MAHONING COUNTY MEET Boardman girls, Fitch boys grab Div. I titles

Struthers won both Div. II crowns in the 93rd running of the meet.
AUSTINTOWN -- Even though it wasn't ideal weather conditions, Canfield High discus thrower Natasha Kassim pretty much summed up the feeling of the athletes representing the 16 schools that participated in the 93rd Mahoning County track and field meet Saturday at Falcon stadium.
Kassim, a junior, was the overall champion in the discus with a career-best throw of 124 feet.
About the inclement weather, she said, "I just figured everybody throwing in the cold here were on an equal plane.
"I knew there were a lot of good throwers, so I knew I would have to do a lot better to have a shot at winning the discus," she said.
Her goal is to get to 130 feet by the district and to go on to the regional.
Moran wins 1600
Veteran distance runner Colleen Moran of Poland was the overall champion in the 1600-meter run with a time of 5 minutes, 26.2 seconds.
A senior, Moran took the lead during the third quarter of the mile, pulled away from the field and beat last year's champion, Jessica Moore of Boardman, by more then a 100 meters.
"I felt pretty good, tried to do my best and just went after it," said Moran. "I'm pleased where I am right now, but still have a ways to go to get back to state."
Moran also won the 3200 (11:59.2).
Stephanie Jarvis of Canfield cleared 10-11/4 inches to win the pole vault, which was held inside the Fitch High gymnasium.
Helps Spartans to title
Moore won the 800 (2:28) as she helped Boardman defend its overall and Division I girls title with 154 points. Struthers was Div. II champ with 33 points and Western Reserve won Div. III with 19.
Carrie Zorman (16.7) and Genna Higbee (49.5) of the Spartans won the 100 and 300 hurdles, respectively, while teammate Autumn Parrish won the long jump (161/2).
Chaney's Latalia Jones defended her titles in the 100 (12.7) and 200 (26.0).
Eric Anderson of Struthers won the boys 110 hurdles (16.3).
"My time coming in was best and I wanted this real bad," said Anderson, who is in his first season of running hurdles events. "It was a good race with a lot of good competition."
His goal is to get his time down to 14.0 by the district meet.
Alex Allen of Ursuline, the defending county high jump champ, cleared 6-3.
"The cold weather bothered me a little bit," said Allen, who thought he could have been at least 2 inches higher.
Allen credited Mike Leskowsky of South Range, who has one of the area's best jumps (6-4) this season, for the tough competition. Leskowsky placed second (6-0). Allen won the long jump (20-11/4)
Adam Kagarise won the 400 (50.1) and 200 (22.9), was a member of 4x200 and 4x400 relays that helped Fitch win the overall meet and Div. I boys' title with 98 points.
The Falcons' Ross Lenehan and Andrew Fontanarosa finished 1-2 in the 1600 in 4:41.5 and 4:42.7, respectively.
"We have a small group of kids that are team oriented and score consistently in big meets and they all compete in three or four events," said Fitch coach Rich Kempe.
"This was somewhat surprising that we won the overall title because we have a very young team."
Panezich sets discus mark
Nick Panezich of Springfield set a record in the discus with a throw of 190-0, shattering his old record of 163-9 in 2003. He also won the shot (59-8).
Struthers, which scored 68 points was the Div. II champ, while South Range won Div. III with 431/2 points.