By Roger Gordon

Correspondent

STREETSBORO

It was all Streetsboro May 5 in a double dual track and field meet at home against Lodi Cloverleaf and Ravenna. The Rockets routed the Colts 100-28 and beat the Ravens 86-42.

“There was some good competition, but I thought we really stepped up,” head coach Robb Kidd said. “I thought all the relays had pretty good performances. We had some kids come out and get some personal bests. I think our kids were able to start pushing towards peaking where we want to in the next couple weeks.”

Junior Ethan Laryea and senior Charles Ivory were two big reasons for the wins. Laryea captured the 100-meter dash with a time of 11.32 seconds and the 200 with a time of 22.79 and was on the winning 800 relay that had a time of 1:30.08 and the winning 400 relay that clocked in at 44.12. Ivory won the 400 with a time of 52.38 and was part of the winning 3,200 relay (8:38.25) and the winning 1,600 relay that he anchored to a time of 3:27.99.

“Ethan had great runs at the Optimist Meet Saturday at Austintown-Fitch, and I think that positive performance really motivated him in this meet,” said Kidd. “He looked very strong, very fast. He’s just running very confidently.

“Charles is just a leader by example. He’s the perfect kid to have on your team. He works hard, he does everything right. He’s just a very genuinely good person and a phenomenal athlete. He looked very strong in the 400. We switched him into the 800 relay recently because we think he can make that team stronger. That team is really looking good, and he’s a big reason for that. He looked incredible in the 1,600 relay.”

ROOTSTOWN

Whipping winds limited Rootstown’s Gianni Damicone’s distance in throwing the discus April 29 in a triangular meet against Chagrin Falls and host Burton Berkshire. The senior won the event even though his toss was just 134 feet, five inches, far less than his typical throws this season in the neighborhood of 155 feet.

“The wind was just knocking the discus right to the ground,” head coach Larry Bailey said.

Damicone won the shot put, too, with a distance of 41 feet, 6.5 inches. He also tied for second in the high jump at 5-4 and was third in the long jump at 18-6, his second-best leap of the season.

Overall, the Rovers finished first with 77.5 points. Berkshire finished second with 49.5 points and Chagrin Falls was third with 48 points.

Also pacing Rootstown were junior Damien Reuting and senior Mason Fleck. Reuting won the 800 with a time of 2:16. He also anchored the winning 3,200 relay, which had a time of 9:23.7. Fleck captured the 200 with a time of 24.34 and also led off on the winning 400 relay, which clocked in at 48.37.

“Damien is just starting to run the 800 again,” said Bailey. “He was league runner-up last year in it, but this season we’ve been mostly running him in the 400. We decided to go back to the 800, though. He’s doing pretty well. Mason is just starting to come around and run well again. I didn’t expect him to win the 200.”

FIELD

Field finished second out of 22 teams with 53.5 points May 3 in the Optimist Meet at Austintown-Fitch. Solon won the championship with 104 points, and Youngstown Ursuline was third with 51 points.

“I felt we did rather well scoring in 10 of the 16 events,” head coach Ed Conroy said.

Leading the way for the Falcons were sophomore Logan Border, junior Cedric Martin and senior Lucas Pollard. Border finished second in the 110 hurdles with a time of 15.62 and was

a member of the third-place 800 relay, which had a time of 1:33.89, and the fifth-place 400 relay, which had a time of 45.9. Martin finished third in the 100 with a time of 11.5. Pollard took third in the 300 hurdles with a time of 41.74 and was on the third-place 3,200 relay that clocked in at 8:39.6.

“Considering the fact that we were in rain the entire day, I think that was a really great performance for Logan in the 110 hurdles,” said Conroy. “Cedric has been our lead sprinter all year long. To get out there in the rain and cold and compete as well as he did is a testament to how well he’s doing. Third place in the 100 in this meet was very respectable. He’s peaking at the right time. Lucas is gearing up for the postseason. Running third in the 300 hurdles in this meet was a great effort by him, just helping to build his confidence for the upcoming postseason.”