Brode, Linsley win state Div. I track titles

Vindicator staff report

AKRON — Canfield junior Dustin Brode captured a Division I state title in the weight throw and Boardman senior Corey Linsley won the shot put at Saturday’s fourth annual state indoor track and field meet at the University of Akron.

In the Div. II/III competition, Liberty senior Fitzgerald Toussaint (60-meter dash), Maplewood senior Eric Rupe (1600) and Maplewood sophomore Jordan Moxley (high jump) won titles.

Divisions II and III compete together while Division I is separate.

Brode’s throw of 62 feet, 51‚Ñ2 inches easily bested Mount Vernon senior Lucas Ferguson (60-11), who placed second. Brode finished seventh in the event at last year’s indoor meet.

Linsley, an Ohio State offensive lineman recruit who placed second in the event last year, won with a throw of 58-83‚Ñ4 to beat Brunswick’s Zach Marinucci (57-7). Brode placed third.

Fitch junior George Thomas was fourth in the weight throw, while Boardman seniors Alex Lipinsky and Corey Linsley placed 8th and 11th, respectively.

Spartans senior Caleb Matthews finished second in the triple jump by one-fourth of an inch and also placed fifth in the long jump and 11th in the high jump.

Matthews finished fourth in the 60 hurdles, but complete results in that event and the 60 dash were not available at press time.

Warren Harding junior Deaver Williamson, who recently committed to the University of Michigan for football, placed in two events — fifth in the 200 and second in the 4x200.

Boardman junior Sam Deskin was seventh in the 1600 and 12th in the 3200.

On the girls side, Boardman’s Ashlee Frazzini was fifth in the pole vault and senior teammate Lauren Agnew was seventh in the 800 and was a member of the 11th-place 4x800 relay.

Division II-III

Toussaint, an All-Ohio running back who is headed to the University of Michigan, won the 60-meter dash with a time of 6.96, edging Columbiana junior Nick Melone (7.04), who placed second.

Toussaint finished sixth in the 100 at the 2007 state outdoor meet, but missed last track season due to a hamstring injury. He will be among the favorites for this year’s outdoor 100 crown.

Rupe’s winning time of 4:23.75 was almost four seconds faster than Bay sophomore Michael Brajdic (4:27.68). Rupe was an All-Ohioan in cross country last fall, finishing 12th at the state meet, and he also placed 12th in the mile at the outdoor state meet last spring.

Moxley’s winning jump was 5 feet, 5 inches, besting Chippewa’s Brandy Kelley by two inches. Moxley placed second at last year’s state indoor meet behind Struthers’ Ashley Galbraith, who won indoor and outdoor titles in the event. Galbraith is now at Ohio State.

Making Moxley’s feat more impressive is the fact that she also swims during the winter, earning All-Ohio honors in two events at this year’s state swim meet.

Lakeview senior Ben Moody placed third in the 60 hurdles and fifth in the long jump. Moody will play football at Cornell next fall. Teammates Tyler Ames (fifth in the 1600, sixth in the 3200), Heath Harris (eighth in the 3200) also fared well.

Poland junior Sean Murphy placed third in the 800 and United junior Zane Smith took sixth in the 400 and eighth in the 200.

Lordstown senior Kayla Ellks placed 12th in the long jump and helped the Red Devils finish eighth in the 4x200 relay and 10th in the 4x400 relay. Ellks also qualified in the 60 hurdles but did not advance to the finals.

Lakeview’s Kiley Mathews was fourth in the 400 and 11th in the 200 and United’s Victoria Bates took seventh in the shot.

The state indoor meet is not sanctioned by the Ohio High School Athletic Association. It is run by the Ohio Association of Track and Cross Country Coaches.