Track and field preview: McAuley, St. Xavier looking for big things behind experience
Rain has delayed the start of the high school track season, but that just gives you - the reader - more time to get to know how things are shaping up for the season. So, here’s a preview of how the teams in the Hilltop Press coverage are looking in 2014:
Aiken
Angela Harris is the coach of both the boys and girls teams.
No other information was available before press deadline.
Finneytown
Last season’s Cincinnati Hills League championship was no fluke for the Lady Wildcats and coach Charlie Crawley.
Senior’s Shyla Cummings and Jaylah Howell are back for their final hurrah after both reached the Division II state meet last season.
Cummings won the CHL title in both the 100- and 200-meter dashes and finished eighth in the state in the 200.
Howell won a CHL title in the 400, but failed to reach the state meet after making it as a sophomore.
Sophomore Elizabeth Snyder was a regional qualifier as part of the 4x200-meter relay team and will also see time in sprint events this season as well as the long jump.
Fellow sophomore Tess Enderle is coming off a freshman campaign where she finished 10th in the shot put and fifth in the discus at the Division II district meet at New Richmond.
Junior Jessie Hall reached the regional meet last season as part of the 4x100 relay team and will also see action in sprint events and the pole vault.
“We are now a veteran team with 12 returning varsity runners/field performers,” Crawley said. “They have now all achieved success by winning the CHL championship which was the girls’ first league title since the early 1990’s. They see their hard work all season can lead to real results which will create confidence going into this season.”
La Salle
Senior Tim Bell headlines a Lancer team that won its fourth straight Greater Catholic League title in 2013.
Bell owns the school record in the long jump and was both the GCL and district champion in the event last season on his way to earning GCL Field Events Athlete of the Year honors.
According to coach Frank Russo, Bell is currently being recruited by Ohio State, the University of Cincinnati, Akron and Kent State.
Bell is also a part of both the 4x100- and 4x200-meter relay teams, who both finished fifth at regional’s last season. Adam Franklin, Tyler Harmon and Jeff Larkin all return to round-out the two relay teams who will likely be state contenders in 2014.
Sophomore Jeremy Larkin also returns and will make an impact on the relay teams as well as in individual action as well.
The addition of football players Luke Doerger and Jordan Thompson will strengthen the field side of things for Russo, as both will join the team as throwers in both the discus and shot put events.
After a couple rainouts early the season, the Lancers continue 2014 on the track April 9 at Fairfield High School for the Coaches Classic.
McAuley
Ron Russo has something cooking at McAuley and it smells good.
Coming off a third straight Girls’ Greater Catholic League title, the Mohawks are poised to make it a fourth in 2014.
Junior McKenzie Pfeifer headlines a trio of distance runners that includes senior Kate Olding and sophomore Sydney Kreimer.
The trio, along with freshman Kirsten Goldick makeup a 4x800-meter relay team that has proven to be McAuley’s strongest suit over the past five years. The 4x800 relay has made the podium three straight years in Columbus at the state meet, including a third-place finish last season.
“We’ve started a tradition in the 4x800 here at McAuley,” Russo said. “Last year nobody even thought we’d make it; we were sixth at the Coaches Classic. People wrote us off and the next thing you know we’re second in the conference, second at districts, second at regionals and third in the state.”
Pfeifer also finished ninth in the state in the 800 and will lend her hand to the 1,600 this season. Joining her in the 1,600 likely will be Olding – who Russo says can run anything from the 400 to the 3,200 – and Kreimer who will run in the 400-and 800-meter races as well.
Look for Sydney Lambert to anchor the sprint races for Russo, while Kristen Clark and Katie Baum will run the sprint hurdle (100 meters). Clark will find herself on the 4x100 and 4x200 relay teams as well.
Sophomore Gabby Draginoff and Faith Waters will run the 300 hurdles, while sophomore Anna Sontag will be Russo’s top middle-distance runner.
In the field events look for big things from junior Frankie Harris (shot put), senior Katie Weierman (discus) and senior Marissa Mallios (high jump).
Mount Healthy
Juniors LaShawnda Dobbs and Shaqualia Gutter will anchor coach Thom Maxwell’s Lady Owls team.
Dobbs, who is coming off surgery for a torn ACL in the fall, finished 12th in the state in the 100-meter dash as a sophomore and Maxwell likes where she’s at right now coming back from the surgery.
“She ran a 12.60 (at the Milford Invitational April 1) so I don’t think she’s too hurt,” he said.
Dobbs will also again compete in the long jump where she was a regional qualifier last season.
Gutter notched a ninth-place finish at state in the 200 during her sophomore campaign. She will also be a forced to be reckoned with in the 300 hurdles as she’s already running in the 48’s, a mark she didn’t hit until mid-season in 2013.
Sophomore Pan Okonny and senior Lilly Bryant will make-up the 4x100 relay team alongside Dobbs and Gutter.
North College Hill
Senior Ferronte’ Bartlett has learned quite a bit about winning the past couple years sitting behind two-time state champion Lamar Hargrove.
Now donned the “King Sprinter” for the Trojans, Bartlett will try to take what he’s learned from Hargrove to the track.
“Hard work, dedication and having a love and having a passion to run,” coach Nathaniel Snow said of what Bartlett has learned from Hargrove, who recently won national titles in both the 60- and 200-meter dashes at Division II Tiffin University.
Senior Bryshawn Brown will run the 400 and 800 this season, while Robert Miller returns at high jump where he notched an eighth-place finish at the regional meet as a junior.
Freshman Pierre Harris will perform shot put and discus this season and is part of a large freshmen class that has Snow excited about the future.
“They’re so dedicated and love to come to practice,” he said. “It’s a great problem to have.”
As for the Lady Trojans, junior Jazmin Smith headlines a team that returns the majority of its performers after finishing seventh at the regional meet last season.
Smith finished sixth in the state in the 100-meter hurdles during her sophomore campaign, also reaching the state meet in the 200-meter dash and both the 4x100 and 4x200 relay events.
Sophomore Brooke Dawson was a regional qualifier in the long jump as a freshman, while fellow sophomore Diamond Johnson brings state experience back to the team after running on the relay teams last season. Johnson will run the open 400 this season as well.
Snow is hoping the addition of freshman high-jumper Jasmyn Blalock will help bolster the team, who moves up from Division III to Division II in 2014.
“She’s going to give us some juice,” Snow said. “This is probably the strongest girl’s team we’ve had here in years as far as depth goes.”
Look for contributions from Janae Blalock (sprints), Jerica Smith (shot put), Annah Leonard (discus) and Jayonna Tivis-Peake (high jump and hurdles).
Roger Bacon
Mike Braun is the coach of both the boys and girls track and field teams at Roger Bacon.
No other information was available before press deadline.
St. Xavier
After leading the Bombers to a cross country state title, seniors Michael Hall and Evan Stifel will now try to do the same on the track.
Hall returns after capturing a district and regional title in the 1,600 last season. Hall was also part of the 4x800 relay team that that finished third at state in 2013. Three quarters of the relay team is back and is expected to be comprised of Hall, junior Michael Vitucci, junior Brad Eagan and senior Jax Talbott. Talbott was part of the team throughout the 2013 season but was replaced by Eagan at the state meet. With the graduation of Jake Grabowski, both are expected to run the event this season.
Vitucci finished behind Hall in the 1,600 at districts and regional’s while notching a ninth-place finish at state.
Senior Zach Lynett returns after finishing 14th in the state in the 300 hurdles in 2013.
Look for junior sprinter Ron Fricke and senior hurdler Andrew Racadio to contribute this season as well. Senior Ben Egner is injured, but coach Oliver Mason expects him to make an immediate impact upon his return.
“Last year during the indoor season a lot of these guys proved they’d be a force during the outdoor season,” Mason said.
According to the school’s athletic website, the Bombers are back in action April 7 at the Fairfield Come N’ Run.
Winton Woods
Junior twin brothers Christian and Chaz Lumpkin headline coach Ron Wright’s team in 2014.
As sophomores both failed to qualify for the regional meet after Christian finished 10th in the 100-meter dash, while Chaz finished 12th in the 200.
Look for senior Darius Campbell to add to a sprint team that should be much stronger in 2014.
“We should be strong in the sprint areas,” Wright said. “We don’t have a lot of depth, but if the guys show up we can have a pretty decent season.”
Senior Darion Bryant is in his first season with the team and hasn’t run in a meet yet but Wright said he’s looked pretty strong in practice. You should expect to see Bryant in some sprint events, the long jump as well as part of the 4x100-meter relay team.
The Warriors were hit by the football bug, as both Daniel Cage – a Notre Dame commit – and University of Kentucky commit Mike Edwards decided against joining the team this season.