PREP TRACK AND FIELD Pymatuning Valley wades through storms

The Division II district meet was completed despite harrowing conditions.
By BRIAN RICHESSON
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
ANDOVER -- Beth Helfer scurried throughout the halls of Pymatuning Valley High School with a look of concern.
The Py Valley athletic director had just received word that a tornado had been sighted off state Route 11, within vicinity of the school.
And here Helfer was Friday with hundreds of high school athletes and fans roaming the building during a delay in the Division II district track and field meet.
"As the athletic director, it's my responsibility to get everybody into safety as quickly as possible," Helfer said. "My responsibility is to take care of all these people."
Helfer gathered groups of people and ordered them into classrooms of interior hallways and under desks.
"I was like, 'This is getting serious,' " Campbell Memorial senior sprinter Darrin Johnson said. "I didn't know what was going on, but I was getting nervous myself."
Tough luck
For the second straight year, weather affected this district meet. This time, though, it was serious, as the school sat in the path of a long band of strong storms that rumbled across Ohio.
"This is classic Pymatuning weather right here," said Girard sprint coach Walt Brame while standing along a fence with an umbrella. "If the wind would just quit blowing, or blow one way, then maybe we can get adjusted to it. We can deal with the rain, but the wind? No."
During a near two-hour delay, athletes tried to keep their muscles loose. What messages do coaches send during that downtime?
"If you want to consider yourself a good athlete, you better be able to adapt," Lakeview coach Tom Pavlansky said. "Those who adapt are the ones who are going to survive."
There was also fun to be had with teammates and friends from other schools. Some athletes danced and sang; others did homework while sitting in hallways.
"We just sat around and had some fun. We were joking around with each other," said Johnson, who finished first in the 100 (11.1). "Everybody in the cafeteria was dancing and stuff. We tried not to worry about the tornado."
When the meet resumed, so did a driving rain -- intensified by gusting winds -- that made competition defying for athletes.
"It was horrible," said Liberty senior Brittny Humphrey, part of the Leopards' first-place finishes in the 4x100 (51.2) and 4x200 (meet-record 1:46.1) relays. She also won the 300 hurdles (47.5).
"I just tried to stay focused and block everything out," Humphrey said.
The Ashtabula Edgewood boys and Lakeview girls won district team titles at a meet in which the top four finishers qualified for next week's regional in Ravenna.
Lakeview senior Justin Rush was a double winner -- in the 110 (15.0) and 300 hurdles (41.4).
Girard junior Cachet Murray also was in top form, winning the 100 (meet-record 12.0), 200 (25.3) and long jump (17-6).
"My whole thing is, when it gets harder, you have to dig deep," Murray said. "I overcame my hamstring [injury], pink eye, the flu. At times it didn't seem like I was going to make it. But I did."
richesson@vindy.com