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South Range boys, United girls win ITCL
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Seniors Sara Montgomery of Springfi eld, back, and Kristen Basista of Mineral Ridge run neck-and-neck in the 100-meter dash during the ITCL Championship track meet Thursday at Springfi eld High School. Basista came in second to Montgomery, but she was named girls MVP.
By Jon Moffett
New Middletown
South Range High staked its claim as the top track and field team in the Inter Tri-County League with 198 points at the conference meet.
The boys team finished first, with 113 points, and the girls earned a second-place tie with host Springfield. Each team finished with 85 points. United won the meet for the girls with 123 points.
Teams were using the meet as a final tune-up with the district meet next week.
Senior Kristen Basista of Mineral Ridge was named the MVP for the girls. She finished with 29 individual points and two first-place finishes. She also added second-place finish.
Nick Melone of Columbiana was named the MVP for the boys. Melone, a senior, won four events and placed second in another.
Basista was named the best hurdler in the conference by winning both the 100- and 300-meter hurdle events.
Prior to many races, the public address announcer reminded those in attendance that the races were to determine the best athlete in the conference for each respective race. Basista said knowing that added a little bit more pressure.
“I wasn’t expecting that, so when I hear it, I was a little surprised,” Basista said. “But it does add a little bit of pressure.”
When asked how she felt about being named the de facto best ITCL Tier 1 hurdler, Basista was pleased.
“That sounds good,” she said. “I was hoping that I would win the 100-meter hurdles, because that means I’ve won them all four years of high school at this meet.”
Basista, who set the meet record in the 100-meter hurdles in 2008, also finished second in the 100-meter dash. Her time of 13.10 was behind only Springfield sophomore Sarah Montgomery, who won the event with a time of 13.00.
Basista said it’s easier to push yourself when someone is breathing down your neck.
“It’s hard when you’re ahead of people, because you never know how hard to push yourself,” she said. “But we were neck and neck the entire time, so it really pushes you harder. You run harder when you have somebody to push you like that.”
Montgomery said having a competitor like Basista brings out the best in everyone.
“I’m actually very happy that she pushed me to do my best,” Montgomery said. “Because when you don’t have anybody near you, everything just kind of slows down in your mind and you lost focus.”
While many of the winners were excited about their individual honors, Shane Peterson would much rather let his teammates get the glory.
“I don’t really like the individual events as much,” said Peterson, a senior at East Palestine who won the high jump, long jump and was part of the championship 4x100-meter relay.
“I like getting the points for my team, but I don’t really like the attention,” he said. “I’d much rather enjoy the moment with someone else than by myself.”
The girls 4x800-meter relay from Columbiana, which won the meet’s first event, felt the same way.
“We’ve been working together for a few years now, and we’ve made it to state the past two years,” said senior Alyssa Mellott. “So, we’re hoping to make it to state again, but we know the region is going to be tough.”
Mellott, who ran the third leg of the relay, was very complimentary of her teammate, and anchor for the relay team, Caroline Kindel.
“She’s awesome,” she said. “She’s been our last leg for a while now, and she never lets us down.”
While some athletes, like Basista and Mellott, were working the kinks out their races, others were trying one out for the first time.
Sophomore Ryan Roush was an injury fill-in for the South Range 4x800 relay. Sporting fluorescent yellow spikes, Roush anchored the team to a first-place finish.
“I’m pretty happy about it, I guess,” he said. “I just didn’t want to lose it for my team. We have a good team.”
Winning the girls shot put and discus was junior Josie McKinley of United.
McKinley tossed a 32-4.5 in the shot, and hurled a 107-7 in the discus. The meet record for the shot is 38-6.
“I knew I could win, but I didn’t expect first place,” McKinley said. “I was just hoping for it. It wasn’t my furthest throw, but it was close.”