Ursuline grad helps relay team place fifth

By John Kovach

Edwin Smith of Youngstown was a member of Ashland University’s 4x400 relay team that placed fifth at the NCAA Division II Outdoor Track and Field Championships that concluded May 23 in San Angelo, Tex.

Smith, a graduate of Ursuline High, combined with Joe Horn, Nick Bellanco and Carlin Isles for a 40.85 seconds clocking and fifth place, to help Ashland finish in a tie for sixth place with Pittsburg State with 29 points each.

Lincoln won the 4x400 event with 39.29.

St. Augustine’s won the team title with 94 points.

Ashland entered the national meet ranked No. 3 in the nation with 367.07 points behind Abilene Christian (379.40) and Adams State (376.17).

Ashland’s 4x400 team was seeded seventh entering the meet, but Smith said at the time that his quartet was underrated.

“We’re better than that. We’ve run as a team once. We have a realistic chance to be in the top three. We were top four last year and missed third place by two tenths of a second,” said Smith, whose team finished two places higher than their seeding but missed making All-American honors.

Smith runs second in the 4x400 order after Bellanco, and is followed by Isles and Horn. Bellanco, Smith and Horn are old hands at running relays, while Smith and Bellanco have been together in this relay for four years.

“We have a lot of chemistry between Nick, Joe and me,” said Smith. “It’s not so much the handoff, but it’s knowing, for example, what Nick likes to do. Nick, a lot of times, he starts slow and then turns it on. He comes in faster than a lot of runners.”

Bellanco said, “Edwin knows if I’m getting faster or coming in slower. If I’m coming in faster, you might want to take off a little bit sooner. The relay has been great. Joe, Edwin and I have kind of been the core. We’ve had some other guys, Jerry Ezell, Brian Ryman, but we’ve been there.”

kovach@vindy.com