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Bound for state
— TRACK AND FIELD SEmD
By JON MOFFETT
Austintown
District championship: check.
Regional championship: check.
State championship: TBD.
Warren Harding High has one more item on its checklist before the 2010 track and field season is over. Having won the boys regional title at Fitch High on Friday, the Raiders have focused their attention on the state meet next weekend.
The Raider boys took first place with 69 points. The girls of Buchtel High were crowned regional champions of their meet.
Perhaps the most astonishing fact was the Raiders had participants in nine events. And the school will have representatives in eight of those events at the state meet in Columbus on Junes 5.
“We just stayed the course,” said Warren Harding coach Charles Penny. “We had a rough district for us, but we battled back from that and came into regionals. Our qualifying day on Wednesday wasn’t what we really wanted; we were out of the lanes we wanted, running-wise. But I just told them to relax, run fast and have fun.”
The Raiders did all of those things en route to one first-place finish, four seconds, two thirds and three fourths.
“For now we’re going to enjoy the moment,” Penny said. “Then we’re going to go on to state and hopefully we can continue to have success.”
The only event the boys did not qualify for was the discus. Senior Aaron Wilson came in 10th place, but will represent the school in the shot put, claiming second. Wilson placed behind Canfield throwing juggernaut Dustin Brode, who had a meet record-breaking toss of 68-foot-6.
Chaney junior Shatasia Walker qualified on the first race of the afternoon: the 100-meter high hurdles. Walker ran a 14.95, which was good for fourth place. Fellow hurdler Jen Shiley, a junior at Fitch, qualified in the 300-meter hurdles.
“When I crossed the finish line, I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I’m going to state! I’m going to state!’” Shiley said of her first time as a state qualifier. “I’m so happy!”
Shiley will be joined by Falcon teammates Te’John Lawrence, George Thomas and Ali Tolich. Lawrence qualified in the 200-meter dash, while Tolich made it in the shot put and discus. Thomas qualified with the best discus throw at Wednesday’s preliminary meet.
Lawrence had special company in his qualifying race. He will join three other local runners as the four regional representatives in Columbus. Lawrence finished behind Warren Harding’s Andrew Zitnik and DeAver Williamson and East’s Alexander Petway.
Petway also qualified for the first-place East 4x100-meter relay team.
“It felt good, but I was a little bit nervous,” he said. “But I had to do what I had to do for my team. I had to work hard and cross the finish line.”
Petway said his goal this year is to “make it on the podium” at the state meet.
Teammate TreVaughn Thomas also qualified in the 110-meter high hurdles.
Also advancing with high hopes of a state championship was the Boardman girls 4x100-meter relay.
The team, consisting of seniors Nicole Biagetti and Doriyon Glass, junior Nicole Vlad and sophomore Lesley Koch, finished third. But they also broke their own school record in the process.
“I put everything I had into that race,” said Koch, who anchored the team. “I feel so good about this and I love my team so much.”
Koch will make her first trip to the state meet.
Valerie Hood also qualified for the Spartans in the shot and discus.