Boys capture regional crown at D2 track meet

May 30, 2010 at 12:07a.m.

By Joe Scalzo

RAVENNA

With about a half-hour left in Saturday’s Division II regional track and field meet, Poland track aficionado John Jeren sent his son John a text message telling him his 10-year-old school record in the 800-meter dash had just fallen by a measly three-hundredths of a second.

Senior Sean Murphy had broken it just a few events after the Bulldogs had erased the school’s 4x200 record.

It was shaping up to be a really, really good day.

“Another record might be going real soon,” Poland relay coach Gabby Moore said.

Poland’s 4x400 team entered the day’s final event with one eye on the standings and the other on the clock. They were hoping to best the school-record time set by the 2000 team, who just so happened to have set the record at the 2000 state meet to win that event and clinch the state title.

Oh, and a top-three finish in Saturday’s 4x400 also would give Poland the regional crown over Salem, which led by five points.

So, you know, it was kind of a big deal.

“We’re not going for top three,” Moore said. “We’re going for one.”

Relay members Brian Ciccone, Ryan Storkel and Luke Wollet all did their jobs, handing senior anchor Robert Balzano the baton with a 10-meter lead, which is a little like giving Michael Phelps a pair of flippers.

The Bulldogs won going away, finishing in 3:20.38 to lower the school record by nine-hundredths of a second and help Poland capture the team trophy, 54-49.

“Everyone did what they were supposed to do,” Wollet said. “Everyone ran to the best of their ability.”

Added Balzano, “We wanted that record. We wanted our names in that little [record] box in school so bad, just to have that satisfaction.

“At this point in the season, we’re definitely running for time. We’re not really about the medal right now.”

In 2000, Poland won a state track title with a group of guys who viewed second place the same way they viewed last place. This year’s team is the same way. They were supposed to have Friday off but refused, preferring to practice.

It paid off.

“I just feel so fortunate to coach these guys and blessed to watch them run,” Bulldogs boys track coach Ryan Williams said. “There’s guys who go their whole career and don’t get a chance to coach a senior class this talented.”

Wollet, a Kent State football player, already has won league titles in football, basketball and track. Storkel and Ciccone won a league soccer title for a team that didn’t lose until the district final. Balzano, a Miami (Ohio) track recruit, should be in the mix for the 400 title next weekend.

Nobody mentioned the regional title before Saturday. But everyone knew it was possible.

“When you start seeing a full bus headed to the district and a full bus heading to the regional, you start thinking, ‘Yeah, it’s possible,’ ” Williams said. “We had to have some things go our way and they had to run lights out and a lot of them did.”

The key point came just after Balzano and Wollet had finished first and fourth, respectively, in the 400. Salem and Poland were tied at 31 and the Quakers had just two competitors left.

“We started figuring the numbers,” Wollet said. “Well, the other guys on our team did it because I’m not as smart as them.

“But I was kind of like, ‘Yeah, you’re right.’ ”

Sophomore Dom Patton finished sixth in the 300 hurdles and Murphy then won the 800 by one-hundredth of a second in 1:55.83. But Salem seniors Dustin Matak and Ben Eisel finished 1-2 in the 200 to force the final drama.

“Every point matters in a meet like this,” Williams said. “Performances like Sean’s are how you win championships.

“A whole lot of talent and a little bit of luck and it’s a great afternoon for us.”

On the girls side, Poland senior Allison Rice won the discus and Lakeview sophomore Lauren Schattinger won the 100 and finished second in the 200. Schattinger set personal bests in both events.

Considering Schattinger didn’t compete in the 100 at last year’s regional and finished sixth in the 200, it wasn’t hard to guess how she felt.

“You know what? It was beyond amazing,” she said of the meet. “It was better than I could have ever imagined. It’s the best meet of my life.”

Schattinger couldn’t even bring herself to watch last year’s 100 race.

A year later, everyone was watching her.

“To be able to win that when I wasn’t [in it] last year, it’s phenomenal,” she said. “But my work’s not done. I have still have to perfect things. I still have to clean up my races.

“I have the training behind me and I’ve worked very hard up to this point, but it can’t stop now.”