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Salem and United capture titles
By Joe scalzo
salem
Salem senior Mike King had just broken a school and county record in the shot put and his coach, Bill Neapolitan, was trying to find words to describe what he’d just seen when Quakers athletic director Greg Steffey interrupted him and said, “How about wow, wow and wow?”
Said King, “I was just on today.”
King’s throw of 59 feet, 21/2 inches was almost 3 feet better than his previous best and was nearly 2 feet better than the county record of 57-4, set by Leetonia’s Aaron Merrill in 2005.
It helped him earn field MVP honors at Thursday’s Columbiana County meet at Reilly Stadium and helped the heavily favored Quakers cruise to their seventh title in eight years. East Palestine’s Jacob Dicello won the running MVP for the second-place Bulldogs.
“Personal achievements are nice but being in Salem, it’s a given you have to win the county meet,” said King. “That’s really our big goal as a team.”
Personally, King has bigger goals. His throw was the sixth-best in Ohio this spring in any division and would have placed fourth at last year’s Division II state meet.
The mark continues King’s impressive jump into the state’s elite. At this time last year, he was a 48-foot thrower sitting out the second half of the season after having a microdiscectomy to repair a herniated disc in his back. He originally injured his back during football season, then battled through it during basketball season before surrendering in the spring.
It turned him into a couch potato for a month — “I couldn’t do anything at all,” he said — but he recovered quickly and was back at full strength in about six weeks.
“It was hard,” he said. “I’m used to being active and just going.
“I didn’t always listen the doctor.”
In January, Neapolitan and his wife were hired to coach Salem’s throwers and they quickly changed his technique from the glide to the more effective (but challenging) spin.
After a strong series of discus throws on Thursday — he finished second to teammate Anthony Shivers in that event — he broke the record on his second put, which soared past the gravel pit and into the outlying grass.
“As soon as it left my hand, I knew it,” he said.
All season, King’s coaches had been hoping for a 60-footer. With a month left in the season, they might have to adjust their goals upward.
“He keeps talking state championship,” Neapolitan said. “I guess we’ll see what happens.”
On the girls side, Leetonia senior Clarissa Perkins set a school and meet record in the discus to earn field MVP. United senior Emily Bokanovich won running MVP to lead the Eagles to the team title.
“I think everybody ran pretty good,” Bokanovich said. “We did what we came here to do and we placed where we needed to place.”
Perkins just missed the county record by 3 inches last season — Wellsville’s Laurie Punch set the mark of 132-10 in 1991 — and just before her first throw, she looked over at her parents and said, “I’m breaking this record today.”
“She made us wait,” her mom said, laughing.
After falling a few feet short on her first throws, Perkins broke the mark on her third throw, then relaxed for her fourth and final throw, which landed 143 feet, 2 inches away to crush the previous mark.
“The official told me that since I already broke the record, to calm down, relax, have fun and go get this one,” said Perkins, who also won the shot put. “And I did. I took a deep breath and just kind of smiled to myself.”
Bokanovich won the 200 and 400 and helped the Eagles to the 4x200 title. Her performance is more impressive considering she is primarily a softball player, having attended just two track practices before Thursday.
She’ll focus more on track this month. A state qualifier in two events last year, she’s eyeing a similar result this year.
“I think I’m almost there,” she said. “I’m where I should have been last year.
“I think I’ll be hitting my peak pretty soon.”