Poland's Ferraro inspired to excel

The senior won the 300-meter hurdles for her sick grandfather.
By MARK W. MILLER
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
POLAND -- It was a perfect day for track and field with many records set and Amber Ferraro of Poland High running for a special person.
Ferraro, a senior, won the 300-meter hurdles in 47.65 seconds in the girls division of the Poland Invitational.
Canton GlenOak captured both team crowns as they took the boys title with 92 points and the girls championship with 82 points. Warren Harding (74) was second among the boys and Salem (48) was third. Akron Buchtel (54) was girls runner-up and Canfield (36) was third.
Ferraro, who was also fourth in the 100 hurdles, said, "I won the 300 hurdles for my grandfather, Jerome Balestrino, who was sick and unfortunately couldn't be here for the meet.
"He usually comes and watches me and reads my results in the paper. I especially ran hard for him today."
Ferraro, who said she'll attend Florida Atlantic, said a fast start was key in her 300 victory.
"I didn't stutter, cleared the rack of hurdles and that was the difference. It was a good race," said Ferraro, who has been to the state meet two years in a row. She was a member of Poland's 4x100 relay that finished seventh, and was 10th in both hurdles races.
"I need to keep my technique smooth, don't hit any hurdles, improve my speed and endurance. If I work on that, it should come together," said Ferraro.
No joke
Andy Morgan (4:27.3) of Maplewood beat Salem's Patrick Gorby (4:28.4) in the 1600.
Morgan said running started out as a joke.
"When I was 4 years old, my mother took videos when I would take off running and then show them to members of the family and they would laugh," he said.
He ran for Bristol High in the seventh grade before his family moved to the Maplewood district his freshman year.
"I got involved in Coach [Ted] Rupe's training program and he taught me everything I know about distance running," said Morgan.
Morgan got boxed in during the 1600 and said couldn't jump out and interfere with other runners. He waited for an opportunity to break away and did that during the third lap.
Sophomore Audra Frimpong of Canfield took the long jump with a leap of 17 feet. She was also fourth in the 100 and anchored the Cardinals' second-place 4x100 relay.
"My long jump coach sets a goal for me every meet," said Frimpong. "She lets me know if I'm making mistakes in my technique and I adjust it from there."
Strong performances
Salem's Tyler Pierce won the high jump (6-4). Pierce, who has cleared 6-8 this season, said he will try to get 6-10 "and do that at state."
Latalia Jones of Chaney set the 200 record (25.2) during her heat in the preliminaries, then broke it in the finals when she was timed in 24.5. She also won the 100 (12.1).
Jay Provitt of Warren Harding set records in the 100 (10.7) and the 200 (21.7) and was a member of the record-setting 4x100 relay (42.8) and second place 4x200 relay (1:29.9). He was named MVP for running events.
Ashley Galbraith of Struthers set a record in winning the high jump (5-6) and she was MVP of the field events.
Emily Infeld of Beaumont set records in the 800 (2:13.6) and 3200 (10:50.5) and was MVP for girls running events.
Matt Pfleger from Garrettsville Garfield was the boys field MVP. He won the shot put (57-0) and was second in the discus (167-6).
miller@vindy.com