Although the Streetsboro Rockets boys’ and girls’ track and field teams competed in a new division in the Ohio High School Athletic Association track postseason, their sprinting depth still triumphed as the Rockets advanced eight athletes across seven events to the state meet last weekend at the OHSAA Division III regional meet at Austintown-Fitch High School in Youngstown.
“It was an amazing day for the kids,” said Coach Robert Kidd. “We had an amazing performance. I am so excited for these kids; we are taking a great group of young people down to Columbus and they are going to be primed and ready to perform.”
The Rockets will compete in the OHSAA Division III state meet at The Ohio State University’s Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium in Columbus on Friday at 9:30 a.m.
“Overall, we were incredibly happy and pleased with the performance of our kids and the good thing is that a lot of the performances we had, we know we can do better even,” noted the seven-year coach.
The top five finishers in each event netted a state berth and the next best three times or scores across all three regions received at-large bids.
The Streetsboro boys had five athletes earn state bids across four events, all short sprints or sprint relays, to finish in 11th place with 22 points.
Senior Ethan Laryea fueled the Rockets, becoming a four-event qualifier for the first time in his varsity career as he earned stated bids in the 100-meter and 200-meter dashes and was a member of the state-qualifying 4×100 and 4×200 relays.
“That is a rarity and an amazing accomplishment,” said Kidd. “I have had many talented sprinters. You have to perform yourself and you have to also have teammates if you belong to relays to be able to do that.”
Laryea earned his first state berth in the 100-meter dash by placing fifth with a time of 11.07 seconds, then captured a state bid in the 200-meter dash by wrapping up fifth place by clocking 22.45 seconds.
Kidd praised Laryea for qualifying in both of his individual events, acknowledging that Laryea did not experience great starts in either race but finished strong in the final 40 meters of his races to advance to the OHSAA Division III state meet.
Laryea joined forces with seniors Jayron Chester, Braden Hodge and sophomore Isaiah Henderson to net third place in the 4×200 relay with a time of 1.27:85.
“Coming in, we are capable of running a 1:27 or better I believe,” Kidd added. “We came out this week in the 4×200 and I thought we had a really good performance We are ranked third in the state right now, based upon the regional performance and that is ranked behind Woodridge who is number one with their run so our league through the district and regional is fast.”
Sophomore Noah Hodge teamed up with Chester, Henderson and Laryea to take fifth place in the 4×100 relay at 43.25 seconds.
Other athletes who placed but did not advance included senior Jordan McCarty, who snagged eighth place in the long jump with a distance of 20 feet, ¾ inches; followed by the quarter of juniors Jaiden Kendrick, Ty Zipprich, Chester and Braden who earned sixth place in the 4×400 relay with a time of 3:28.47.
The Rocket girls finished in eighth place by qualifying three athletes over four events to score 30 points.
Sophomore C’Niyah Ivory earned her first two state berths, finishing as the runner-up in the 100-meter dash with a time of 12.50 seconds, and earning fourth place in the 200-meter dash by clocking 25.74 seconds.
“This young lady is just amazing,” Kidd said. “She is the third of the Ivorys that we have had. With C’Niyah coming up, there was a lot of expectations on her, and I think she has handled the pressure and the expectations with grace. Her 100-meter times and her 200-meter times have been excellent. We know that she can do more, and I think she was not happy getting second place, I think that will motivate her even further and I think she is a very dangerous girl.”
Senior Sara Koyan took third place in the high jump, clearing the bar at 5 feet.
Junior Carman Marcini claimed second place in the long jump, by recording a distance of 16 feet, 11½ inches.
Other Rocket female athletes who placed but did not advance were senior Olivia Johnson-Wilson, who took eighth place in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 16.88 seconds; followed by the foursome of sophomores Bria Robinson, Kylie Sladky, Marcini and Ivory who earned seventh place in the 4×200 relay with a time of 1:46.52.
