Poor weather conditions or not, the Streetsboro Rockets’ track team once again displayed their mettle with a strong showing at the 44th annual Optimist Meet at Austintown-Fitch High School with the girls snagging third place by scoring 58.83 points and the boys taking fourth with 45 points last Saturday in Youngstown.
“I think our kids represented themselves very well,” said Coach Robb Kidd. “The kids ran well despite the weather and despite the cold and I think we stepped up to really good top-end state-level competition.”
The girls secured third place in a 23-team field that was largely dominated by Solon but finished only 5.18 points shy of Austintown-Fitch for runner-up. Streetsboro was fueled by strong showings in the hurdles, jumps and relays despite only placing in eight events.
“I thought overall that everything we competed in, our girls did very well,” noted the third-year coach. “They have been really showing up against whomever they have been competing against and doing well.”
The quartet of juniors Kendall Epple and Meredith Mattmuller, sophomore Morgan Vales and freshman Cara Thomson netted sixth place in the 4×800 relay with a time of 10:35.67.
Junior Olivia Johnson-Wilson snagged second place in the 110-meter hurdles by clocking 15.89 seconds, followed by sophomore Jenna Fall who captured sixth place with a time of 16.93 seconds.
Epple teamed up with freshmen Bria Robison, Kylie Sladky and C’Niyah Ivory to finish fifth in the 4×200 relay with a time of 1:52.09.
Johnson-Wilson and Robinson formed the “A” team with junior MacKenzie McIntosh and sophomore Carman Marcini to place seventh in the 4×100 relay by clocking a time of 53.11 seconds.
Ivory earned seventh place in the 400-meter dash with a time of 1:03.62.
Johnson-Wilson secured third place in the 300-meter hurdles by clocking 49.64 seconds, followed by Fall who took fifth with a time of 50.32 seconds.
“I think that this is the time of year where both of those girls start to really come on strong,” Kidd said. “Olivia looked great out of the blocks in both of her races, Jenna is right there, and I think Jenna showed a lot of strength in the second part of those races.”
Fall, Sladky, Ivory and Epple placed third in the 4×400 relay with a time of 4:32.77.
Freshman Alivia Simmons tied for runner-up with two other athletes in the high jump by with a height of 4 feet, 8 inches, followed by senior Sydney Abbuhl who tied for seventh with Field sophomore Emmerson Miller by jumping 4 feet, 6 inches.
Marcini captured fourth place in the long jump at 15 feet, 3¾ inches followed by Fall who netted fifth with a distance of 15 feet, 3 inches.
On the boys’ side, they gutted out fourth place propelled by strong efforts in the sprints and the relays, placing in only seven events.
“I don’t know if people look at us as a major challenge as a team score, I think that could be a mistake,” Kidd remarked. “I think those boys can make a lot of noise as a team let alone as an individual in relays.”
Seniors Timothy Harkleroad, Charles Ivory, Jackson Gula and junior Chris Daniels finished in second place in the 4×800 relay with a time of 8:31.67.
“Tim took that group right into some good personal records for all of them and looked really solid as a performance, coming in second place and beating teams like Field, Jackson-Milton and Solon was pretty significant,” Kidd said.
Junior Ethan Laryea earned second place in the 100-meter dash by clocking 11.20 seconds.
Laryea and Ivory teamed up with senior Devon White and junior Hodge to finish second in the 4×200 relay with a time of 1:31.16.
Laryea then formed the “A” team with juniors Ryan Roscoe and Jayron Chester and freshman Noah Hodge to take third place in the 4×100 relay with a time of 44.93 seconds.
Charles earned fifth place in the 400-meter dash with a time of 52.82 seconds.
Senior Preston Laryea snagged eighth place in the 300-meter hurdles by clocking 45.72 seconds.
“Preston is a worker for us,” Kidd said. “Him and his brother I thought had nice days and every point in meets like this matter, so Preston stepping up and performing in the absence of our typically top two 300-hurldle runners was pretty big,”
Ethan won the 200-meter dash by stopping the clock at 23.32 seconds.
Streetsboro will return to the track for the Metro Athletic Conference championship on Thursday afternoon at Woodridge High School in Peninsula at 5 p.m.
