The Cardinal Huskies’ track team may be small in numbers but all it has taken is for a few good athletes to propel the team forward. The Huskies split a dual meet against Chagrin Valley Conference Valley Division Kirtland, with the boys winning 66-51 but the girls losing 96-29 last Thursday evening at Wilson Stadium.
“It was a good experience to get out there,” said Coach Dakota Ward. “They have a nice new track and some of our kids ran some fast times and other kids were pushing to their potential, so it was nice to get out there and see a couple of the kids we are going to race against next week for the CVC Valley Division meet.”
Although the boys did were missing a 4×100 and 4×200 relay team and did not have any competitors in the pole vault or the high jump, they still won nine races to triumph against Kirtland.
The “A” team of senior Ryan Miller, juniors Oliver Kumher and Grayson Yoder, and freshman Jaiden Fix won the 4×800 relay with a time of 9:46.60.
Junior Troy Champlin won the 110-meter hurdles by clocking a time of 19.10 seconds.
Sophomore Ethan Bosch won the 100-meter dash, stopping the clock at 11.20 seconds.
Junior Samuel Gdovichin won the 1600-meter run with a time of 4:57.00, followed by Kumher who took third at 5:54.00.
Sophomore Tor Eastlake was the runner-up in the 400-meter dash with a time of 57.60 seconds, followed by junior Deacon Yost, who came in third place at 58.70 seconds.
Champlin also won the 300-meter hurdles with a time of 46.30 seconds.
Miller won the 800-meter run, clocking a time of 2:20.00.
Bosch won the 200-meter dash, crossing the finish line with a time of 23.90 seconds, followed by Yost, who took third at 26.50 seconds.
Gdovichin won the 3200-meter run with a time of 11:11.00.
Yost, Bosch, Eastlake and Champlin formed the “A” team in the 4×400 relay and took first with a time of 3:51.40.
Junior Max Soltis won the discus throw at 134 feet.
Soltis then won the shot put, throwing a distance of 48 feet, 5½ inches.
“I have never seen somebody work as hard as him at something,” said the first-year coach. “He is at the shot put or discus ring every single day for hours. I have to tell him to go home or else he is always there, so he is really good. He has taken first, second or third at a lot of big invitationals but we have not even seen his max potential yet.”
Bosch took third in the long jump, achieving a distance of 18 feet, 4½ inches.
The girls’ team was even more short-handed, missing nine starters because of a prior commitment to softball.
Senior Anna Layman took second place in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 18.70 seconds.
Senior Carly Ayer won the 100-meter dash by clocking 13.20 seconds, followed by junior Eve Kaminski, who placed third at 14.60 seconds.
Junior Aubreigh Kitzmiller won the 1600-meter run with a time of 6:14.00, followed by freshman Madison Hilger, who was the runner-up by clocking a time of 6:27.00.
The “A” quartet of Carly, Lily, Kitzmiller and Kaminski teamed up to take second in the 4×400 relay with a time of 4:36.00.
Ayer placed second in the 400-meter dash with a time of 1:05.30.
Sophomore Brynley Kitzmiller finished as the runner-up in the 300-meter hurdles, with a. time of 1:01.30.
Senior Lily Ayer won the 800-meter run, clocking a time of 2:27.00, followed by Aubreigh who came in third place with a time of 2:53.00
“She ran her season personal record at 2:27:00 and Kirtland has a really fast 800-meter runner, so she knew she had to get out and win that race for us on Thursday,” noted Ward.
Having one of the smaller rosters in track and field in recent memory, Ward acknowledged that half of the battle has been working on his team’s mental approach especially when they have competed at invitationals against bigger schools but said that Cardinal is getting there.
“I don’t think our team really understands with our small numbers that we can do it which we have been trying to get that into their heads a lot recently,” he added. “Even though we are a smaller team, we have some good performers that go out there and earn us a lot of points, so we score higher than most teams with small numbers like ours.”
After beginning the CVC Valley Division meet preliminaries on Tuesday, the Huskies will wrap up the week by competing in the finals at Great Lakes Stadium in Burton on Thursday at 4:30 p.m.
