Local athletes perform well at Comet Relays

At the 62nd annual Comet Relays at Amherst on April 22, no local team finished in the top seven on either side, but that still didn’t mean there weren’t athletes who had stellar days.

On the boys side, St. Ignatius won with 101 points. The highest local team placement was Avon at ninth (26) followed by Amherst (25). On the girls side, Brunswick took the team title (95) while Avon finished eighth (27) as the highest local team, and Amherst placed 12th (21).

Avon was led by Sam Gerak, Nick Rennette and Jake Sulunski in the shot put relay for a combined 143-7¼ edging out Medina’s 141-8. Gerak was No. 1 overall with a 56-11½.

In the discus relay, Avon combined for a 413-11 mark for first place, led by freshman Joe Svec’s 139-7. Gerak threw 138-7 and Rennette tossed a 135-9 to highlight the boys event. Avon’s girls distance medley team of Jules Frombach, Lexie Firment, Sydnie Firment, and Claire Robertson placed fifth (12:55.64), while Avon junior Kamryn Sharer shined in the 100 hurdles for the girls, placing third overall (15.83) behind St. Peter’s Alysse

Wade (15.48) and Strongsville’s McKenzie Greene (15.64). She also finished seventh in the 300 hurdles (48.73).

“I honestly didn’t feel like I got down fast enough,” Sharer said, whose PR is a 15.1 in the 100 hurdles. “I wish the weather was a little bit better because I’m seeing really good competition here, so I wanted to get a really good time. But I’ve run in worse weather. I’m ahead of where I was last year, so hopefully I can get a PR soon.”

Avon Lake’s Victoria Harper had another strong day, as she placed second in the shot put individually (40-5¾) and fourth in the discus (118-9), while Nathan Badgley finished second individually for the boys in the high jump (6-0).

In the boys pole vault relay, the Amherst duo of senior Logan Freeman and sophomore Erik Henderson combined for a firstplace mark of 26-0, edging Clay’s mark of 23-6. Each cleared 13-0.

Despite windy conditions, Freeman said being at home was an advantage.

“We’re used to the track and know the wind direction here,” Freeman said. Freeman’s best outdoor mark is a 13-6.

“I’m trying to get 15 feet,” he added. “I’ve been getting 14-6 in practice but I haven’t transferred it into a meet yet.”

Amherst sophomore Taylor Hooks placed

fourth in the 100 (12.70) for the girls.

Westlake’s 800 girls sprint medley team made noise placing third. The team of Maya Khawam, Alex Macartney, Sami Jablonski an Sam Thomas clocked in at 1:53.80, and Sebastian Francesconi placed third for the boys in the 1,600 (4:28.61).

Rocky River’s Anna Brandt had a strong showing in the 300 hurdles, placing third with a 46.57. Her teammate Laura DeVito placed sixth in the 1,600 (5:20.45). The Rocky River boys had Michael Shoaf finish third individually in both the discus (157-1) and shot put (550), and junior Eddie Zuercher was fourth in the 3,200 (9:37.80).

“The competition here was very good,” Brandt said. “It was nice to be in a meet that had competition like this. Early in the season, I’ve felt good so far and our relay team looks good. I’m excited about what we can do this year.”

Oberlin senior Asta Rustad, coming off a regional final appearance in cross country, finished third in the 3,200 (11:15.43) and fourth in the 1,600 (5:19.47).

During cross country, Rustad was on the verge of qualifying for a state final berth before collapsing with 50 meters before the finish line at the regionals. She hopes she can make amends during the track season.

“I wish I started off faster, but nothing you can do about it now,” Rustad said after the 1,600. “I’ll try to learn from it and start out faster next time.”