DIVISION III TRACK Area athletes finish strong

Springfield, South Range took second and third at regional championship.
By JOE SCALZO
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
NAVARRE -- As Springfield High senior Matt Morell was walking toward the infield after Friday's 200-meter dash, Gates Mills Hawken junior David Williams tapped him on the shoulder, then shook his hand.
"Hey, you got out," Williams said. "Nice race."
Morell, who helped Springfield win last week's Division III district title, showed the Tigers are more than a one-man team, winning the 200 and qualifying for the state meet in two other events at Friday's regional meet at Fairless High School.
"That's my race," he said, smiling. "It's just all nerves until the gun goes off. Then I tried to explode out in the last 100 meters and it worked."
Springfield senior Nick Panezich, who won the shot put and discus, gets most of the attention, but the Tigers followed up last week's district title with a second-place finish on Friday.
They qualified for the state meet in six events, with Morell advancing in the 4x100 relay, the 100 and 200.
"Nick's backing us 100 percent," Morell said. "He's just happy to have a team around him. We're trying to get as many guys down as we can and hopefully make a run at the team title."
Gates Mills Gilmour Academy won the regional title, edging Springfield 67-57 1/2. South Range placed third and Mineral Ridge was fourth.
Inter-County League
Not a bad day for the Inter-County League.
South Range senior Justin Carolyne placed first in the 300 hurdles and helped the Raiders, the ICL champions, win the 4x400 relay.
"I hit a few hurdles at the start, but I came on strong at the end," said Carolyne, who placed third in the event at last year's regional. "It's sort of frustrating [when you hit hurdles], but it's also an adrenaline rush.
"Once I hit the backstretch, I just tried to finish strong."
His teammate, junior Mike Leskosky, finished second in the high jump with a leap of 6 feet, 1 inch -- 3 inches off his personal best.
The top four in each event advanced to the state meet in Columbus.
"It wasn't my best, but I'm just happy to be going," Leskosky, who didn't make it out of the district meet last year, said. "I'd like to jump 6-4 at state. I've just got to focus on my form and jump up instead of at the bar."
Jackson-Milton junior Dean Stevens placed second in the 100, two spots ahead of Morell.
"It's a great thing because we're such a small school, and we don't get a lot of recognition in a lot of things," Stevens, who placed eighth in the event at last year's regional, said. "I'm excited to be going to state and I'm excited to see so many ICL guys making it down."
Other winning combinations
Maplewood sophomore Andy Morgan won the 1600 and his teammate, Andy Arnio, won the 3200. Both were key members of the Rockets' state championship cross country team in 2003.
His distance coach, Ted Rupe, is a big reason why.
"Mr. Rupe runs the best program in the state," Morgan said. "It's a little hard, but you've got to trust him in training. He sets it up so you have four or five good races. You can't have a good race every week, so you have a good race at the right time."
A pair of Western Reserve sophomores -- Kaelyn Hrabak and Alex Rathburn -- led the Blue Devils to an area-best fourth in the girls team standings.
Rathburn won the shot put and discus, while Hrabak placed second in the 100 and third in the 200. Hrabak had to deal with the one-hour lightning delay at the start of the meet.
"I was kind of mad at first because of the delay; I was afraid of getting tight," she said. "I guess it didn't affect me."
Hrabak didn't make it out of the district last year, but has gotten stronger and faster over the past year.
"I trained a lot more and got in the weight room, but I think a lot of it was just age -- getting stronger and having more endurance," she said. "I'm thrilled to be going to state. It's an honor just to get there."
Warren JFK senior Angelene Cicero, a state champion in the 300 hurdles last year, won the event on Friday and was a member of the fourth-place 4x400 relay, helping the Eagles place fifth in the team standings.
scalzo@vindy.com