Warren track sweeps Marietta Night Relays
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MARIETTA -- A tight race for the girls team title headlined the 2022 Marietta Night Relays, as Warren edged out the host Tigers, 103-99. Conditions at Marietta College's Don Drumm Stadium were expectedly rainy, but that didn't seem to have an effect on the student-athletes looking to set the pace.
The Warriors started the day off on a high note with a come-from-behind victory over Fort Frye in the 4×1600 relay from the team of Jordan Taylor, Grace Randall, Mackenzie James-McGuire and Lilli Turner. While the Cadets and Warriors kept trying to one up each other in the team races, that made for exciting results. That also didn't stop Marietta from getting in on the fun.
The 4×100 saw Fort's Eden Woodford, Meadow Rauch, Anna McIntire and Emma Richards (54.23) sneak past Marietta for the top spot, but the Tigers struck back in the 4×200. Sadie Gray, Alexis Brown, Madison Hogue, and Grace Wojcik crossed the finish line a second and a half faster (1:54.87) than Warren. The 4×400 was a similar result, as Katie Markley, Lily Herriott, James-McGuire and Grace Randall got the job done over another second-place Tiger squad.
Fort Frye kept things interesting (84 team points) with victories over Marietta, Warren and Waterford in the 4×800 and the distance medley. Laine Spindler, Ava Huck, Emma Richards and Cadence Waller got it done in the 800,while Maggie Fulton and Camryn Huck teamed with Waller and Spindler in the distance. Even a runner-up finish in the throwers relay resulted in points. Ultimately though, Warren's performance in a majority of the remaining races and field events made the difference. The 800 sprint medley team of Markley, Reynolds, Herriott and Brooke Miller cruised over second-place Waterford by four seconds, and the shuttle hurdle team of Mariah Emma Rogers, Lakyn Ellenwood and Allison Rehl topped Alexander.
The winning efforts of Ava Gebcyk, Kileah Lieras-Kelley, and Isabella Becker in the high jump helped the home cause, and the same went for Sadie Gray, Kaytlynn Conaway and Rylea Durham in the long jump. However, Warren swept the other field events. Jayden Vannoy and Maddie Stealey won in the shot put and discus, while Fiona McHenry joined them in the shot, and Carly McHenry team with those two in the discus.
Amanda Rauch, Kara Sampson and Ellenwood took the pole vault, 23.0-21.0 over Meigs.The close victory is a big momentum builder for the Warrior girls, as head coach Sally Maddox was pleased with her team's performance.
"With our girls, we always come out here and strive to do our best," Maddox said.
"We did pretty well in the shot and disc and some of the other field events. So we have our strong events, and I was hoping the 4×4 would be one of them. We did well there, so we do well at what we can do. The girls have been excited to run against Fort Frye, and we always like running against Marietta. So we will take this win, and it will be a big boost for them."
The Warren boys' triumph at the Night Relays saw a complete team performance from beginning to end. The Warriors ended with 106 points to Marietta's 80 and third-place Waterford's 77. Head coach Tyler Schaad saw his team win as an encouraging sign of things to come.
"This is the first meet that's been above freezing for us, so we ran pretty well," Schaad said. "I was actually pretty happy with everyone. Times, splits and handoffs and everything. We were well-rounded today. Caleb Burns had a really good meet. He ran really good splits. Bryson Angelo, Brennan Perdue, they're always going to run good splits. We were complete today, and we had a good team effort."
Seven victories for the guys created enough separation, as WHS started by beating Marietta by less than half a second in the 4×1600 with the team of Aiden Westerman, Perdue, Angelo and Ben Bishop. The 4×200 saw Ezekiel Reeder, Burns, Jacob Stealey and Hayden Wells top Waterford and Alexander. Perdue, Burns and Reeder teamed with Andrew Vincent to take the 4×400, while Reeder, Burns and Vincent kept the hot streak going with Pablo Clotet in the sprint medley. Angelo, Perdue, Bishop and Vincent got the 4×800 win over Belpre for another maximum allotment of points.
The shuttles saw Stealey, Brayden VanOster, Tyler Frye and Sam Perdue take the victory, and discus went in favor of Gabe Bookman, Dennis Pettey, Taylor Bowers.
Belpre got a measure of revenge in the distance medley, as Carter Norman, Austin Jenkins, Nick Diaz and Blake Rodgers won over the second-place Warriors. Fort Frye's team of Bryce Moncrief, Sam Garvin and Kaleb Bailey narrowly bested Warren, as well.
However, the majority of the damage as done. A late charge by Marietta helped the Tigers finish second overall, however.
Elyjah Lieras-Kelley, Brandt Durham and Keller Conner took the long jump for MHS, and that win made the difference even with Waterford claiming a few victories. Jarrett Armstrong, Holden Dailey and Max Roberts took the high jump over Meigs, while Brenner Schwendeman, Wade Huck and Drew Huck tied with Meigs for tops in the pole vault.
In one more Waterford win, Gavin Brooker, Jason Carney, Bailee Clarida and Judson Cooper bested Fort Frye in the throwers relay.
Contact Josh Hughs at jhughes@newsandsentinel.com