Boys track season wrap up
The Boardman boys track team began its final season in The Federal League with a 78-59 victory over the Canton McKinley Bulldogs. The win improved the Spartans to 2-0 on the season and 1-0 in league meets.
The Spartans opened the meet with a victory by junior Josh Suarez, sophomore Nathan Hadley, sophomore Adam Deeley and senior Justin Maroni in the 4x800 meter relay. The next event, the 110-meter hurdles, senior Jeff Bean placed first at 15.61. In the 100-meter dash, Spartan senior Isaiah Lyle was first at 11.47.
In the 1600-meter run, Maroni took first with a time of 5:00. He was followed by junior Nick Long in second at 5:04 and freshman Nathaniel Ams in third at 5:12. Senior Alan Burns won the 400 with a time of 52.85 and freshman Kobe Adu-Poku was third at 54.81. Bean placed second in the 300 hurdles at 42.29. In the 800-meter run, the Spartans swept the event with Burns in first, Deeley in second, and Ams in third.
In the 200-meter dash, sophomore Brendan Lucas was second at 22.95. The next event was the 3200-meter run which was won by Maroni, Long was second, and senior Trevor Leyden was third.
“This was a very solid victory,” said Spartan head coach John Phillips, “McKinley has a lot of talent in the sprints, jumps, and hurdles and we held our own against them.”
In the field events, senior Steve Brown won the pole vault at 12 feet 6 inches with junior Dan Liptak taking second at 10 feet 6 inches. Senior Turel Thompson placed second in the long jump at 20 feet 10.5 inches and Bean was second in the high jump. Freshman George Wallace placed second in the shot put and senior Mike Sferra was second in disc with sophomore Markese Haynes in third.
The BW-3 ‘Meet MVP’ was freshman Nathaniel Ams for his performances in the distance events.
“It is really a tremendous accomplishment for our team to have a 5-1 season in the Federal League,” explained Phillips, “this league is so good and there are so many great athletes and good coaches in it, to have a chance to win the league after the regular season is very special.”
Next up for the Spartans will be the Federal League Championship meet at Lake. The Spartans trail only Glenoak heading into the league meet. Boardman will have to finish first or at a higher finish place than Glenoak at the meet to be crowned Federal League Champions.