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Harden, Marsico among finalists in D-II
By Charles Grove
COLUMBUS
Mahoning Valley Division II teams put themselves in strong position to have a memorable final day at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium.
Many individuals and relays qualified for today’s finals and the chance to hang some banners in gymnasiums come next school year.
Hurdles were of no concern to Girard’s Collin Harden and Emily Marsico. Harden finished fourth in his 110 hurdles heat to qualify for finals and won his 300 hurdles heat for good measure. Marsico ended up seventh overall in the 100 hurdles, and despite some scoreboard watching in the second heat, she was overjoyed to make a state final.
“This is really big because it helps to know how great I’m doing this season,” Marsico said. “It gives me so much self-confidence because you made it. You made it to the finals. People wish for this moment and it’s great to have this as a reality.”
Harden said the state meet was much bigger than he imagined before Friday and said blocking it all out was a big key to his success.
“This is a lot more people [than I expected],” Harden said. “You just have to push through and stay focused, though. It’s an amazing feeling to have this many people supporting me. To know that I qualified in two events still hasn’t sunk in.”
A pair of local schools will be represented in the boys 4x100 relay. Poland and Niles finished third and sixth overall in the preliminary rounds and both are running with a lot of confidence heading into their final race.
“We knew we were going to make it in the finals,” Poland’s Gino Centofanti said. “We’re trying to get a top-three finish on the podium. That wasn’t our best time today so we’ll bring more tomorrow. It feels like this is where we should be right now. Tomorrow, hopefully we all come in more prepared and we’ll get it done.”
Niles’ first-leg runner Steven Mintz had one thing on his mind during the race.
“I was thinking, ‘Don’t let no one catch me at all. Just keep the lead and don’t worry about nothing else,’” Mintz said. “That’s all I tried to do.”
Hubbard’s George Hill will be involved in what looks to be one of the closest races of the day. Hill finished second in his 100 dash heat to wind up third overall for today’s final. Hill has been battling a stubborn hamstring but said with one race to go he can’t allow it to affect him.
“Better competition is just going to make me run faster,” Hill said. “Tomorrow is my last meet so I’ve just got to go.”
On the field side, Poland’s Juliana Kreatsoulas ended her high school career on the podium, placing fifth in the girls discus final.
Garrettsville Garfield’s Lauren Jones threw 160-11 in regionals with her closest competitor, Newton Falls’ Kayla Barreca, throwing 145-08. With those numbers, Kreatsoulas said she tried to compete with herself and finish as high up as she could.
“I know I can’t throw 160’ right now so you work against yourself out there,” Kreatsoulas said. “This was a lot less stressful than regionals where you have to qualify. I just woke up today and was like, ‘Oh. I have a track meet today.’”
Barreca finished sixth in the state last year as a sophomore and was delighted to improve upon her performance this time.
“Last year I just wanted to get on the podium,” Barreca said. “This year I knew I could place high if I threw well, so once I got my safe mark I just went after it.”