By Roger Gordon

Correspondent

Senior James Durham set a Crestwood personal record with a winning 110-meter hurdles time of 15.27 seconds April 12 at the Red Devils’ own Don Faix Invitational, beating two Division II state qualifiers from a year ago in the process.

“James is just a hard worker and wants to get better every day,” head coach Jack Blasiole said. “He’s looking to have a great season for us.”

Overall, Crestwood finished fourth out of 15 teams. Field won the championship. Ravenna took second and Kent Roosevelt was third.

This was senior Augie Schweickert’s first meet of the season due to illness, but he competed in the 800 as if he had been doing so all season. He won with a time of 2:01.36.

“Augie has been a good 800 runner for years,” Blasiole said. “He’s far beyond where he was last year at this time.”

Senior Nate Blasiole finished runner-up in the 400, clocking in at 54.74. Blasiole, Schweikert, Durham and junior Austin Wurm combined to win the 1,600 relay with a time of 3:35.17.

“We always expect those guys to win. They’re competitors,” said the coach. “Augie came from behind to win it for us. We were in second place going into the last leg, and Augie, the anchor, ran a :51 split to win it for us.”

     • Next up for Crestwood: Mogadore Wildcat Track Invitational on May 1.

RAVENNA

Seniors Malachi Prisby, Bryant Thompson and Tykwon Ward and sophomore Trey Carter combined to break the Ravenna school record in the 800 relay with a winning time of 1:31.44 in the Ravens’ season opener April 12 at the Don Faix Invitational at Crestwood.

“Those four did pretty well, finished strong,” head coach Laddie Fair said. “We could work on handoffs, though, to make the time faster.”

Overall, the Ravens finished second out of 15 teams. Field won the title, and Kent Roosevelt was third.

“For our first meet of the season, it was a decent showing, but there’s a lot of room for improvement,” said Fair. “We could get a lot better, and we will throughout the season.”

Despite being Ravenna’s “B” team, Prisby, Ward, senior Robert Melzer and junior LaDarion Askew combined to capture the 400 relay with a time of 46.38.

Carter won the 100 with a time of 11.03. Thompson finished second with a time of 11.19.

In the 200, Thompson won with a time of 22.4, and Carter was second with a time of 22.6. Thompson was second (19 feet, 8.25 inches) and Carter fifth (18-11.5) in the long jump. Melzer was second in the shot put (49-10) and third in the discus (138-2). Prisby and junior Mason Scott tied for third in the high jump (5-6). Scott was fourth in the 110 hurdles (16.86) and fifth in the 800 (2:06.90).

Said the coach, “Robert is a rare breed of an athlete to be a runner and also a thrower.”

     • Next up for Ravenna: Jeep Davis Invitational at Barberton on April 18.

FIELD

Field captured the championship of the 15-team Don Faix Invitational April 12 at Crestwood.

Parker Shutty was a big reason why.

The Falcons’ senior had quite a day, winning both the 1,600 with a time of 4:39 and the 3,200 with a time of 10:16. He also led the winning 3,200 relay with a strong lead-off time of 2:08.

“That is a strong triple, especially at this time of the year,” head coach Ed Conroy said.

“Parker’s goal is to qualify to state in one of the above listed events at the end of the season.”

Finishing behind Field team-wise was Ravenna in second and Kent Roosevelt in third.

“The strength of the team is that we had athletes scoring in all of the events,” said Conroy. “We had six first-place performances and three second-place performances, with 24 athletes scoring in the top eight overall. The depth of the team and the support I see to one another’s efforts is impressive to say the least.”

Senior Camden Radeschi won the shot put with a throw of 50-3.25 and was runner-up in the discus with a throw of 138-10.

“Camden worked extremely hard in the off-season with Coach Wetzel and Coach Miller in both his shot and discus,” said Conroy. “I know he has set his goals high and plans to try to represent Field in the state meet.”

Another Falcon who had a fine afternoon was junior Trevor Dixon, who won the high jump with a height of 6-2, barely missing 6-4, and finished third in the long jump with a distance of 19-8.

“Trevor realizes how important it is to stay healthy, work hard and be patient,” the coach said. “He is excited to increase his marks this season in both events and help his team throughout the season.”

     • Next up for Field: Marlington Invitational on April 19 at 9 a.m.

AURORA

Aurora was in third place behind second-place Mayfield heading into the final event of the day, the 1,600 relay, April 11 at the Greenmens’ own John Kudley Aurora Greenmen Invitational. Because Aurora’s track is under repair, the meet was held at Twinsburg.

When sophomore Luke McGovern, the anchor, got the baton, Aurora also trailed Mayfield in the race, but McGovern’s strong finish vaulted the Greenmen past the Wildcats and into second place in both the race and the meet, the latter out of eight teams with 111 points, one point ahead of the third-place Wildcats. Streetsboro won the title with 121 points.

“Luke ran very well,” head coach Chris Radtke said. “He ran one of our best splits we’ve had in two years.”

McGovern also finished third in the 100 and 200 and was a member of the winning 400 relay.

Junior Nathan Eminian captured the 3,200 with a time of 9:48.69, missing the meet record by six seconds.

“Nathan ran a really, really strong race, he really went after it,” Radtke said. “He was super excited. His nickname is ‘The Beast’.”

Eminian was also a member of the second-place 3,200 relay.

Two athletes new to high school track and field are freshman Jacoby Schadle and junior Johnny Trivisonno. Both are getting rave reviews. Schadle won the discus with a throw of 128-5.

Trivisonno won the long jump with a leap of 20-10.5.

“Jacoby winning the discus as a freshman was pretty outstanding. Doing it in a pretty big meet is a big deal. I see big things ahead for him,” said Radtke. “Johnny had a really good jump for someone who never long jumped before. That’s a pretty major accomplishment. He’s an athlete, he’s very springy, he’s quick and he can jump.”

Trivisonno also placed sixth in the high jump.

     • Next up for Aurora: At Kent Roosevelt on April 23.

KENT ROOSEVELT

Kent Roosevelt junior Jaiden Portis won the long jump with a distance of 19-10 and was second in the high jump with a height of 6-0 April 12 at the Don Faix Invitational at Crestwood.

“Jaiden has great energy,” head coach Andrew Murray said. “He was excited to start the

morning.”

Overall, the Rough Riders finished third out of 15 teams with 91 points. Field won the competition and Ravenna was second.

Junior Braylon Hawthorne finished second in the 1,600 with a time of 4:42 and anchored the 3,200 relay that took third with a time of 8:52.94.

“Braylon is exciting to watch,” said Murray, “and he’s capable of running a new personal best every time he’s on the track.”

Portis, junior Ke’Shon Talbert, senior Simon Hassler and freshman Makhi Jones joined forces to finish runner-up in the 400 relay, clocking in at 46.44, just .06 behind Ravenna.

“It was an extremely close race,” Murray said. “We knew we had a shot to win it, but we had to do everything right.”

     • Next up for Kent Roosevelt: Brian Armstrong Northwest Invitational at Canal Fulton

Northwest on April 19 at 9 a.m.

ROOTSTOWN

Rootstown senior Gianni Damicone had three personal bests and tied another personal best April 15 at home in a double dual meet against Louisville St. Thomas Aquinas and Warren

John F. Kennedy. Damicone produced personal bests in winning the discus with a throw of 156-0, tying for the fourth best in school history, winning the shot put (43-8) and placing second in the long jump (18-5). He tied his personal best in winning the high jump (5-7).

“Gianni is just a hard worker,” head coach Larry Bailey said. “He really works at everything he does.”

Overall, the Rovers defeated Aquinas 111-17 and John F. Kennedy 87-41.

Sophomore Anthony Pratt captured the long jump with a personal-best jump of 19-6.5, while junior Damien Reuting won the 400 with a time of 56.2.

“That was the first time Anthony competed this season due to injury and being on the baseball team. He’s a real ballistic type athlete in the jumps,” said Bailey. “Damien is coming along pretty well. He’s another kid we just got back recently due to injury. He’s doing pretty well considering he missed a week or so.”

     • Next up for Rootstown: East Palestine Bulldogs Invitational on April 19 at 10 a.m.