The Streetsboro Rockets’ track and field team has been blessed with a tremendous amount of depth on both sides this year. Streetsboro demonstrated that depth by sweeping the Jeep Davis Invitational with the boys winning the team title with 154 points and the girls capturing first place by scoring 203 points last Friday evening at Barberton High School.
“We were a little short-handed, we did not have some of our top athletes able to attend,” noted Coach Robb Kidd. “Friday’s performance was even more rewarding because a lot of the people that were very significant to contributing and helping us win points were people that might not always have that opportunity.
It marked the boys’ second consecutive invitational championship, just a week after winning the team title at the John Kudley Invitational on April 12. They won only three events but placed two in the top eight in 11 events.
The quartet of senior Jackson Gula, junior Chris Daniels, sophomore Ares Miller and freshman Jaden Hushion won the 4×800 relay with a time of 9:03.63.
Sophomore Hayden Rudd finished as the runner-up in the 110-meter hurdles, clocking 16.41 seconds, followed senior Mar Fall who netted seventh place with a time of 17.96 seconds.
Senior Devon White snagged fourth place in the 100-meter dash at 11.76 seconds, followed by freshman Noah Hodge who took fifth place with a time of 11.85 seconds.
Juniors Braden Hodge and Ethan Laryea teamed up with Noah and White to earn second place in the 4×200 relay by clocking 1:30.20.
Miller earned fourth place in the 1600-meter run with a time of 5:19.62, followed by freshman Troy Mazer who captured seventh by clocking 5:26.25.
Junior Ryan Roscoe joined Laryea, Noah and White to take second place in the 4×100 relay with a time of 44.02 seconds.
Braden netted second place in the 400-meter dash, clocking 51.57 seconds, followed by sophomore Jaiden Kendrick who snagged fourth place at 53.06 seconds.
Senior Preston Laryea placed fourth in the 300-meter hurdles with a time of 43.80 seconds.
Daniels finished as the runner-up in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:04.16, followed by Gula who earned third place with a time of 2:10.26.
Ethan won the 200-meter dash, setting a meet record of 22.28 seconds, followed Roscoe who took sixth place with a time of 23.81 seconds.
“Ethan is right now dominant in that 200-meter dash,” said the six-year coach. “He is good in the 100-meter dash but has confidence and strength over that 200 meters.”
Miller placed third in the 3200-meter run with a time of 11:23.40, followed by freshman Troy Mazer who earned fourth place by clocking 11:43.62.
Braden, Daniels, Rudd and Kendrick formed the winning team in the 4×400 relay, crossing the finish line with a time of 3:31.30, setting a meet record.
Preston finished in third place in the high jump with a height of 5 feet, 8 inches, followed by freshman Jacob Anderson who netted seventh by jumping 5 feet, 6 inches.
Junior Cooper Richmond earned third in the shot put, throwing 39 feet, 9 inches, followed by junior Aiden Sowa who captured sixth place with a distance of 38 feet, 8 inches.
Richmond took second place in the discus throw, throwing 125 feet, 10 inches, followed by senior Miles Kobie who placed fourth at 114 feet, 4 inches.
Junior Jordan McCarty snagged fifth place in the long jump with a jump of 17 feet, 11½ inches, followed by senior Liam McDonough who netted seventh by jumping 17 feet, 10½ inches.
The Rocket girls were fueled by winning all four relays and six individual events to finish well ahead of the pack.
Seniors Madelyn Genovese, junior Meredith Matmuller, sophomore Morgan Vales and freshman Cara Thomson won the 4×800 relay by setting a meet record of 10:57.72.
Junior Olivia Johnson-Wilson captured first place in the 110-meter hurdles, clocking a meet record of 16.29 seconds, followed by sophomore Jenna Fall who finished as the runner-up with a time of 17.22 seconds.
Sophomore Carman Marcini netted first place in the 100-meter dash, stopping the clock at 13.54 seconds, followed by junior Sunni McKenzie McIntosh who placed seventh with a time of 14.26 seconds.
Junior Kendall Epple, freshmen Briah Robinson, Kylie Sladky and C’Niyah Ivory won the 4×200 relay and set a meet record of 1:48.72.
Thomson finished as the runner-up in the 1600-meter run, clocking a time of 5:51.00, followed by junior Sonia Downing who earned third place with a time of 6:15.70.
Senior Reagan Hendon teamed up with Robinson, McIntosh and Marcini to snag first place in the 4×100 relay, clocking a meet record time of 52.56 seconds.
Ivory secured first place in the 400-meter dash with a meet record of 1:00.98, followed by sophomore Sunni McKenzie who snagged fifth place with a time of 1:05.79.
“She is phenomenal,” Kidd said of Ivory. “The whole family just has a legacy of competing at the highest level in that 400. C’Niyah stepped up and she owned that race from gun to the line. She is a huge part of our relays, and she is someone that I think if she keeps running and progressing the way that she is, she is going to be a tough one to compete against in the regional meet.”
Johnson-Wilson locked up first place in the 300-meter dash, clocking a meet record of 48.14 seconds, followed by Fall who finished as the runner-up by timing out at 50.59 seconds.
Epple won the 800-meter run, setting a meet record of 2:33.38, followed by junior Briana Hushion who earned fourth place with a time of 2:44.24.
Freshman Kylie Sladky netted third place in the 200-meter dash with a time of 28.11 seconds.
Thomson crossed the finish line first in the 3200-meter run, clocking a meet record of 12:57.45, followed by sophomore Kaelyn Malloy who placed second with a time of 13:26.96.
Fall, McKenzie, Epple and Ivory won the 4×400 relay, setting a meet record of 4:23.34.
Freshman Olivia Simmons snagged third place in the high jump with a height of 4 feet, 8 inches, followed by sophomore Sara Koyan who placed fifth by jumping 4 feet, 4 inches.
Simmons won the shot put, tossing a meet record of 33 feet, 6½ inches, followed by junior Saniya Tucker who took seventh place with 28 feet, 1 inch.
Sophomore Emma Chamberlain finished as the runner-up in the discus throw, throwing 87 feet, 1 inch, followed by Simmons who netted fifth place with a throw of 76 feet, 8 inches.
Marcini took second in the long jump at 16 feet, 9½ inches, followed by Fall who snagged third place by jumping 15 feet, 2 inches.
Following a tri-meet against Metro Athletic Conference foes Akron Coventry and Woodridge at Peninsula on Tuesday, the Rockets will compete in the Green Twilight Relays at Green High School on Friday at 4:45 p.m.
