Boardman runners qualify for states, nationals

Select members of the Boardman boys and girls track teams competed at the “Arnold Classic” scholastic track and field meet on March 3 on the campus of Ohio State University.

The meet was a part of the weekend-long ‘Arnold Classic’ that celebrates sports, fitness and nutrition. Schwarzenegger himself appeared at the meet and spoke to all of the athletes and coaches and posed for pictures with some of the Spartans.

The event was one of the last qualifiers for all events attempting to make the final 16, who then compete in the State Indoor Meet on March 17 at the University of Akron.

For the girls squad, junior Sarina Mauerman placed the highest by vaulting to a career indoor best of 9-0 and finishing in fourth place. She currently stands in 20th place on the state list.

The 4x800 meter relay came in seventh with a season-best time of 10:41.21. Sophomore Emma Schwendeman led off the relay with a 2:38.4, sophomore Trista Cunningham ran 2:42.7 on the second leg, sophomore Brandi Gatte ran the third leg in 2:36.5 and freshman Jordan Grantonic anchored the relay in 2:42. The relay now stands in 25th place in the state of Ohio with all four girls having their season-best splits.

The 4x400 meter relay team placed eighth, running a season-best time of 4:30.98. Freshman Heaton O’Hara led off (1:05), senior Tori Moore ran the second leg (1:07), freshman Regan O’Hara ran third (1:06) and Gatte anchored (1:10).

Junior Lauren Davila placed eighth in the shot put with a season-best toss of 34-4 æ and now stands in 28th place on the state list. Junior teammate Katrina Watkins finished 15th, throwing 30-5 and senior Megan Howard placed 18th with a toss of 28-1.

In the 3200-meter run, Grantonic ran a career indoor best of 12:08.21, placing 10th and knocking 17 seconds off her previous best time and placing her 25th on the state list. Schwendeman placed 12th with a 12:42.99, knocking 15 seconds off her previous best time. Junior Daisy Corso placed 16th, running 13:16.12.

The 4x200 meter relay team placed 10th, running 1:54.31 and consisted of sophomore Nikki Hillard, seniors Lesley Koch and Tori Moore and anchored by freshman Heaton O’Hara. In the 800-meter run, Moore came back to run a season-best 2:36.10 and placed 10th, followed by Regan O’Hara placing 14th with a season-best of 2:39.16. Gatte placed 23rd, achieving her best open 800 time of 2:44.10.

In the 400-meter dash, Heaton O’Hara ran a season-best 66.86, placing 19th. Cunningham was 29th (72.0) and Keleman was 30th (72.05). In the 200-meter dash, Hillard ran her season-best of 28.57 and finished in 21st place. Koch ran 8.47 to place 22nd in the 60-meter dash and Hillard ran 8.90. In the 60-meter hurdles, Davila placed 25th with a time of 10.85.

Highlighting the boys success was sophomore Mark Hadley, finishing fourth in the 3200-meter run, Hadley’s time of 9:46 qualifies him for this weekend’s New Balance National Meet in New York City.

Hadley also placed fifth in the 1600-meter run in a time of 4:36, and along with sophomore Alan Burns, sophomore Justin Maroni and junior Sam Sheronovich, placed ninth in the 4x800 meter relay with a time of 8:41.

Also on Saturday, senior and national qualifier Devin Campbell placed fifth in the 60-meter dash with a time of 7.07 and was 16th in the long jump at 19-5.5. Senior Allen Starkey placed 13th in the long jump with a leap of 19-7.75 inches.

Burns finished 16th in the 1600 with a time of 4:50 and senior Mike Moxley was 15th in the 400 with a time of 54.19. The 4x200 meter relay team of sophomore Ivan Adu-Poku, sophomore Isaiah Lyle, senior Darel Green and junior Nathan Jones placed eighth with a time of 1:37.6. The 4x400 meter relay team of Adu-Poku, Lyle, Burns and Moxley was seventh overall in a time of 3:44.

The indoor track season will continue this weekend in the historic Armory in New York City where the Spartans will be represented by four national qualifiers — Campbell, Hadley, Adu-Poku and Jones.