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Crestview’s Perry repeats as champ
Crestview senior, YSU commit repeats as champ
By Brian Dzenis
Columbus
Extra-large socks make for extra-long throws.
Wearing green socks with pictures of bacon and eggs, Crestview’s Dominic Perry repeated as the Division III shot put champion on Friday at the OHSAA State Track and Field Championships.
“I got them this year and the first time I wore them, I threw a 60-footer. So I was like, ‘well, they’re lucky,’” Perry said.
Perry didn’t need a much luck at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium. Three of his four throws that counted were good enough to take first place. Perry’s second to last throw was his best of both the tournament and his high school career at 62 feet, 11 inches.
“I can’t think of any other way to go out. I’m very happy with my performance today,” Perry said.
Perry, a Youngstown State commit for track, beat runner-up Zach Gray of McDonald by more than seven feet. Mineral Ridge’s Nathan Chiclowe took fourth place.
Wellsville’s Justin Wright claimed Columbiana County’s second title of the tournament by winning the the long jump on his last jump. The junior in his first season in the field event cleared 23-03.25.
“I only practiced it twice a week and I picked it up halfway through the season,” Wright said. “My coaches said speed helps a lot in long jump, so I’d probably be good at it.”
Wright outlasted a tough field stretching back to the regular season. Western Reserve’s Josh Miller took fourth, Columbiana’s Joey Bable was seventh and Crestview’s Dylan Huff was a few inches short of the podium. When it came to the winning jump, slowing down was key.
“I started out really bad and I thought the board was coming up too quick on me,” Wright said. “I took a step back and I started getting better jumps. That last jump, I put everything I had into it. It was all or nothing.”
Perry’s title highlighted an excellent day for the Rebels. Junior Syndey Rambo finished third in the D-II discus as the Rebels’ lone female athlete at the meet.
“It’s exciting, but I wish I had more teammates with me,” Rambo said. “It’s a great opportunity to be here.
Rambo finished behind Salem’s Caitlyn Marx as the Oregon State track commit battled a hip injury hit her best mark at 140 feet. Van Wert’s Kirsten Clay was the winner with her best throw going 145-08.
“I’m happy considering my past perfomances at state,” Marx said. “I haven’t even got on the podium in the past two years so this is definitely special.”
The Rebels’ boys 4x200 and 4x100 relays — which are both manned by Brandon Yanssens, Ethan Powell, Jayce Meredith and Huff — turned in stellar performances. The 4x100 held of a unexpectedly feisty Valley Christian squad of Lohron Brown, Damon Christian, Tyrone Lindsey and Brandon Paige by a hundredth of a second to have the second best time in the field with 43.39 seconds. The 4x200 relay title is almost a lock to return to the Mahoning Valley with Crestview leading the pack with a time of 1:28.00 and Springfield’s Dante Argio, Austin Tindell, Zach Ebert and Garrett Walker sit just 0.12 seconds back. Both relays decisively won their respective prelims.
“They’ve been on top of us every time we’ve run against them. I feel like we’ve been whittling away at their time,” Walker said. “We’re down what, less than half a second? In all honesty, I think we can win.”
Walker also grabbed some individual glory in the preliminaries. He own’s the fastest time in the 400 meter dash at 49.34, getting some revenge on Hannibal River’s Cooper Brown, who beat Walker at regionals.
“I don’t think matters that much. I like to see where I’m at. I like to run enough to qualify,” Walker said. “If I’m first, I’m first. If I’m second, I’m second. It all comes down to the finals.”