Dillon Nunnari of Westlake takes off at the start of the 100 during the Demons’ Southwestern Conference meet with Avon Lake. (West Life photo by Larry Bennet)

Demon boys look to improve
By Jim Horvath
Sports
Published April 15, 2009

While the girls track program at Westlake has been solid for years, the boys program has struggled to climb from the bottom of the Southwestern Conference standings.

First year head coach Jacob Schober is hoping to change that in a hurry.

“Our numbers are up a bit this season,” said Schober, who teaches physics at the high school. “Like any other program, we need to get the athletes out. We’re also trying to build up our program at the junior high level.”

So far this season, the Demons have been competitive in their dual meets. Last Wednesday, they dropped an 82-53 decision to Avon Lake, but had a handful of first-place finishers against a deep Shoreman squad.

Sophomore Jack St. Marie, for example, is one of those younger athletes Schober is hoping to build his program around. St. Marie, the team’s only regional qualifier last season (3200) and one of the team captains, won the 1600 against Avon Lake with a time of 4:45.0.

He also led off in the Demons’ winning 3200 relay. St. Marie and teammates Rory Kelly, Peter Ogonek and Sean Escolas won the race with a time of 8:44.0. Kelly, Ogonek and Escolas are sophomores as well.

Basketball player Shane Skelly, a junior, contributed with a first-place finish in the high jump with a leap of 6-0. Other athletes, such as Hanford Dixon Jr. in the sprints and Aaron Perkins in the sprints, Alex Tegel and Elias Chbeir in the throws, Alex Cahill in the pole vault and Chris Renkel in the hurdles are among athletes who have made contributions so far this season.

Renkel, a senior who is one of 12 returning lettermen, also serves as a team captain, along with Chbeir, senior Austin Mazurik and senior Hamed Abu Hamdeh.

“Though track is more of an individual sport, we’re trying to implement the team aspect into the program as well,” said Schober. “We’ve got 60-70 guys out there working on individual things, but we still try to get them all together.

“We’ve set up captains based on the number of athletes we have in those events,” he said. “We’ve got two guys leading our sprinters, for example, because we have more of them on the roster.”

Other lettermen returning for the Demons this year include junior Mason Meek, senior John Phillip, sophomore Alex Schultz and senior Travis Simoncic.

Today, the Demons have another SWC meet at Amherst. Friday, they’ll compete in the Lakewood Relays. Schober said he’ll be looking for continued improvement, and that the future of the program looks bright.

“We’ve got a group that is really working hard, plus we’ve got a strong group of underclassmen who should score a lot of points for us in the future,” said Schober. “We’ve also got a strong freshman class and a ton of numbers at the junior high level.

“I think our future is bright,” he said.

In other area track and field action last week:

Westlake sophomore Kalpana Beach clears the bar in the high jump last week against Avon Lake. Beach set a new school record with a best jump of 5-9. (West Life photo by Larry Bennet)

Westlake girls top Shoregals
The Demons won 10 events, led by a school record 5-9 in the long jump by sophomore Kalpana Beach.

Senior Alex James scored big points for Westlake. She was a triple winner on the day, taking the 100 hurdles in 16.4, the 300 hurdles in 52.0 and the long jump in 15-9½.

Senior Hanna Dixon won the 100 with a time of 12.8, while freshman Haley Smik took the 200 with a time of 28.6. Junior Megan Davis was a winner in the 400 with her clocking of 1:03.3.

Senior Bridget McNeill won the discus with a toss of 127-1 to wrap up the individual winners for the Demons. Westlake capped off its first place finishes as by taking the 400 (Smik, Sarah Stachowiak, Liz Stark, Dixon, 53.1) and 3200 (Davis, Alesha Beverly, Beth Moroney, Charlotte Tate, 10:17.4) relays.

Fairview girls best Falcons
The Warriors got their first team win of the season with a 90-42 win over Firelands in a West Shore Conference meet last Wednesday.

Claudia Taylor was a double winner for Fairview, taking the shot put with a throw of 24-10½ and the discus with a 74-6. Also in the field events, Samantha Powers took the long jump with a leap of 14-4½.

In the distance events, senior Jessica Zangmeister was a double winner in winning the 800 with a time of 2:33.0 and the 3200 in 12:00.0. Teammate Kayla Kazanowski took the 1600 with a time of 6:06.0.

Daryn Herman was a double winner for Fairview, taking the 100 and 300 hurdles (51.7). Fairview’s 400 relay of Zaborney, Larsen, Doyle and Halek also won, as did the 1600 relay of Zaborney, Larsen, Hausknecht and Kazanowski with a time of 5:25.6.

Fairview boys lose to Firelands
Firelands downed the Warriors, 91-40 last Wednesday in a WSC meet. Still, the team had a number of solid individual performances.

Chris Gillmore won the 300 hurdles in 45.8 while taking second in the 110 hurdles. Wade Clark took the 800 with a time of 2:08.0, while Dan Moore won the shot put with a throw of 42-1. In the pole vault, Joe Pasini took first with a 10-6.

Eagle girls stung by Bees
The North Olmsted girls track team opened the Southwestern Conference season with a 93-44 loss to Brecksville last Wednesday.

Despite the loss, there were a number of encouraging performances by the Eagles, according to head coach Lisa Pochatek.

Junior Tiffany Platko had a big day, getting a 10-6 in the pole vault for a new school record. That broke the record of 10-4 she set last season. She also took second in the 100 hurdles with a time of 17.23.

Another school record was set by senior Morgan Pochatek. Pochatek, coming off an injury that cut her season short last season, turned in a time of 12.29 in the 100 to break the old mark of 12.3 set by Shannon Eccleston in 2006.

Pochatek also won the 200 with a time of 26.6 and took third in the 400 with her 66.5.

Other athletes scoring for North Olmsted included sophomore Megan Drews (second, 100, 12.8); freshman Alyssa Lawrence (third, 1600, 5:43.3); sophomore Holly Veverka (third, 3200, 13:30.9); senior Amanda Taylor (second, shot put, 32-2); senior Ann Tomko (second, long jump, 13-7); and freshman Maggie Bloomfield (third, long jump, 13-2½).

The Eagles’ 400 relay of junior Taylor Timoteo, Platko, Drews and Pochatek also turned in a first place finish, recording a time of 51.5.

Bulldogs sweep Amherst
Olmsted Falls got a pair of wins last Wednesday as the boys defeated Amherst, 70-66, and the girls topped the Comets, 76-60, in an SWC meet.

The boys won the meet on the last event as the 1600 relay squad of Alan Bingelli, Waldo Acosta, Brian Budic and Robbie Van Zandt turned in a winning time of 3:40.8. the Bulldogs also won the 400 relay in 43.7 and the 800 relay in 1:32.7.

Individual winners for the boys included Acosta in the 110 hurdles (15.5), Adam harder in the 100 (11.1), Justin Rockhold in the high jump (6-2), Ethan Arnold in the 400 (53.5), Jeremy Ortiz in the 300 hurdles (41.7), Ian Coyle in the 800 (2:19.8) and Van Zandt in the 200 (23.8).

For the girls, Anastasia Souris was a double winner as she won the 100 hurdles in 16.9 and the 300 hurdles in 51.0. Other individual winners for Falls were Brittany Snider in the high jump (5-4), Sarah McClain in the long jump (14-7¼), Megan Coughlin in the 400 (65.6) and Katie Nageotte in the pole vault (12-6).

The Bulldogs also won the 3200 relay (11:13.6), the 800 relay (1:52.3) and the 1600 relay (4:27.7).