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Howland wins tight Trumbull meet after final race
Howland boys win tight Trumbull meet after final race
By BRIAN DZENIS
CORTLAND
In the most pivotal race of Thursday’s 22nd annual Trumbull County Track and Field Meet, it wasn’t about who took first, but fifth.
George Beatty-Marsh’s effort on the anchor leg of the meet’s final race was just enough for the Tigers, who edged McDonald by a point to win the meet.
Howland, which finished with a team total of 83 points, entered the 4x400 relay with a seven-point lead on McDonald. The Blue Devils needed a first-place finish to win and Howland could do no worse than sixth. The race was one with action in both the front and back of the pack.
At the front end, McDonald was neck and neck with Maplewood until anchor Blue Devil Marco Mediati pulled ahead for good in the final lap. McDonald took first by just .08 seconds and it was so close that Mediati and Maplewood’s Paul Keller collided just after crossing the finish line.
Initially, it appeared McDonald successfully rallied as Howland languished in seventh for most of the race. But when he got the baton, Beatty-Marsh pushed from seventh to fifth place to get the critical point for his team.
“I knew I had to empty the tank,” Beatty-Marsh said. “Those last guys turned it up, but I was feeling myself. I caught them on the last 200 and showed everyone in track and in the county what Howland is about.”
In individual play, Beatty-Marsh won the 400 dash (51.09) and was part of Howland’s winning 4x200 squad (1:33.00). The meet’s boys MVP was Maplewood’s Tristan Dahman. He won the 1600m run (4:26.22) and 3200m run (9:52.47) and was apart of Maplewood’s first-place 4x800 relay winning team (8:15.53).
Girard’s Collin Harden was the running MVP after taking the 110 hurdles (14.41) and 300 hurdles (38.59). In both races, he bested runner-up Keevon Harris of LaBrae, who previously defeated Harden in meets earlier in the spring. The two have a friendly rivalry.
“Hopefully we’ll be in regionals together and we’ll definitely be in districts together,” Harden said. “We became friends a year ago. It’s just a bond. I don’t really know that many people on other teams, but we started hanging out and really connected.”
Champion’s Zach Page was the field MVP, who earned the honor by chucking the shot put 48-6 feet.
On the girls side, team play wasn’t as wide open as Warren Harding won its third straight county meet with a team score of 122, besting McDonald by 20 points.
“Today everybody showed up, I’m proud of how they made good decisions and ran well. They competed hard,” Warren Harding coach Charles Penny said. “Even when some of the races were a little out of touch, they still ran hard and worked through the whole process.”
Not surprisingly, two of the three girls MVP spots went to the Raiders. Gariana Bercheni was the meet’s overall MVP, winning the 300 hurdles (44.61) and taking second in the 100 hurdles behind teammate Aisha Jackson.
The Raider’s Justice Richardson became the meet’s first athlete to sweep two events across all four years of high school at the meet.
“I think it’s safe to say that she’s the greatest female sprinter as of now in the history of the county,” Penny said.
The acheivement didn’t sink in for the Syracuse-bound senior until after winning the 200 dash (24.82). She previously won the 100 dash (11.96) en route to the running MVP honor.
“It makes me feel very proud. I definitely put in a lot of hard work and it felt good to see what the outcome is,” Richardson said.
McDonald’s Heidi Hoffman won the 3200 run for the fourth year in a row.
“I hear other teams all the time saying, ‘I see McDonald, everyone’s together, everyone is having fun and I want to go there,’” Hoffman said. “It was the best feeling and we’re a family and they pushed me to get four in a row.”
Newton Falls’ Kayla Barreca won the field MVP award by winning the discus (141-06).