Kiger, Mariotti are not average rivals

JFK's girls won their fifth straight district title.
By ERIC HAMILTON
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
NEW MIDDLETOWN -- Mineral Ridge's Abbey Kiger and Lowellville's Rachel Mariotti have everyone fooled.
Although they've been running against each other since junior high, they stop short of calling their duel a rivalry -- no matter if everyone else thinks they should.
"Our coaches make it out to be this big rivalry between us," said Mariotti, sharing a laugh with laugh. "But even though we run the same exact events, we don't see it that way. We just push each other and make each other better."
When asked about the spirited competition between the two hurdlers and sprinters, Kiger smiled and backed up her competitor.
Talk before races
"We talk to each other before the races to keep from getting nervous," said Kiger, a senior. "Our coaches and everyone else tell us we shouldn't be talking to each other and should focus, but we still do it. We just talk about anything but track, to keep from getting nervous."
The duo was all smiles and giggles after the 300-meter hurdles Friday night at the Division III district track meet at Springfield High.
That's mostly because each had won a race in their head-to-head match up in the hurdles. And both qualified in three events for next week's regional meet at Navarre Fairless High.
Kiger topped Mariotti in the 100 hurdles with a winning time of 15.40 seconds. Mariotti was second in 15.50. In the 300 hurdles, Mariotti took top honors with a time of 46.73, while Kiger was second in 46.95.
They each ran the anchor leg in the 1600-meter relay, with Lowellville finishing second and Mineral Ridge taking third.
"It's nice because we improve each other and seeing someone familiar helps us relax and at state, we can even warm up together," said Kiger, who will attend Thiel next year. "She has a better start than me so I try to stay with her in the beginning. Then, I have a good kick, so she finishes strong with me."
Kiger's Rams got the better of Mariotti's Rockets in the team competition, as Mineral Ridge (78) finished second to district champion Warren JFK (83). Lowellville (62) finished fourth, one place behind Ursuline (75).
JFK swept the team titles, as the girls won their fifth straight district and the boys finished on top for the first time since 2003.
"Winning the fifth straight was something we talked about all year," said coach Tim McNeil. "We had to overcome some adversity with injuries and this wet weather, but we performed well. This is the least depth we've had, but the girls we have are really good."
On the boys' side, JFK was paced by Tony Elzy, who won the 100 meters and finished second in the 200. He was also a member of the Eagles' winning 400-meter and 800-meter relay teams.
Dan Hull also raked in big points, winning the 400, taking third in the 200 and competing on the JFK relay squads.
Worried about motivation
"We were really worried and South Range," said McNeil, whose team beat the Raiders (86.5) by 10.5 points with 97 total. "We have a good corps of sprinters and some hurdlers who have worked hard. With this weather, I had to motivate them a little to come out of the tent and run. But when it was time, they stepped up like they always do."
Maplewood's Rochelle Rupe paced several top individual performances at the meet. The junior won district titles in the 1600 (5:23.5) and the 3200 (11:33.2). Ursuline's Tiffani Miller was second to Rupe in the 1600 and runner-up to Warren JFK's Audrey Maheu in the 800.
In the boys' meet, Maplewood's Andy Morgan was a standout after winning the 1600 (4:34.0) and taking second to teammate and defending state champion Andy Arnio (9:52.9) in the 3200.