Struthers 4x100 relay sets record

The Wildcats and Alliance have a nice rivalry brewing.
By JOE SCALZO
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
SALEM -- You know those calm, confident, serene runners you sometimes see at track meets?
Ty Campana isn't one of them.
He fidgets. He bounces on his toes. He looks up at the sky, then looks down at the ground. And before every relay, he crosses himself four times -- one for each runner in the relay.
"It's to keep us safe, I guess," Campana said.
Campana fears God. He also fears Alliance senior Kendell Davis.
(Especially when he's stuck running against him.)
"I'm scared, personally," he said, laughing. "Real scared. When I get the baton, I'm thinking, 'I gotta go.' "
Added junior Eric Anderson, "Kendell's amazingly fast. I wish I was that fast."
Target on their back
Davis, the defending state champion in the 100 and 200-meter dashes, also anchors the Aviators' two sprint relays. Campana anchors the 4x100 relay, which won a state title last year.
And while the Wildcats don't have anyone who can match Davis step-for-step -- who does? -- they do have four guys who can keep up with the Aviators. And beat them.
"It's a big confidence boost, knowing we did what we did last year," said junior Eric Anderson, a member of the state championship relay. "But it also put a target on our back."
The target stayed on Campana's back Friday as he held off Davis in the 4x100 relay, helping the Wildcats set a new district record with a time of 42.7seconds. Earlier in the day, Alliance beat Struthers in the 4x200 relay with its own district record time.
It's a good rivalry. And it's about to get better.
The Wildcats, who were state runners-up in the 4x200 last year, had all their sprinters returning this spring, but they struggled with an assortment of injuries. They're almost completely healthy -- "I'd say we're about 99 percent," Anderson said -- and with Larry Wylie returning to the 4x200 next week, the Wildcats will be ones to watch in Columbus.
"Getting Larry back will be big," said Campana, who ran with Wylie in the 4x100 on Friday.
"But Jeff Lute deserves a lot of credit for helping us get here," said Anderson. "We couldn't have done anything without him."
Salem wins boys title
Struthers, which also won the 4x400 relay, finished third behind Metro Athletic Conference champion Salem (101 points) and Alliance (84 points) for the district crown.
The top four qualifiers in each event advanced to next week's Division II regional meet at Ravenna High School.
On the girls side, Chaney junior Latalia Jones had a pretty decent district meet to say the least. She won four events (two individual, two relays), set three district records and proved her strong showing at last year's state meet was just the beginning.
"I'm surprised how well I'm running," she said.
Jones was academically ineligible for the first half of the track season -- "I made a big mistake," she said. "I won't do it again" -- but worked out on her own and hasn't missed a step since returning.
"I'm way stronger than I was last year," she said. "More hard work. More dedication. More determination to go to state."
Jones finished third in the 200 and fourth in the 100 at last year's state meet. She broke the district record in the 100 on Wednesday, then broke the 200 record and anchored the record-breaking 4x100 relay on Friday.
Hello, Cachet
What's next?
"I'm going to try and get first at state," she said.
Really? You do remember you're in the same division as Girard senior Cachet Murray, right?
"Yeah, Cachet is good and she keeps me motivated," Jones said of the Girard senior. "She's a strong runner and a good person."
Murray's also a seven-time state champion who holds state records in the 100 and 200.
"My goal is to win," Jones said. "If I don't, I'll be disappointed. But I'm just going to try my best and see what happens."
Chaney finished third in the team standings Friday behind Metro Athletic Conference champion Poland (123 points) and Northeastern Buckeye Conference champion West Branch (101).
scalzo@vindy.com