MACEDONIA: The Suburban League has become a mega conference, and all 15 schools were in attendance Friday at Nordonia for the annual track and field championship meet.
The 2016 meet was the first with an American Conference and a National Conference.
Copley’s boys won the American Conference title under coaches Nate Howard and Johnnie Legrair, and coach Paul Lushes guided Highland to the girls American team title.
Coach Scott Barwidi guided Nordonia to the National Conference girls crown, and Wadsworth won the boys crown under the guidance of coach Chris Beery.
“I am happy for all of the kids on the team,” Howard said of his Indians boys, who scored 182 points to top the seven-team field.
Copley’s Jared Davis won the 110-meter hurdles in 14.80 seconds and the 300 hurdles in 40.24 in the American Conference. Teammates Christopher Villarreal (3,200, 10:20.32) and Larnell Nealy (high jump, 6-4) also won an individual title.
The Indians won all four American boys relays. The 3,200 team won in 8:18.56 with Evan Malpass, Ryan Chapman-Smith, Michael Weigand and Noah Harper. The 800 team won in 1:29.2 with Cam Davis, Nealy, Jared Davis and Weston Bridges. The 400 team clocked a 43.36 with Cam Davis, Blake Traylor, Jeffrey Thomas and Nealy. And the 1,600 team crossed in 3:27.91 with Chapman-Smith, Ashten Garrett, Harper and Jared Davis.
“We had a lot of kids that performed great tonight,” Howard said. “They all did exactly what we wanted them to. They all ran great races and competed at a very high level.”
Highland scored 164 points and won four American girls titles with Annamarie DiGiacobbe (1,600, 5:13.38), Kaelyn Stahl (pole vault, 10-00), Hannah Stein (discus, 108-10) and Kaylie Kenne (3,200, 11:19.14).
Copley (144.5 points) also did well on the American girls side with Cortni Arp winning the 400 in 59.67 and the 200 in 26.42. Indians teammates Morgan Buchanan (100, 12.89), Katherine Davis (100 hurdles, 15.95) and Isabel Alt (high jump, 5-3) also won an event.
The Indians won three of the four American girls relays. The 400 team won in 49.56 with Haley Clark, Lauren Taylor, Arp and Buchanan. The 800 team triumphed in 1:46.58 with Zamari Stone, Clark, Taylor and Buchanan, and the 1,600 team combined to run a 4:09.13 with Zoey Stone, Buchanan, Zamari Stone and Arp.
Nordonia won the National girls title with three individual champs — Faith Banks (400, 57.04), Rachel Coghill (pole vault, 11-0) and Mallory Tedor (3,200, 11:27.55) — and a first place in the 1,600 relay in 3:59.58 with Carmen Licht, Lauren Pugh, Katrina Eterovich and Paige Svendsen.
“We did what we do,” Barwidi said of his Knights girls team, which scored 147 points to win the eight-team field. “We have some events that we are really strong in. We know that and our kids performed. We are strong in the 400, the 800, the mile, the 3,200.”
Stow’s Kayla Thompson won the National girls long jump (17-11) and 100 hurdles (15.06). Twinsburg also had a strong showing with Emmarie Foote (200, 25.14), Nya Bussey (100, 12.34) and Bridget Keenan (discus, 121-00) winning an event. The Tigers also won two relays, the 400 in 48.28 with Bussey, Foote, Lauryn McKinley and Raquel Jones, and the 800 in 1:41.96 with Bussey, Chelsi Billingsley, Foote and Jones.
Wadsworth’s Matt Blamble led the Grizzlies (150 points) to a National boys title by winning the 400 in 49.43 and the 200 in 22.13. Danny Malkowski took first in the pole vault (15-10), and the Grizzlies were first in the 3,200 relay in 7:52.01 with Nick Miller, Matt Galek, Zach Moskos and Gabe Szalay.
Nordonia’s boys team scored 109 points and had three first places — Spencer Coppedge (110 hurdles, 15.38), the 800 relay (1:31.02) with Coppedge, Tony Woods, Andrew Wahl and Daniel Banks and the 1,600 relay (3:24.60) with Wahl, Coppedge, Woods and Banks.
Hudson’s Gavin Gaynor won the National 1,600 in 4:17.38 and the 800 in 1:54.80. Twinsburg won the National boys 400 relay in 43.16 with Christian Edgerson, Brandon Little, Sean Silas and Cam’Ron McClain. Edgerson also won the long jump (23-3) and Tigers teammate Justin Kimble won the 100 (10.84).
Michael Beaven can be reached at 330-996-3829 or mbeaven@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the #ABJVarsity high school blog at www.ohio.com/preps. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/MBeavenABJ.