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Liberty 4x400 relay sets mark
By Brandon judeh
CORTLAND
The Liberty High track and field team is cool, confident and fast.
Their 4x400-meter relay of John Helms, Frank Bond, Jantz Clinkscale and Marquis Williamson has a routine and a mindset they go through each meet and the Division II district championships at Lakeview on Saturday was no different.
“We go out and wait in the bullpen and slow our heart rates down,” said Bond. “We just got out and know we are going to be champions, it’s a mindset and we do it every time out.”
Bond added his team wants to go to state, break some state records and become the best team in the state.
Breaking records is starting to become a routine for the Leopards as they broke yet another one on Saturday.
After shattering a Trumbull county track meet record earlier in the season, they broke the district record for the 4x400 with a time of 3 minutes, 23.06 seconds.
This came as no surprise to them, their coaching staff and fans.
“It feels good to break records, its becoming routine, but we work hard for it,” added Helms. “We believe in ourselves and so does everyone around us.”
Williamson won the 400 in 49.90, only one second short of beating the record.
“I am on top of the world right now, all the hard work is paying off and we haven’t even hit all of our potential yet,” said Williamson.
Clinkscale agreed with Williamson and feels the Leopards have what it takes to go the distance.
“We have been working so hard for this since our freshman year and it is paying off, we are going to regionals and it feels well deserved.”
All four boys are headed to the regional at Bedford, where they all say they plan on breaking more records so they can head to the state finals.
The Liberty boys team finished in fourth place overall with Lakeview finishing third, as Cuyahoga Falls CVCA ran away with the title.
For the girls, Lakeview’s Lauren Schattinger dominated by winning the 200 and 100 and the 4x100 relay.
Schattinger’s teammate, Abby Dunn, took home the girls pole vault championship with a jump of 8-6.
Though Schattinger and Dunn left opponents in the dust, the Bulldogs finished in sixth place, with Girard in second. CVCA once again ran away from the completion, winning easily by 58 points and scoring 133 points.
Girard had a strong showing in both the boys and girls events. The Indians will be sending several athletes to the regionals, including Ashley Wagner (high jump), Nate Bucci (high jump), Jamel McClendon (110 hurdles) and the girls 4x400 relay, which finished third.
The Cardinal Mooney boys 4x200 relay set a stadium record 1.29.08.
Other winners included Darius Harris from Niles (100), Lakeview’s Eric Harris (1600), Lavonte Powell (girls 400 ) and Newton Falls’ Shannon Montgomery (girls discus).