance runner and as a runner to watch at this year's state meet.
"My confidence went up a lot today," he said. "I'd like to do some good at state. If not win, at least run a good time."
He certainly did on Saturday, breaking his personal record in the 3200 by 11 seconds.
Solid performances
And he wasn't the only one who had a good day.
Warren Harding sophomore Jay Provitt anchored the winning 4x200 relay, anchored the fourth place 4x100 relay and finished fourth in the 100. Not bad, considering the Optimist is widely regarded as the area's premiere regular season track meet.
"We ran pretty good today," said Provitt, whose first cousin, Omar, was a standout football player at Warren Harding in the early 1990s. "I actually lost the 100, which is like the first time that's happened this year."
Does that serve as motivation?
"Oh yeah," he said. "It makes me want to get faster."
Provitt missed last season with a hip pointer, but has already established himself as one of the top runners on a talented young Raider team. He holds the school's sophomore record in the 100 and said he wants to take running MVP at this week's Trumbull County meet.
What's next?
"I want to go to state and place at state," he said. "And hopefully our team will win the title."
Really? Beat Cleveland Glenville?
"OK, probably not," he said with a laugh. "I doubt we will. But I can dream."
Leetonia's Aaron Merrill was the only other area boy to win an event, placing first in the shot put.
Canton GlenOak edged Copley for the boys team title. No area boys team has finished first at the meet since Fitch won in 1992.
Girls
On the girls side, Girard junior Cachet Murray continued her comeback from a left hamstring injury by placing fourth in the 100.
Murray, who has won state titles in both the 100 and 200 the past two years, has had nothing but bad luck this spring.
In addition to the hamstring injury, she's also had pink eye and the flu and spent much of this week throwing up, Girard coach John Spano said.
"She's had to deal with a lot," he said.
Murray injured the hamstring three weeks ago and ran for the first time in Thursday's Western Reserve relays. Spano plans to bring her along slowly. Does she still have time to recover for the postseason?
"She's good enough," he said. "Anybody else I'd say no, but she can do it.
"She's a good kid, she works hard and she has a good attitude."
Maplewood's Jen Grayson was the only area girl to win an event, placing first in the high jump.
Massillon Jackson won the girls team title. No area girls team has won the meet since Mooney placed first in 1986.
& lt;a href=mailto:scalzok@vindy.com & gt;scalzo@vindy.com & lt;/a & gt;