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LEAP OF FAITH
Self-confidence pays off for Warren Harding long jumper Phillips
By BOB ETTINGER
CORTLAND
Diamond Phillips had a deal with Warren Harding girls track coach Charles Penny.
If she jumped 16 feet, she didn’t have to take part in the finals of the long jump, provided she was the leader after the semifinals at Tuesday’s Trumbull County Track and Field Meet at Don Richards Memorial Stadium.
Phillips jumped 16 feet 4 inches to win the event without having to compete in the finals.
“I was hoping for [the win],” Phillips said. “I wanted to prove my coach wrong. He made a deal with me. He said I’d go less than 16. If I did better than that, I was done with my jumps.”
The meet will continue on Thursday at 4:30 p.m. with finals in all running events except the 3,200-meter relays.
The boys long jump, girls high jump, boys discus and girls shot put also will be contested.
Despite the deal, Phillips took one last attempt in the finals with a big goal in mind, understanding there was going to be some good-natured teasing on the other side.
“On my last jump in the semifinals,” Phillips said. “Once I hit the board, I felt pretty good. I didn’t get what I wanted to. I wanted to break 17. I can’t even describe it. [Penny] is going to hang it over my head for a while.”
Randy Bower of LaBrae was pushed to a win in the high jump by Girard’s Dominic Malito.
“I was just trying my hardest and hoping to pull it out,” Bower said.
Both jumpers successfully cleared 6-2, but Bower took the win because he had fewer misses at that height.
“I love competition and [Malito] is really good,” Bower said. “I just had the mindset I had to do my best to keep up with him. Yeah, he pushed me. I think I do my best when my competition is equally as talented as I am.”
Trinity Hobbs of McDonald found a way to leave the past behind her and move into the future in winning the discus with a toss of 119-3.
“It feels really great, especially because last year I dealt with a lot of things,” Hobbs said. “I was second-guessing myself a lot.
“Now, I’m confident in myself. I can thank my coaches, family and teammates for that. My teammates have been supportive and helped me believe in myself again. Once I started to throw further, I believed in myself more and just started going after it.”
Jaydah Wilson Howland won the girls pole vault clearing 8-6.
“I really wanted to clear 8-6,” Wilson said. “I didn’t know if I’d hit it or not. I’m very happy, but I believe I can do better next week. I just want to push myself more to get what I want. My coaches constantly push me to do my best.”
The McDonald girls 3,200-meter relay team of Bella Wolford, Anna Guerra, Janessa Martinelli and Sela Jones fought off Maplewood to earn a county title.
“We knew it was a good possibility [the race would be that close],” Jones said. “We lowered our time from Saturday by 12 seconds.
“We knew the wind was going to do damage [over the weekend]. We wanted to drop time and focus on doing what we do.”
The Blue Devils finished in 9:59.83 while the Rockets’ team of Marissa Ventura, Emily Butler, Kylee Sheely and Abigail Nay crossed the line in 10:00.73.
“Obviously, [Maplewood] has a well-put-together 4x8 team,” Wolford said. “Everyone should be respected. We always like to run the best we can and as long as we do that, we can’t be mad at ourselves.”
McDonald’s team of Brody Rupe, Greg Dickson, Connor Symbolik and Zack Canada won the boys 3,200-meter relay in come-from-behind fashion.
The Blue Devils won in 8:21.82, topping the Harding team of JeSean Sledge, Reed Stanyard, Zacchaeus Warfield and Cullen Faulk (8:23.88).
Also claiming victories were Nathan Chiclowe of Mineral Ridge, who won the shot put with a toss of 54-1.5 and Joe Gomez, who won the pole vault in clearing 10-6.