Field day: Kubicina has ‘shot’ at state

By Eric Hamilton

The Newton Falls weights thrower qualified for next week’s regional.

SALEM — On her way to warm up for her flight of the Division II district shot put, Newton Falls weights thrower KaiCee Kubicina forgot one important thing — her shot put.

But once she went back to get her element and started warming up, she had no problem remembering what to do.

The senior broke the 40-foot mark for the second straight week and qualified for next week’s regional meet by taking second with a throw of 40-4 Thursday at Reilly Stadium.

Kubicina finished fourth in the district event in 2007. She also qualified for regionals in the discus last year and eventually took fifth in the state meet. She’ll compete in the discus at Salem Saturday.

“My goal for today in the shot was 41, but I just wanted to make it out,” said Kubicina, who has never qualified for the state meet in the shot put. “My goal is to make it to state in both. This is the best district in northeast Ohio, so if you make it out of here, you know you belong.

“You just have to take it one meet at a time. Now that I’ve made it to regionals, I have to focus on that meet. I can’t think about state until after that meet.”

Having qualified for state in 2006 and 2007 in the discus, Kubicina spent the offseason in the weight room building more strength for the shot put. She also practiced at the University of Akron and competed in indoor meets.

“She lifted all winter and that really made a world of difference for her,” explained Newton Falls coach Jon Culp. “She’s had more success and gained more confidence. We’re just preaching top four each week to get to state.

“She’s very loose and doesn’t get rattled in these meets. She’s been pretty consistent in both events this year. Her strength is there and she’s just working on her speed now.”

Kubicina will have company at next week’s regional shot put as Salem’s Sarah Brobeck notched the fourth and final qualifying spot Thursday.

In the boys’ discus, three local athletes secured regional berths. Cardinal Mooney’s Joe Paulenich had his best performance of the season, ripping off a toss of 151-9 to take second place.

Salem’s Mike Boggs (145-3) was third and Michael Hudzik (143-4) of Struthers finished fourth.

Defending state placer Ashley Galbraith (Struthers) won her second straight district championship in the high jump with a leap of 5-6. She also qualified for Saturday’s finals in the 300 hurdles with the fastest time in the preliminaries.

Niles senior Anthony Mullen jumped 20-1 to win the boys’ long jump and secure a spot at the Ravenna regional.

He was followed by a pair of competitors from United — Zack Lease, who finished second, and Brandon Ellyson, who was third.

In the only running finals, four Valley teams qualified for regionals in the 4x800 relay.

Salem’s Sarah Yerkey, Bethany Huston, Dana Ackerman and Lauren Shivers posted a winning time of 9:51.01 to win by over 5 seconds.

West Branch, who won the event at the Optimist Meet earlier this season, took second to advance to regionals.

In the boys’ 4x800, Poland’s team of Mike Kurjan, Ryan Shields, Brian Witt and Sean Murphy moved on by finishing second, behind Marlington.

United’s team of Richard Barker, BJ Martin, Joseph Karmazin and Taylor Phillips took the final regional position with a fourth-place effort.

With that relay, the two qualifiers in the long jump and four points in the discus, the Golden Eagles grabbed the top spot in the team standings after four events with 23 points.

Canton Central Catholic was a close second with 22 and Marlington was third with 20.

In the girls team race, Tallmadge led with 17 points, followed closely by Rootstown (16.5) and Salem (15).

The rest of the field event finals will be contested Saturday, starting at 11:30 a.m. The running event finals begin at 12:30. Those placing in the top four in each event advance to next week’s Ravenna regional meet.