By Roger Gordon

Correspondent

Two Field throwers — junior Mollie Mathews in the shot put and senior Lauren Schneider in the discus — produced historical marks April 12 in the 15-team Don Faix Invitational at Crestwood.

Mathews had a personal-best throw of 36-4.5 in capturing the title, moving her into the top five in school history.

“Mollie finished in fifth place at last year’s districts with a throw of 34-5, just missing qualifying to regionals by one place,” said coach Ed Conroy. “It is awesome to see her throw nearly two feet further than last season at such an early time of the season. Tough misses like what happened to Mollie at districts last season make an athlete hungry to perform well the following year. Mollie is a hard worker and very determined to be successful. I look forward to seeing how she does this season, and I am excited for her to continue to improve.”

Schneider also had a personal-best throw of 124-11 in winning the championship, moving her as well into the top five in school annals.

“Lauren also won the discus at the Newton Falls meet the week before with a throw of 119-10,” said Conroy. “It is good to see such consistency so early in the year with throws that are comparable to strong regional- and state-level marks in previous years. Our discus throwers led by coach Levi Miller have been fortunate enough to have at least one representative at the state meet over the past six or seven seasons. I know Lauren has the state meet as one of her target goals for this season to keep the tradition alive.”

Sophomore Emmerson Miller finished fifth in the high jump with a personal-best leap of 4-8, and the 400 relay took third, clocking in at 54.89.

Overall, the Falcons tied for fourth with Garrettsville Garfield out of 15 teams.

“I was proud of the girls’ efforts,” said the coach, “and am looking forward to watching the team continue to get better throughout the season.”

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

AURORA

Aurora captured its own John Kudley Aurora Greenmen Invitational on April 11 with 160.75 points. Mayfield finished second in the eight-team meet. Because Aurora’s track is under repair, the meet was held at Twinsburg.

“I thought we were really composed for our first invitational of the year,” head coach Greg Cicero said. “It started early with the 3,200 relay, which we won. That gave us a great start to the meet. We followed that up with two placers in the hurdles to really keep that momentum going. Right after that, we won the 100 and had a fourth-place finish in the 100. Then the momentum just kept building the rest of the night.”

Junior Ella Cicero won the 100 with a time of 12.84, the 200 with a time of 26.5 and the 400 with a time of 1:01 in being named the meet’s MVP.

“Ella is very experienced and ran to win without really having to get in that top gear,” the elder Cicero said. “She approached the meet very well, stayed warm, prepared for the races well. She just had a good overall meet.”

Senior Sydney Langell won the 1,600 with a time of 5:23 and the 800 with a time of 2:29.

“That first invitational your senior year, there are a lot of expectations for you, and Sydney handled them perfectly,” said the coach. “She went out and just really controlled both races from start to finish. She did a great job.”

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

RAVENNA

Ravenna senior Taylor Brown captured the long jump with a distance of 16-2 April 12 at the Don Faix Invitational at Crestwood.

“Just being a senior, Taylor knows how to warm up before the meet and is locked all the way in,” head coach Ceon Kelly said. “She didn’t have her best jump last year at the same meet, so she wanted to come back and win it this year. Her goal this year is to win every long-jump competition that she’s in and take that journey to the state meet.”

Brown was also third in the high jump with a leap of 4-9.

Overall, the Ravens finished 14 th in the 15-team meet.

“I definitely hoped that we would’ve run better,” said Kelly. “Going into the season, I knew we were extremely young but talented. We can show up, or the age and lack of maturity is going to get the best of us.”

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