The Streetsboro Rockets’ track team has been itching to go since the season started but have been held back by poor weather. The Rockets finally got off the launchpad at the Mogadore Wildcat Invitational when the boys repeated as champions by scoring 163 points and the girls took second place with 108 points last Friday.
“It was a perfect day,” said Coach Robert Kidd. “We went in there excited to get a good invite in. Going into a night where it was dry and pretty warm, we had a lot of our kids there and were very excited and our kids all over the place stepped up.”
The Streetsboro boys dominated, outscoring runners-up and Portage County rival Garfield by 70 points.
Senior Garrett Tiller won the 100-meter dash, stopping the clock at 11.31 seconds, followed by senior Kylan Rue who placed third at 11.89 seconds.
Tiller then won the 200-meter dash, crossing the finish line with a time of 22.73 seconds, followed junior Devon White, who finished as the runner-up with a time of 23.22 seconds.
Junior Charles Ivory won the 400-meter dash, clocking a time of 50.41 seconds, followed by sophomore Braden Hodge who took second place with a time of 53.00 seconds.
Senior Eric Tiller won the 800-meter run with a time of 2:05.80, followed by sophomore Chris Daniels who earned second with a time of 2:08.35.
Junior Timothy Harkleroad won the 1600-meter run, clocking a time of 4:48.20, followed by senior Mario Puleo, who snagged sixth place with a time of 5:07.27.
Harkleroad then captured first in the 3200-meter run, clocking a time of 10:35.51, followed by sophomore Marcus Peters who took fourth with a time of 11:02.68.
Junior Mar Fall came in fourth place in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 18.30 seconds, followed by sophomore Kason Gellner who took sixth by clocking a time of 19.58 seconds.
Freshman Hayden Rudd took fifth in the 300-meter hurdles with a time of 45.11 seconds, followed by freshman Ty Zipprich who placed sixth at 45.17 seconds.
The “A” team of senior Preston Hopperton, sophomore Ethan Laryea, White and Garrett won the 4×100 relay, crossing the finish line with a time of 43.81 seconds.
Laryea, Rue, White and Hopperton formed the “A” quartet to win the 4×200 relay with a time of 1:32.06.
“I was telling them, the times that we have, with all due respect, is embarrassing for us,” said the five-year coach. “We need to be beyond this. I said today is the day where I need to have this time and this time and they stepped up in both of those relays and beat the times I asked them to run.”
The “A” team of Garrett, Hodge, Ivory and Puleo won the 4×400 relay, clocking a time of 3:30.94.
Puleo, Hodge, Ivory and Daniels teamed up to win the 4×800 relay with a time of 8:34.29.
Senior Job Gibson won the high jump, recording a height of five feet, nine inches, followed by sophomore Christopher Grabill who tied for fourth place with Rootstown junior Gianni Damicone with a height of five feet, two inches.
Sophomore Brayden Pocek earned eighth place in the shot put, throwing 37 feet, 6½ inches.
Sophomore Cooper Richmond snagged fifth place in the discus throw, throwing 124 feet, 11 inches, followed by sophomore Brayden Hodge who clinched seventh place with a distance of 108 feet, 11 inches.
The Streetsboro girls persevered to take second place, finishing 46 points behind the champion Mogadore girls.
Freshman Carmen Marcini took third in the 100-meter dash, clocking a time of 13.84 seconds, followed by sophomore Sydney Sullivan, who earned fifth with a time of 14.33 seconds.
Sophomore Kendall Epple snagged third place in the 400-meter dash, clocking a time of 1:03.44, followed by senior Kennedi Shockley who placed sixth with a time of 1:07.30.
Senior Cara Tiller captured fourth place in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:34.72, followed by sophomore Meredith Matmuller who took sixth with a time of 2:40.34.
Senior Maddt Hajec earned third place in the 1600-meter run, clocking a time of 5:50.92, followed by freshman Morgan Vales, who placed fourth with a time of 5:58.31.
Sophomore Madi Campbell took sixth place in the 3200-meter run with a time of 13:26.20.
Sophomore Olivia Johnson-Wilson won the 100-meter hurdles.
“Olivia looks great,” noted Kidd. “AAU basketball is obviously very important to her. I don’t want to say it holds her back but it slowed down her early development and now that she is with us a lot more, I believe she has the ability to compete for a state title.”
Johnson-Wilson also won the 300-meter hurdles, clocking a time of 48.16 seconds, followed by freshman Jenna Fall who placed third with a time of 50.76 seconds.
The “A” team of freshman Sunni McKenzie and sophomores MacKenzie McIntosh, Laniya Lindsey and Sullivan finished as the runner-up in the 4×100 relay with a time of 55.01 seconds.
Cara, Marcini, Johnson-Wilson and Epple formed the “A” team to take second place in the 4×200 relay with a time of 1:50.97.
Shockley, Hajec, Cara and Epple teamed up to take second place in the 4×400 relay with a time of 4:23.95.
The “A” quartet of Cara, Mattmuller, Vales and Hajec snagged second place in the 4×800 relay, clocking a time of 10:32.24.
Marcini won the long jump with a distance of 16 feet, 7 inches.
Senior Kaliegh Lilly took sixth in the shot put, throwing 29 feet, 10½ inches, followed by junior Harmony Brown, who recorded a distance of 27 feet, 4½ inches.
Lilly took fifth in the discus, throwing 101 feet, 11 inches and freshman Emma Chamberlain earned eighth place by posting a distance of 101 feet, two inches.
The Rockets will compete at the 43rd Austintown-Fitch Optimist Invitational in Youngstown on Saturday at 9 a.m.
