NORTH ROYALTON — Akron Public Schools has produced many great sprinters over the years.
A new member to that club might have introduced himself at the Division II regional track meet May 29 at North Royalton.
Ellet’s Trey Carter won the 100 meters with a time of 10.74 seconds. Carter passed a few runners in the second half of the race, edging Canfield’s Donnie Ferko at the line.
Carter admitted he was motivated to excel in the sprints after just missing a state berth May 27 with an eighth-place finish in the long jump.
“I had a bad start, but I was able to make up for it in the second half of the race,” Carter said. “That motivated me to put it all on the track, and that’s what I did.”
Carter almost scored the spring double at North Royalton, as he ran a similar race in the 200 with a big second-half push. This time, Carter came in second in 21.47, nearly catching winner Luke McGovern of Aurora (21.4) at the line.
Carter’s exploits helped Ellet tie with Revere for 11th in the boys team race with 21.5 points. Given his entire squad returns next year, Ellet coach Kevin Gorby asked, “Why not us?” when he considered next year’s team crown.
Avon won this year’s boys team title with 57 points, and Walsh Jesuit was runner-up with 49.5 points, despite not having any individual champions.
Revere’s Will Wells had a bit of an up-and-down day. It began with a perfect trip in the 1,600, which he won in 4:22.99.
“It went out of a little bit slower than I had hoped,” Wells said. “The last two laps I just played it safe. I was pretty compact and lot of us got stepped on the back of our shoes, but it worked out.”
However, that contact was nothing compared to Wells’ 800 race, as he came storming down the home stretch and crashed into another runner at the line.
Wells finished sixth, but his time of 1:53.85 earned an at-large state berth. Twinsburg’s Sam Hopp finished runner up in the 800 in 1:51.88.
Tallmadge’s Anthony Bontempo put up the top field performance of the day, winning the high jump with a leap of 6 feet, 8 inches. Walsh’s Zach Salata cleared 6-4 to tie for third place.
“It didn’t feel the greatest at the start, but as the meet went on my energy picked up,” Bontempo said. “The goal is to win [at state]. I’m ranked first right now, so hopefully I can come out on top. I think that’s the reason I jumped good; I haven’t had good weather in a long time.”
In the shot put, Hudson’s Drake Vander Cica advanced to state in his second event, finishing runner-up with a throw of 58-9½.
Along with McGovern’s win in the 200, Portage County picked up a regional title when Kent Roosevelt’s Kyle McQueen won the 110 hurdles in 14.38. St. Vincent-St. Mary’s Ali Hann was second in 14.49.
Suburban League shines in OHSAA Division II girls regional track meet
The girls meet at North Royalton ended the same way it began — with Suburban League teams sweeping the state berths in a relay.
Twinsburg closed the meet by winning the 1,600 relay in 3:54.13, with Wadsworth (3.54.96), Aurora (3:56.36), Tallmadge (3:56.36) and Nordonia (3:58.45) all advancing to Columbus.
It was an appropriate finish, as Aurora won the girls title with 66 points, while Wadsworth was second with 55 and Twinsburg third with 42.5.
Three local individual champions participated in that 1,600 relay.
Wadsworth’s Hailey Otradovec put on a show in the 400, winning in 54.94 and beating the field by more than a second.
“Honestly, the nerves kind of kicked in, even though I’ve run the 400 a bunch of times,” Otradvoec said. “I wa really just trying to be relaxed and trying to get down [to state], and I feel like I executed that well.”
Twinsburg’s Nicole Smith recovered from a so-so prelim race to win the 300 hurdles in 44.02.
“I was bit nervous because I think I came in with [the] third seed,” Smith said. “Once I got out there, I just relaxed and ran my race.”
Tallmadge’s Allison Hay continued her big season, leading the 800 wire to wire and winning in 2:11.81.
“I just wanted to win. That first lap was fast, so I thought there was no way,” Hay said. “I saw zeros coming down the stretch, so I said, ‘We got it.’ They put me in just just the right spot where I had fear mixed with confidence. I knew I could run with them.”
Aurora had no individual champions, but got runner-up finishes from Isabella Cicero in the 400 (56.05) and Audrey Miller in the 1,600 (4:55.73).
In the field events, Kent Roosevelt’s Kaidyn Harris just missed the 18-foot barrier in the long jump. Her best leap of 17-11¾ was good for second, and Walsh’s Sofia Klue was third with a leap of 17-11.
Hudson’s Makenna Bode (second, 12-0), Highland’s Bria Riedy (fourth, 11-4) and Green’s Ella Sifferlin (fifth, 11-0) all advanced to state in the pole vault. Revere’s Victoria Parish finished third in the discus (120-7).
Michael Leonard can be reached at mleonard@recordpub.com.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Wadsoworth girls, Walsh boys finish second at OHSAA regional meet