Salem makes it three in a row

United's girls team edged the Quakers for the county championship.
By ERIC HAMILTON
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
EAST PALESTINE -- Tuesday started out like any other school day for Salem sprinter Jon Lee. He rolled out of bed at his regular time of 6:45. After grabbing a shower, brushing his teeth and taking a quick look in the mirror, he was off to school.
But as he sat through his classes, his mind began to stray to thoughts of achieving the same thing on the track that he's managed to attain in the classroom -- perfection.
And 13 hours after his day began, he realized his goal.
Lee capped a long and satisfying day by winning all four of his events at the Columbiana County track meet at East Palestine to lead Salem to its third straight team championship. The Quakers scored a meet-record 194 points to easily outdistance second-place United (86) and Beaver Local (72).
The events
"I couldn't concentrate in school today," said Lee, who won the 100, 200, long jump and was a member of Salem's record-breaking 4x200 relay team. "I was anxious to get here and try to do my best. The meet was on my mind all day.
"I'm really speechless. I was hoping to do something like this, but I knew it would be tough. I just love running and trying to better myself and to do this well today is really fun."
Lee's performance helped highlight Salem's sprinters and jumpers which usually take a backseat to the outstanding stable of distance runners. That group is good enough to win most dual meets by itself. But in meets as big as Tuesday's, they need some help.
Lee, a 4.0 student, didn't mind doing his part.
"Our distance guys are amazing," said Lee.
"But our sprinters have been overlooked for a few years and we're starting to get people's attention and show what we're made of.
"It's nice to go out and cheer our state champion runners on, then come back and win some races of our own. I think we're becoming more balanced and that makes us even better."
Pierce's performance
Senior Tyler Pierce defended his county championship in the high jump and took second behind his teammate in the long jump. Pierce was also part of the winning 4x200 and 4x100 relays.
"We like it when we don't get attention because it takes the pressure off," said Pierce, who has cleared 6-8 in the high jump this season.
"It's nice to watch the distance guys perform well every week. And the rest of us just go out and try to get better."
Lee and Pierce gave Salem boys a sweep in the MVP honors, with Lee scoring 221/2 points in the running events and Pierce garnering 18 points in the field events.
Salem's distance team again reigned supreme, finishing first and second in the 800, 1600, 3200 and winning the 4x800 relay. Paul Shivers won the 1600 and 3200 and was on the relay team.
"The most impressive thing was Jon Lee's performance," said Salem coach Todd Huda. "He really had a great day for us.
"We really set some individual goals for our kids today and I think most of them were reached. We knew if we reached those goals, the team race would take care of itself. Now, we just want to prepare to hopefully win the MAC meet."
United girls defend
The United girls successfully defended their county championship, scoring in every event to hold off Salem.
The Golden Eagles scored 1491/2 team points, while Salem piled up 142. East Liverpool (87) was third.
Tricia Tenezk put together an impressive performance, winning the 100 and 300 hurdles, finishing third in the high jump and competed on United's winning 4x100 relay.
Salem took both girls MVP awards, as Charity Montford and Sarah Brobeck won the running and field honors, respectively.
Montford scored 321/2 total points, sweeping the titles in the sprinting events with victories in the 100, 200 and 400.
She also anchored Salem's winning 4X400 relay team.
Brobeck scored 16 points by winning the discus and taking third in the shot put.
She also ran on Salem's victorious 4x400 squad.