Boardman girls track defeats Hoover and Lake

The Boardman girls track team earned sole possession of second place in the Federal League with their double win over North Canton Hoover and Lake. GlenOak is still undefeated in the league, but the Spartans are one win away from first place. They had to beat North Canton Hoover, who came into the Boardman meet undefeated to stay in contention for league honors.

The Hoover Vikings traveled to Boardman April 29 and endured a 751/2 - 61 1/2 defeat at the hands of the Lady Spartans. The field events scored big points for the Spartans on the night. In the shot put and discus, junior Ka’nisha White placed first throwing 34feet 9 1/2 inches and 102feet 6 inches. Senior Nikki Hillard won the long jump with a season best jump of 15 feet 31/2 inches and freshmen Logan Mitchell was runner-up jumping 15 feet 1 3/4 inches. Junior Brooke Harsh won the pole vault with a vault of 7 feet 6 inches and junior teammate Brittany Chamberlain tied for second with a height of 7 feet. In the high jump, senior Morgan Hambrick placed second, jumping 4 feet 10 inches.

In the running events, the 4x800 meter relay team of seniors Katelynn Morrell, Brandi Gatte and Trista Cunningham along with junior Regan O’Hara raced to first place in a time of 10:18.5. Morrell came back to win the 1600 in 5:38.9 and senior Emma Schwendeman raced to second place in 5:41.1. Cunningham ran a season best of 2:32.4 to place second in the 800 and Gatte raced to third place running 2:36. In the 3200-meter run, junior Jordan Grantonic raced to second in 12:09 and Schwendeman placed third with a time of 12:19. In the hurdle events, junior Hope Landers raced to second in the 100-meter high hurdles running 16.6 and was third in the 300 hurdles with a time of 51.0. In the sprinting events, sophomore Arianna Cuevas raced to second in the 100-meter dash with a season best time of 12.7, raced to first place in the 200 with a season best of 26.5 and anchored two relays to victory, the 4x100 and the 4x400 meter relays. She was joined in the 4x100 relay by seniors Hambrick, Jada Redd and Hillard running 52.3. The 4x400 meter relay team closed out the meet by racing to first in a time of 4:16.4 and included junior Alison Green, Redd, Regan O’Hara and Cuevas. In the 400-meter dash, O’Hara placed second running 64.7 and Green was third in 67.0. Redd also placed third in the 200 running 27.2.

“This was the biggest meet of the year for the girls’ team. If we won this meet, we would be tied with Hoover for second place. But I knew Hoover also had to take on GlenOak on Thursday and if they lost we would be in second place by ourselves. That’s what happened, so we now had a chance to stand in second if we beat Lake. Against Hoover, I was so proud of the tremendous team effort displayed by the girls’ team. This team is tough and they hate to lose and that’s what I love about them,” said coach Denise Gorski.

On May 1, the Lady Spartans moved into sole possession of second place as they defeated Lake by a score of 102-35. The meet began with the 4x800 meter relay team of Gatte, Grantonic, O’Hara and Cunningham racing to first in 10:24. Cunningham came back in the meet to win the 1600 in a season best time of 5:36 and Schwendeman raced to second in 5:39 and placed third in the 800 with a time of 2:34.9. Junior Jordan Grantonic, coming off an injury for the past several weeks, ran her season best of 2:31.4 in the 800 to win while Morrell raced to second running 2:33.4. In the 3200-meter run, freshmen Abbey Evans raced to first with a career best time of 12:40.

In the sprints and hurdle events, Landers raced to first in the 100 high hurdles with a time of 17.06 and won the 300 hurdles running 51.27. Junior Stephanie DeMain raced to second in the 100 hurdles with a time of 17.65 and Mitchell raced to second in the 300 hurdles running 51.85. Cuevas won the 100-meter dash in 13.15 and sophomore Caitlynn Conner raced to third running a season best of 13.96. In the 400 meter dash, Redd placed first running 63.7 and Cuevas was third running 63.94. Conner came back in the 200 to place second running a season best of 29.51 and senior Briana Fonderlin placed third running 30.34. In the sprint relays, the 4x100 meter relay team of Hambric, Landers, Hillard and Fonderlin won in 53.04; the 4x200 team of Hambrick, Hillard, Redd and junior Alison Green won in 1:49.9 and the 4x400 team of Regan O’Hara, Heaton O’Hara, Morrell and Gatte won in 4:28.

In the field events, Hambrick won the high jump with a leap of 5 feet and Mitchell was third jumping 4 feet 10 inches. In the long jump, Mitchell placed second jumping 15 feet 1 inch and Hillard was third jumping 14 feet 2 inches. In the shot, Ka’nisha White won the event throwing 33 feet 3 inches and placed second in the discus throwing a season best of 108 feet 11 inches. In the pole vault, Brooke Harsh vaulted a season best of 8 feet to place first and junior Brittany Chamberlain placed second vaulting 8 feet.

“I know the girls had to be tired after coming off the tremendous winning effort against Hoover two days before, but they continue to compete at a high level and have secured second place all by themselves in the league,” said Gorski. “Now we have to beat Massillon Perry May 6 in order to have a shot at the overall conference title. I know these girls will give nothing but their absolute best to stay in contention.”