By Roger Gordon

Correspondent

The following is a recap of last Saturday’s Don Faix Invitational track and field meet at Crestwood High School. There were a total of 15 boys teams and 14 girls teams from Northeast Ohio that competed.

AURORA

Head coach Greg Cicero knew his Aurora athletes had to perform well to win the championship.

And they did.

The Greenmen won the title with 127 points.

“I thought there was going to be some really good competition. Crestwood is real deep, Chagrin Falls is really good,” Cicero said. “Up and down the lineup, the girls performed extremely well throughout the day and managed to score enough points to pull out the victory.”

Pacing Aurora were two freshmen: Claire Jenkins and Audrey Miller.

The duo finished first and second, respectively, in the same events.

Jenkins captured the championships in both the 1,600 with a time of 5:13.34 and the 800 with a time of 2:22.60. Miller finished runner-up in the 1,600 with a time of 5:14.15, less than a second behind her teammate, and the 800 with a time of 2:27.85.

“Claire is very mentally strong and went out and took control of both races early and just set the tone in both,” said Cicero. “She just had a great training period leading up to the meet and put it into action. She looked great.

“We moved Audrey down in events a little bit from what will be her specialty and kind of challenged her to use some speed,” the coach said. “She showed out really well and had some good leg turnover staying with Claire and racing throughout the day. It was good for the two of them to push each other. They ran lock step pretty much in the 1,600. Their finishing times were almost 12 seconds faster than the third-place finisher.”

CRESTWOOD

The fact that Aurora and Streetsboro were the only teams that finished ahead of Crestwood is a testament to how talented the Red Devils, who placed third with 77.2 points, are.

“Those two schools are bigger schools, and our girls really held their own. I was extremely happy with their performance,” head coach Megan Mertz said. “This is a much

smaller team than we’re used to, so having these girls come out and perform where needed, they’re really doing a great job.”

Pacing Crestwood was junior Liv Martini, who won both the 100 with a time of 12.77 and the 200 with a time of 25.71. She also took runner-up in the 400, clocking in at 58.81.

“Liv is so much fun to watch. She’s definitely a standout performer,” said Mertz. “I don’t know if she was too happy with taking second in the 400, but it’s good for her to have some competition, and we definitely have some things we can work on. But she had a great, great day. She’s a nice leader for this team.”

Madie Grace Gonczy, Martini’s classmate, placed third in the 800 with a time of 2:33.90.

She also joined juniors Piper Seibold and Piper Freedline plus freshman Abby Pfost in placing third in the 3,200 relay with a time of 10:34.19.

“Madie Grace is just a strong distance runner with a lot of endurance. She’s definitely learning to pick up some speed with it,” said the coach. “The 3,200 relay has been one of our stronger events. You can always count on the four of these girls, and it’s been the four of them since the beginning. They’re our go-to for that relay. They definitely feed off of each other. Abby, being the youngest, looks up to those girls, and she’s learning a lot from them. Their goal is to PR. They just want to keep getting better, and they’re working for it.”

FIELD

The “field” events led the way for the Falcons’ fourth-place finish which produced 47 points.

Senior Makayla Norman captured the discus championship with a throw of 123-6, the fifth-best distance in school history.

“Makayla was a state qualifier last year in the discus. It was farther than her state throw last year,” head coach Ed Conroy said. “I believe she has a good shot of returning to Columbus this year.”

Junior Emmersan Miller placed third in the high jump with a leap of 4-10, the same distance of her final jump at regionals last year. The previous Tuesday in a tri-meet with Woodridge and Springfield she, like Norman, made the top-five list in school history by clearing five feet.

“Emmersan is one of the most dedicated athletes to her sport who I’ve ever met,” said Conroy. “She’s in the weight room year-round. She studies it, she even goes indoors at the University of Akron. She lives, eats and breathes the high jump and has definitely earned every bit of her high jump from hard work, dedication and being an artist of that event.”

MOGADORE

Mogadore may have finished only 10th with 30 points, but head coach Kim Kreiner still felt good about her team’s overall performance.

“It was our first big meet of the season,” she said. “We came away with a handful of personal records. We have a much smaller team, a much younger team this year than we did last year.”

Junior Hayli Clester led the way by finishing third (13.04) in the 100 and fourth (26.72) in the 200. She was also a member of the fourth-place (4:33.16) 1,600 relay.

“Hayli’s times were very good, and some of those schools we were up against were some pretty big schools, some pretty great competition,” said Kreiner. “She’s coming on pretty strong here lately. I think she’s figuring some things out.”

Freshman Celeste Hayes not only qualified for the state tournament in the seated 100 (27.51) and seated 400 (2:00.47), she set school records in both events.

RAVENNA

Ravenna’s 1,600 relay team of senior Jeilany Malave-Acosta, freshman Jerielys Malave-Acosta (Jeilany’s sister), Myla Bregant and Adelina Wunderle finished 10 th , clocking in at 4:52.25.

“We’re suffering from a few injuries from our seniors,” head coach Ceon Kelly said of his squad that was 14th.

SOUTHEAST

The Southeast girls team hosted Champion, Jackson-Milton, Western Reserve and Sebring on Tuesday in a five-team meet.

Three upperclassmen led the charge in host Southeast’s first-place finish.

Senior Julia Wheeler captured the title in the 1,600, while junior Jenna Canale won the 800. Both of them were members of the winning 3,200 and 1,600 relays.

“Julia is so versatile, talented and consistent,” head coach Melinda Furr said. “Jenna has started the season strong and been so dependable.”

Senior Sarah Craver won the long jump, finished third in the 100 and 300 hurdles plus was a member of the runner-up 400 relay team.

“We rely on Sarah’s leadership and dependability,” said Furr.