North Olmsted’s Josh Price takes the lead in the 110 hurdles during last Saturday’s Westlake Relays. Price, who also helped his team score a new meet record in the long jump relay, was named the meet’s male MVP. (West Life photo by Larry Bennet)

Demons, Eagles ready for SWC
By Jim Horvath
Sports
Published Jan. 9, 2008

On a dry, yet windy day at Westlake’s Lou Duchez Stadium, North Olmsted and the host Westlake Demons had their final tune-up before this week’s Southwestern Conference meet.

At day’s end, the Westlake girls again found themselves at the top at the 44th Westlake Relays last Saturday. And on the boys’ side, the North Olmsted boys came agonizingly close to making it an SWC sweep, finishing second behind Hudson.

The Demons, who grabbed the lead after the first 10 events, claimed their third straight Westlake Relays crown with five first-place finishes and 110 team points. St. Joseph Academy was a close second with 100 points, while the North Olmsted girls came in tied with Avon Lake for fourth at 63 points each.

The Eagle boys came within a botched baton handoff in the 400 relay to winning the title. North Olmsted scored 92 points to finish behind Hudson’s 95 to claim the runner up spot for the third straight year.

Both teams had a number of solid individual performances, with Westlake’s Alex James and North Olmsted’s Josh Price earning the meet’s Larry Nickel Outstanding Athlete Award.

James, a senior, teamed up with Hannah Dixon and Julie Wang to score a 47-10 in the long jump relay despite a strong head wind. That set a new meet record, breaking the old mark of 47-8¾ set by Brecksville back in 1997.

James had the best leap of the day in that event, turning in a 16-9½. She also anchored Westlake’s winning shuttle hurdles relay. James, along with teammates Heather Smith, Lauryn Smith and Kelly Essi, won it with a time of 1:06.92. She also took second in the 100 hurdles with a time of 16.648 in a photo finish with Strongsville’s Jessica Gardenhire (16.345).

“I really can’t say enough about James and Dixon (16-1) and the leadership and talent they provide our team,” said Westlake girls head coach Duane Miller after the long jump competition.

“You coach for kids like that. They’re competitors, and they’ll be missed. And Julie Wang (14-11) held up her end to help set the record. She was looking to jump in the neighborhood of 15-0, and she did it,” he said.

North Olmsted senior Morgan Pochatek nails down yet another first place finish in the 100 during last Saturday’s Westlake Relays. Pochatek won with a time of 12.71. (West Life photos by Larry Bennet)

Price, a junior, had a banner day as well for the Eagles. He recorded a day’s best 22-1 in the long jump as he and teammates Rodney Dukes (20-5) and Bryan Kasberg (19-4¾) also set a new meet record with a score of 61-8½. The long-standing record of 61-4 was set by Lakewood in 1984.

That was just the beginning of Price’s day. He won the 110 hurdles with a 15.47, then later anchored the Eagles’ third place shuttle hurdles squad. Tom DiMarino, Alex Ramos, John Taylor and Price turned in a time of 1:07.57.

To top things off, Price came right back to the track and anchored the winning 1600 relay in the day’s final event. Alec Neundorfer, Dukes, Pat Tomko and Price won the event with a time of 3:34.81 to edge out Strongsville’s 3:35.21.

“Josh came up big for us today,” said North Olmsted boys head coach Mike Ptacek. “He’s been strong in the long jump for us all season. Dukes has turned in a 21-3 this year, and Kasberg has done well as the third part of the relay.

“We’re still trying to fix some things at this point to be ready for next week,” said Ptacek of the SWC meet. “We keep making adjustments so we can hopefully peak at the end. These kids start training in February and March and set their sights on peaking in May.”

A number of athletes from both Westlake and North Olmsted seemed to be doing just that last Saturday.

In the girls meet, Megan Davis turned in a first-place finish with her 1:01.13 in the 400. The 800 relay of Hayley Smik, Sarah Stachowiak, Liz Stark and Dixon was a winner as well with a time of 1:49.36, while the 1600 relay clinched the team title at the end. Smik, Stachowiak, Alesha Beverly and Davis won it with a time of 4:17.49.

The Demons also had a number of runner up finishes to aid the team effort. The discus relay of Daghstani, Samenuk and Bridget McNeill was second with a 297-10, while Daghstani, Williams and McNeill did likewise in the shot put with a 94-8½.

The pole vault relay took second as Brittany Daniels, Kristen Ricker and Beverly scored a 22-0, while Dixon took second in the 100 with a 13.14. The only girl faster that day was North Olmsted’s Morgan Pochatek, who won it with a blazing 12.71.

The Eagle girls had two more first-place finishes on the day. The discus relay of Mary Bridges, Courtney Bittel and Kristen Troyer bested the Demons with a combined score of 300-7. Bridges also came away with the individual crown with a toss of 121-5.

The 400 relay of Jerrisha Brown, Meghan Drews, Tiffany Platko and Pochatek also came in first, recording a time of 51.95.

North Olmsted also had a pair of second-place finishers. Alyssa Lawrence’s 5:38.22 edged out Westlake’s Beverly (5:55.80) for second in the1600, while the 800 relay of Ann Tomko, Drews, Platko and Pochatek took second as well with a time of 1:50.62.

The Eagle boys had a handful of second-place finishes on the day. Jordan Hoppel was second in the 100 with a time of 11.33 to finish just behind the 11.10 of Elyria’s Lindon Anderson. The pole vault relay  took second with a 34-0.

The 800 relay of Dukes, Marc Remy, Tomko and Hoppel was second with a time of 1:32.63, while James Zarycki was second in the 1600 with his 4:44.64 clocking. In the 3200, Danny Bullard got another second for the Eagles with his time of 9:56.26, just ahead of Westlake’s Jack St. Marie at 10:11.31.

The Westlake boys, who finished fifth with 66 points, scored a second-place finish in the 400 relay as Hanford Dixon Jr., Hamed Abu Hamdeh, Adam Hamdan and Aaron Perkins crossed the line at 44.53. Only Elyria’s 44.24 was better on the day.

Mason Meek took second for the Demons in the 400 with his 52.88 clocking, while the high jump, long jump and shot put relays took third for Westlake.

The high jump crew of Shane Skelly, Jermone Montalvo and Chris Screen scored a 16-7, while the shot put relay of Elias Chbeir, John Rodriguez and Alex Tegel recorded a 124-3. The long jump relay of Alex Schultz, Skelly and Montalvo scored a 54-6.

Now it’s on to the SWC championships at Brecksville. The first round of action begins today, with the finals scheduled for Friday at 4 p.m.