Howland’s Pachol kicks in for MVP finish

By Chuck Housteau

CORTLAND — As Howland senior Nicole Pachol rounded the turn in the 200 meter dash at the Trumbull County track meet, she felt winded and tired.

Pachol already had won two hurdle events and the 100 meter dash so it was no surprise that she was struggling in her fourth event of the day at the meet held at Lakeview High Stadium.

Once Pachol saw the final straightaway, she found something extra and turned it on to cruise to her fourth victory.

The impressive win earned Pachol 40 points and Girls Event MVP as the Tigers routed the field to win the meet with 112 points.

Lakeview girls team finished second with 78 points while McDonald came in third with 64 points.

“Whew my pulse is racing,” Pachol said following the 200 meter win. “I saw that straightaway and thought last race here, senior year, time to go.

Pachol’s best races are the 100 and 300 meter hurdles where she has a chance to go to Columbus.

“Coach asked me to jump into the dashes this week,” Pachol said. “We don’t have anyone and we needed some points because we wanted to get the team thing going on here. So I said ‘sure.’

“I didn’t realize it would be this hard, but I’m glad I was able to help the team win.”

Girls Field MVPs were McDonald’s Joh’Vonnie Moseley who captured the shot put and Jordan Moxley who won the high jump.

Badger’s Sarah Bonar was named the Running MVP for winning the 1600 meters and finishing third in the 800 meters.

Bonar also anchored a second-place finish for Badger in the 4X800 relay.

The Warren Harding boys team had to sit and wait out the final few events to make sure the Raiders hung on to the team title.

“Whoa, we don’t have this wrapped up yet,” said Harding coach Charles Penny although his team held a 121-83 lead with the 3200 meters and the 4X400 meter run left. “Lakeview has runners in the last two events and we don’t.”

Harding was already mathematically the champion but Penny wasn’t aware of the correct score. Lakeview locked up second place with a one-two finish by Heath Harris and Tyler Ames in the 3200 meter run.

Harding won with 121 while Lakeview was second with 103 and McDonald third with 64 points.

“It meant a lot to our team,” said Penny on winning the team title. “We wanted to win this for the sixth year in a row and have our seniors go out as winners.”

The Raiders were led by D.J Williams who won the 100 and 200 meters and anchored the 4X100 and 4X200 relay races.

“I just wanted to help my team get as many points as possible,” said Williams who was named the Running MVP. “There was great competition here and that helps me prepare for the upcoming District tournament.

Williams has a chance to make it to Columbus with his impressive times in the 100 (10.95) and the 200 (22.35).

Teammates Marvin Logan won the 300 meter hurdles and Joseph Threats won the 400 meter runs. Logan and Threats contributed in the relay events for Harding.

Lakeview star tailback Ben Moody, who is heading to Cornell to play football next fall, was the meet MVP for a win in the 110 meter hurdles and a second place finish to Williams in the 100 meters. Moody also led Lakeview to a second place finish in the 4X100 relay and was third in the long jump.

“I love the competition of track,” Moody said. “Any athlete loves to get pushed. It makes you perform better.

“But I want to help my team win,” Moody said. “We have the potential I think to go to state as a team. That’s my goal for us.”

Field MVP’s went to Jason Welliver of Mineral Ridge and Steve Woodyard of LaBrae for tallying the most points in the shot put and discus events.