DIV. II TRACK AND FIELD Struthers' Daniels wins discus
He beat the favorite, Jim Boals of West Branch, by five feet.
By JOE SCALZO
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
SALEM -- Struthers thrower Alan Daniels didn't do quite as well as he wanted at last year's district meet.
Or, to use Daniels' more insensitive description, "I choked up here last year.
"There were a lot of people standing outside the fence and I got nervous," he said. "I didn't even get into the finals."
The good thing about being a junior is, you can wait until next year. This year, he couldn't.
So he got serious this spring, and started sticking around practice long after everyone else had left. He even threw on Sundays.
After awhile, he started gaining confidence -- and winning meets.
Which is why, when he started Wednesday's Division II district meet at Salem's Reilly Stadium, he wasn't thinking about just advancing to the regional meet, he was thinking about winning.
Right?
"No, I didn't expect to win at all," he said, laughing. "I thought the West Branch kid [Jim Boals] was going to win. Everybody did."
But Boals wasn't throwing his best. And as the meet wore on, Daniels' chances got better and better.
"He gave me a gateway," Daniels said, "and I ran through it while I still could."
Daniels' best throw, 159 feet, 1 inch, was five feet better than Boals and just six feet off the district record of 164-11, set by United's Chad Stoffer in 1997.
"Winning was a shock," said Daniels, who won last week's Metro Athletic Conference title with a throw of 167.
And now that he's made it to the regional meet, he's eyeing bigger goals.
"I'd like to make it to state," he said. "And the way I'm throwing is enough to get me there."
High hopes
Salem's 4x800-meter relay team of Lance Murphy, Patrick Gorby, Paul Shivers and Aiman Scullion has an even bigger goal.
"We want to win state," Shivers said.
To do it, they'll probably first need to break the school record (7:54), then match last year's winning time (7:52).
They'll also need to pay closer attention. When asked what they ran after Wednesday's race, Shivers said, "I have no idea."
(For the record, it was 8:05.72.)
New record
Poland senior Colleen Moran kept a closer eye on the time, since the Bulldogs' 4x800 team was hoping to break the district record of 9:40. Her watch read 9:39 -- "Unofficially," she said -- which just shows you she knows what she's doing. The official time was 9:39.29.
"Rachelle [Pavelko] ran well and our middle girls are really the strong point for our team," said Moran, who followed Sarah Anderson, Pavelko and Lauren Fithian.
Moran, a two-time state cross country qualifier who earned a track and cross country scholarship to Bowling Green, anchors a Poland relay that has lost just once this season -- finishing third at The Optimist behind Division I powers Boardman and Crestwood.
And after finishing fifth at last year's regional meet -- the top four in each event advance to Columbus -- they're hoping to take the next step.
"Yeah, but we don't want to say anything too soon," Fithian said. "A lot can happen."
Newton Falls senior Jackie Clonch won the shot put and West Branch junior Casey Benner won the high jump in Wednesday's two girls field event finals. Alliance sophomore Marlen Hartsoe won the long jump in the other boys final.
The meet continues Friday at 5 p.m.
scalzo@vindy.com