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Falcons’ Rivera shakes nerves at Mahoning County meet
Fitch sprinter among MVPs in 103rd annual
Mahoning County T&F Championships
By Tom Williams
AUSTINTOWN
Fitch sophomore sprinter Eva Rivera woke up Saturday morning not feeling all that well.
“Nerves were getting to me, calf was hurting a little bit,” Rivera said.
Things changed drastically right before her first race at the 103rd annual Mahoning County Track and Field Championships at Falcon Stadium.
“In the blocks,” Rivera said of when the switch kicked in. “I get this calm feeling when I’m in the blocks and it’s go time.”
Rivera was unstoppable, winning the Division I 100, 200 and 400 races and anchoring Fitch’s winning 4x400 team to earn the meet’s Rob Ruane (MVP Award) for D-I girls.
Boardman sprinter Brendon Lucas was the D-I MVP. For D-II, Western Reserve’s Ashleigh Rowley and Lowellville’s Myron Anderson earned MVP honors.
Rivera’s efforts helped the Fitch girls win the D-I meet with 179 points. With 145, Boardman was second, followed by Poland with 88.
Fitch’s boys won their division with 201.5 points. Following the Falcons were Boardman with 120 and Poland with 105.
Lucas said the talented Falcons present a challenge to his team.
“Hopefully when we get back to the [All-American Conference Red] championship, we get them,” Lucas said.
In D-II, Springfield girls won with 185 points, followed by South Range with 119.5 and Western Reserve with 91. South Range won the boys division with 138.83 points, followed by Springfield (121.5) and Ursuline (72.5).
Division I
Rivera said the 200 is her favorite event.
“It’s my best race, an in-between distance and I love it,” Rivera said. “I feel good running it.”
She also felt fine after the Falcons avenged a close loss to Boardman in last year’s meet.
“I believe we lost by one point so we came looking for revenge,” Rivera said. “It felt good getting it.”
In the 800, Lauren Dolak, also a Fitch sophomore, ran a 2:19.97 to break the meet record set by Boardman’s Monica Cuevas in 2003.
“I felt pretty good [but] I was a little sore from the mile,” said Dolak who also won the 1600 (5:23.78). “But I felt better than I usually do.
“I just wanted to get out strong and get a good first lap,” said Dolak who enjoyed the 50-degree, windy day. “For distance, it’s a lot harder to run when it’s really hot.”
Dolak and Rivera also were on the winning 4x400 relay team.
“They are young,” said Fitch coach Bob Lape, quickly adding that they are experienced. “They both competed at indoor nationals.”
Lucas dominated the sprint events in the bigger division.
“I knew it was going to take a lot of grit and guts,” said Lucas after winning the 100 (11.89), 200 (22.86) and 400 (50.93). “It felt pretty good.”
The Spartans senior said he prefers the 400 to the sprints.
“I fell in love with it freshman year,” said Lucas who missed last year’s country meet with an injury and was glad he had another chance before graduating.
Division II
Anderson won the 110 hurdles (15.75) and 200 (24.31), and was second in the 100 to Valley Christian’s Kenneth Donaldson. His 4x400 relay team was second to South Range.
“My favorite is the hurdles because I’ve been doing [that event] since seventh grade,” Anderson said after edging Donaldson by half a second.
The MVP award was icing on the cake of his best day on the track.
“I’ve had better times, but not as good of a day as today,” Anderson said. “I’ve worked hard all my career so I was glad to [receive] it.”
A distance runner, Rowley won the 3200 (12:14.84), 1600 (5:31.11) and 800 (2:37.82) and anchored the second-place 4x400 relay team.
“My goal was to score as many points [as possible],” said Rowley, who added that the 1600 was her best event.
“The 1600 has always been my favorite race,” Rowley said. “It’s not too long and not too short — it’s kind of a gutsy race.”
The Cyrus twins — Courtney and Caitlyn — were key members for the winning Springfield team.
Courtney won the 100 hurdles (16.01) and was second in the 200 and 300 hurdles. She anchored the Tigers’ winning 4x400 team.
Third in the 100 hurdles, Caitlin won the 100 (13.37) and ran on the winning 4x200 and 4x100 teams.
“We mix it up from meet to meet,” Courtney said of their races. “We joke back and forth about who’s faster. We’re pretty even, it just depends on the day.”
She said the county meet “provides a good indicator of where everyone is at right now. It shows a little bit of preview of how everyone is going to perform. It’s good to see how everyone is doing.
“I’m hoping to get a little faster.”
Caitlyn said she had hoped to do better “but this day overall has been fantastic. All the underclassmen are stepping up. I am very proud of the performance of the team today.”