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Honsaker leads Rams to crown
United’s boys successfully defended their ITCL Tier One championship.
EAST PALESTINE – When it comes to the long jump, Mineral Ridge’s Nicole Honsaker doesn’t rely on her speed down the runway or her form in the air in order to win.
She knows that no matter how fast she runs or how well she jumps, if she doesn’t have her glasses, she’s in trouble.
“Without them, I can’t see the board,” said Honsaker. “I don’t like them bouncing around on my face so I squint to keep them from moving.”
Honsaker dislikes her bouncing glasses so much, that she doesn’t even wear them when competing in running events.
But even without them, she had no problem seeing the finish line during Thursday’s ITCL Tier One track and field meet at East Palestine High.
The senior won her second straight meet MVP by posting four victories, while breaking two meet records and a school record, to lead Mineral Ridge to the team championship.
The Rams scored 120 points to outdistance second-place East Palestine (107) and third-place United (105).
Before the meet began, Honsaker didn’t know what to expect, as she was battling an upset stomach and a few dizzy spells. She knew she had a busy day ahead of her, competing in the 100, 200, 300 hurdles and the long jump.
But by the end of the night, the exhausted senior was happy with her individual results and with her team’s championship.
“I felt fine most of the day, but this afternoon I just didn’t feel very well,” she said. “I’m just feeling really dizzy. I was just hoping I’d do well today. It all worked out for me and for our whole team today.”
Honsaker broke the meet records in the 300 hurdles (47.10 seconds ) and the long jump (17 feet, 61‚Ñ4 inches). The long jump mark also broke the Rams’ school record of 17-2, which has stood since 1981. It was the oldest record in the books.
“We pretty much knew that whatever events we put Nicole in today that she’d win them,” said Mineral Ridge coach Rod Hise. “But we had a lot of girls really step up today. From Day 1, this was the meet we were pointing to all year.
“We had some girls banged up and in a few events things didn’t go our way, but we got some points in other areas that made up for those. We knew it would be a three-team race with United and East Palestine. Things just went our way today.”
In addition to Honsaker’s strong performance, Ridge got big points from all over.
Sophomore Kristen Basista won the 100 hurdles and was second in the 300 hurdles. Junior Taylor Shilry broke the school and meet record in the high jump with a leap of 5-5. Amber Cross showed her versatility, taking third in both the 1600 and 3200 and helping the third-place 4x800 squad. Andrea Pannunzio was on that relay squad and finished fourth in the 1600.
Individually, in the girls’ meet, Columbiana’s Stephanie Case won both the 1600 and 3200.
The United boys successfully defended their league title with 143 points, pulling away from the Bulldogs (108).
The Eagles, coming off last week’s Columbiana County championship, used their depth and several strong individuals to win.
Sophomore Zane Smith was named meet MVP after winning the 200 and 400, taking second in the 100 and competing on United’s winning 4x200 relay.
Jordan Johnson won the 300 hurdles and took second in the 110 hurdles. B.J. Martin claimed the gold in the 800 and was a member of the victorious 4x800 relay. In the weight events, Ethan Wutrick won the discus and took second in the shot put, while teammate Bill Prosko finished second in the discus.
“We knew we had a good chance to defend our title,” said United coach Troy Brunner. “It just came down to how other teams split up their guys. We had a lot of PRs today, which is great. The kids did a good job of motivating themselves to give their best effort.
“Now, we can start thinking about advancing some of our really good individuals and relays when districts start next week. We have some kids that can move on, so we’ll keep an eye on what we’ll be up against next week in Salem and see what we can do.”