Boardman athletes fare well at nationals

Staff report

Greensboro, N.C.

Fifteen members of the Boardman High track team — seven boys and eight girls — competed at last weekend’s New Balance outdoor national track and field championships at North Carolina A&T.

Sophomore Mark Hadley led the Spartans with a fifth-place finish in the 1600-meter run with a time of 4:20.

The sprint medley team of sophomores Turel Thompson, Brian Bodrick, and Alan Burns along with senior Darel Green placed seventh.

Nathan Jones was 31st overall in the 100, Hadley was 18th in the 3200 and the 4x100 relay team of Thompson, Bodrick, Jones and senior Allen Starkey was 13th.

On the girls side, junior Giovanna Silvestri placed 13th out of 20 throwers in the shot put with a throw of 34 feet, 7 1/2 inches. She threw 106-8 to place 17th out of 24 discus throwers.

Seniors Tori Moore and Lesley Koch, sophomore Nikki Hillard and freshman Heaton O’Hara finished 14th out of 16 teams in the sprint medley with a time of 1:56.52 — three seconds better than their previous best.

The 4x800 relay team of Moore, Heaton O’Hara, freshman Regan O’Hara and sophomore Emma Schwendeman ran 10:00.17 to place 24th out of 30 teams.

Jordan Grantonic was one of 30 competitors in the freshman mile. After qualifying with a 5:23, she was injured the last few weeks of the season and ran 6:01 at the meet.

All the Spartans competed in the Emerging Elite division except Grantonic.

The athletes had to make qualifying marks in their respective events throughout the regular season to compete at the meet, which had competitors from across the country.