Boardman boys improve overall record

The Boardman boys track team concluded its regular season and improved its overall record to 8-1 with a 105.5-36-30.5 victory over Ursuline and Cardinal Mooney.

The Spartans opened the meet with a victory by senior Mark Hadley, junior Nick Long, freshman Nathaniel Ams and senior Trevor Leyden in the 4x800 meter relay. In the next event, the 110 meter hurdles, the Spartans took three of the four places with senior Jeff Bean in first, sophomore Nick Cessna second and sophomore Namontey Law in fourth. In the 100-meter dash, senior Turel Thompson took second and freshman Sheldon Broyles tied for third.

“Tonight was a chance to get some of our younger guys in the scoring column,” said Boardman head coach John Phillips. “We also want to prepare and rest some of our varsity guys for the post season, especially Friday’s Federal League Championship.”

In the 1600-meter run, Long took second, followed by Ams in third and Leyden in fourth. The Spartan 4x200 relay team of senior Brian Bodrick, Thompson, Broyles and sophomore Brendon Lucas took first. The 4x100 relay team of senior Ivan Adu-Poku, Thompson, Broyles and Bodrick finished first as well. Junior Josh Suarez placed second in the 400-meter run he was followed by sophomore Tyler Kellam in third and freshman Kobe Adu-Poku in fourth. In the 300-meter hurdles, the Spartans took two scoring spots with Cessna in first and Law in second.

In the 800-meter run, senior Alan Burns was first and Ams placed third. The 200-meter dash was won by Lucas with Cessna in second. The next event was the 3200-meter run which was won by senior Justin Maroni with Leyden in second and senior Kevin McNally in fourth. The 4x400 relay team of sophomore Ayo Ojewale, sophomore Mike Vidman, Ams and Kellam took first.

In the field events, the Spartans took second and third in the long jump with the leaps of Suarez and Ojewale. In the high jump, Bean placed first, freshman Richard Fisher placed third and Law took fourth. In the discus, senior Mike Sferra took fourth, while in the shot put senior Sean Lonardo took third and freshman George Wallace was fourth. Finally, in the pole vault, senior Steve Brown was first, junior Dan Liptak second, junior Andrew Cessna third and Fisher was fourth.

“This senior class has done some things for our track program,” said Phillips. “We have won the Federal League, been district runners up, taken athletes to state and have had athletes at nationals. Also, several members of this class will be running track in college. To say that this group will be missed is a huge understatement. They are outstanding athletes and outstanding young men as well.”