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Runnin’ down a dream
Optimist track and field meet provides a good test for those athletes with state tournament aspirations.
By JON MOFFETT
AUSTINTOWN
Marvin Logan was walking with a slight limp after an exciting 110-meter hurdle race.
In between high-fives and handshakes with peers, Logan looked up at the scoreboard to see his name.
“Oh,” he said somewhat surprised. “I guess I won.”
Logan, a senior at Warren Harding High, provided just one of the many memorable finishes to the 30th annual Optimist Meet at Fitch High on Saturday. The top three finishers in Logan’s race were within milliseconds.
Logan, 17, finished the race in 14.29 seconds. He edged Elijah Owens of Shaker Heights (14.31) and Waquiem Comar of Twinsburg (14.33). After the race, Logan and Comar exchanged friendly words.
“I’m sick of all this neck and neck stuff,” Comar said.
Logan replied with, “I know, why can’t we ever have a clean finish?”
The two, Logan explained, have developed a friendly rivalry on the track.
“He and I are good friends, and it’s been a one-two thing between us ever since we were freshmen,” Logan said. “Last year, we set records and it was always him or me. We were always finishing first and second. It’s always good to have a little friendly competition.”
There was plenty of competition to go around at the meet. Almost 60 teams participated in the meet.
Many of the races featured athletes that many local runners hadn’t seen all year. But Logan and others said the level of competition only helps everyone.
“It gives us a variety of great competitors, and it makes us better in the process,” said Logan, who has aspirations to make it to the state meet in the hurdles.
Harding finished in eighth place with 25.5 total points. The winner for the boys was Wadsworth, which finished with 61 points. The highest a local boys team scored was Fitch, whose 34.5 points were good for fifth place.
Buchtel won the meet for the girls with a score of 55 points. Again, Fitch was the leading local team, sixth-place with 43.5 points.
But the teams used the level of competition to boost performances of individuals and relay teams.
For the third time in as many weeks, Canfield senior thrower Dustin Brode was draped with medals and given plaques for his outing. He won the boys shot put and discus. Not surprisingly, he set a meet record, something he’s been doing a several meets this season. This record, a 63-foot-7 toss, broke the meet record of 59-8.75 set four years ago.
Brode just shrugged as he accepted his awards, which included the Boys Outstanding Field Performance.
McDonald’s Matthias Tayala finished second in the discus, while Harding’s Aaron Wilson was second in the shot.
Local girls captured the first three places in the discus, and the first two in the shot put. Fitch’s Ali Tolich captured first place in the discus and shot. McDonald’s Joh’Vonnie Mosley captured second place in each event.
Allison Rice of Poland placed third in the discus. Rounding out the field events was Canfield’s Leanna Hartsough, who finished third in the girls high jump, clearing 5-6.
Other individuals earning top-three places were Nick Melone of Columbiana, and a pair of Fitch runners. Te’John Lawrence won the 200-meter dash and finished third in the 100-meter dash, and Jen Shiley placed second in the 300 hurdles.
Melone captured third in the 200.
Shiley, who ran a personal best 45.42, also credited the competition for a good day.
“They just push you, and you just try to go as fast as you possibly can to catch them,” Shiley, a junior, said. “It gets us used to other people. Instead of running against the same people in your county, it gives you more competition and lets so see what’s out there.”
Local teams also fared well in relay events. A local boys team finished in the top three in each of the four relays. The girls were shut out of all the relays.
The Maplewood 4x800 relay, made up of A.J. Grayson, Tom Bottorf, Wyatt Harman and Eric Rupe, won second. After the race, the team discussed how finishing just a few seconds (7:57.32) behind Canton GlenOak (7:53.17) was beneficial.
“I didn’t really feel like I was going out that hard, but when you’re down by 10 meters, or whatever we were, you just try to catch up ground,” said Rupe, who anchored the race. “GlenOak had the fastest time in the state by a lot, and we were actually pretty close to them.”
Bottorf added, “We knew there was going to be a lot of good schools here, so we knew it would be a great day for everyone individually, and for the team to get one of our best times of the year.”
Brian Ciccone, Ryan Storkel, Luke Wollet and Robert Balzano made up the first-place 4x400 relay from Poland.
Salem placed in two relays, the 4x100 and 4x200.
The 4x100 team was comprised of Ben Eisel, Zack Penick, Trent Toothman and Dustin Matak. The other relay was made up of the same, with Tyler Cosma replacing Toothman.
“It’s exhilarating,” Matak said. “That’s our best time thus far. When we come to a meet like this, we’re here to show what we’ve got. We’re not afraid of anyone.”