Boardman girls sixth at Federal League meet

After a storm delay, the Boardman High School girls track team finished sixth with 62 points at the Federal League track and field championships at Massillon Perry High School May 13.

North Canton won the meet with 143 points and Fitch was second with 108 points. The Lady Spartans also finished sixth overall in the league with their finish at the championships and a 3-4 dual meet season record.

“I was very happy with the effort these girls all gave and 12 out of 17 events had their season-best performances,” said Boardman coach Denise Gorski. “ You can’t ask for anything more than giving your best and that’s what they did. We knew going into this season that we lacked team depth, but these girls made up for that with a lot of heart and a never-say-quit attitude.

“But in this highly-competitive league, you have to have team depth. It was a credit to them to win three dual meets this season and cap off the regular season with an upset win over Canton GlenOak.”

Two sophomores, Daisy Robinson and Giovanna Silvestri, earned Federal League Honorable Mention honors by placing third in their respective events. Robinson threw a career-best 37-8 Ω in the shot put and Silvestri threw 111-9 in the discus to finish third. Robinson was also fifth in the discus with a toss of 106-10.

Two athletes finished fourth in their event, senior Nicole Vlad and junior Jenny Bresnahan. Vlad ran a career-best time of 15.99 in the semifinals of the 100-meter hurdles, then went 16.73 in the finals to finish fourth. Bresnahan was fourth in the pole vault with a season-best vault of 8-6.

Four girls finished fifth in their respective events: Vlad, senior Katie Heney, junior Tori Moore and freshman Nikki Hillard. Vlad ran 48.48 in the 300-meter hurdles and Hillard 27.67 in the 200-meter dash. Moore secured fifth place in the 1600 and 800-meter runs with season-best times of 5:26.68 and 2:26.10.

Heney ran a career-best time of 11:41.81 in the 3200, dropping 15 seconds from her previous best time.

“I am very proud of what this team has accomplished,” added Gorski. “Now we head into the second half of the season with the district and regional meet in hopes of qualifying events to the state meet.”