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Howland’s Mauri, Springfield’s Walker claim state titles
By Brian Dzenis
COLUMBUS
Vincent Mauri left no doubt that he was a champion.
When the Howland senior crossed the finish line of the Division I two-mile run, a full seven seconds passed before the next runner showed up.
“I don’t like to gloat about myself, but once that gun goes off, it’s like a switch in my head,” Mauri said. “I knew I could do this. I knew I was better than anyone out here. I’ve done more training and I might as well show it on the track.”
Mauri’s dominating run on Saturday was the grand finale for the Mahoning Valley in the two-day OHSAA State Track and Field Championships, where area athletes won a combined eight state titles. Crestview’s boys 4x200 and 4x100 relays, Springfield’s Garrett Walker and Wellsville’s Justin Wright joined Mauri at the top of the podium on Saturday.
It took just one lap for Mauri to get in front of the pack and his lead grew with each lap. He finished his run in 9 minutes, 3.63 seconds. The Arizona State track commit said he wanted to break the Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium record of 8:54.96, but the combination of feeling a little queasy in his stomach and the lack of competitors that could push him held him in check.
After showing off the fruits of his training, his idea of a proper celebration was more fitting for a couch potato.
“I have two pints of ice cream waiting at my house tonight,” Mauri said. “I’m going to eat all of it, get sick, watch some movies with my brother and my friends and head to bed.”
Walker completed his rise from a runner hovering around a 51-second time in the Division III 400-meter dash to someone who consistently hits sub-50 over the course of a few weeks. He entered Saturday’s finals with the best time in the event and lived up to the billing when he completed his lap in 49,25 seconds.
“It’s amazing. It’s the best feeling and it’s the best sight to see,” Walker said of crossing the finish line in first place. “To hear all my coaches and my family, it was just amazing.”
Walker also placed fourth in the 200 and anchored his 4x200 relay team. The foursome of Dante Argiro, Austin Tindell, Zach Ebert and Walker took second behind Crestview. As excited as Walker is about his own title, he carries a bright outlook for his relay squad.
“For us running it six or seven times before this week, it’s really good to get second and we have a lot of guys returning next year,” Walker said.
East’s Giovanni Washington was just 0.13 seconds short of gold in the Division II 100 as Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy’s Tre Tucker barely bested the Golden Bears senior, but Washington wasn’t too bothered by it.
He had a front row seat to East’s sports renaissance as a running back on a football team that made the playoffs for the first time in years. He watched the Golden Bears track program grow from a handful of female sprinters to one that features title contenders for both sexes.
“It was a big jump for our notoriety because in prior years, nobody knew anything about East and people would ask where you’re from,” Washington said. “Everyone feels our presence now. Everyone knows that East is here to compete.”
Washington was the lone male athlete from East at State last year and this year he was one of six. He described his previous trip to Columbus as one where he was “a chicken with his head cut off.”
“Now, I’m a bear,” Washington said.
Kyndia Matlock collected a second-place finish in the 100 and a fourth-place finish in the 200. In the 100, she ran a time of 12.14 seconds, behind Beechcroft’s Makiya Montgomery’s time of 11.86.
“I’m proud, but I’m not satisfied,” Matlock said.
After an injury ruined Dynesty Ervin’s state trip in 2018, the LaBrae sprinter went out showing why she was a D-I track commit at Cleveland State.
She took second in the 200 and third in the 100. In both races, the difference between first place and where she ended up was a difference of less than half a second.
“In my junior year, I got nothing so to come back and take third and second, I’m very satisfied,” Ervin said. “It felt very good [to be on the podium]. It felt like all my dedication had paid off and now the next chapter is college.”
McDonald’s Anna Guerra received her second-place medal in the 3200 from former teammate Malina Mitchell, who is currently a runner at West Virginia.
“It was so cool that she came down here. I miss her so much,” Guerra said. “She has done so much over the years and she made me who I am today.”
Her choice of a celebratory meal was very similar to another Trumbull County distance runner.
“I want to eat an ice cream cone. I haven’t had one in a while,” Guerra said. “I want some mint chocolate chip from Handel’s. That’s my favorite.”