The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Avon shines at relays
Girls take 2nd, boys take 8th at Comet Relays; Sedlak leads discus team, Comet Hill excels
At the 63rd annual Comet Relays at Amherst on April 21, the Avon girls team showed why they’re a team to be reckoned with, finishing in second (72.5) behind champion Brunswick (108). Solon (95) won the boys title and Avon placed highest
among the local teams in eighth (26).
The Eagles girls had several standouts, particularly in the discus relay where they tossed a 341-10 total, breaking Medina’s 1991 record of 334-9.
The trio of Hannah Sedlak (115-3), Juliann Walker (11310) and Molly Radcliffe (112-9) earned the title. In the shot put, the trio of Sedlak (37-1.75), Molly Radcliffe (33-1.25) and Amanda Ulery (33-1) combined for 103-4 to claim the title.
“I think coming in having positive energy and being calm helps a lot,” Sedlak said. “I was pretty confident coming in especially with my two teammates, they’re also really good at discus. I didn’t realize we beat the all-time meet record, I was really shocked by that. But I knew we would do very well because all of us can throw over 110 feet.”
Sedlak’s shot put mark set a PR and nailed it on her second throw.
“I had a feeling I was going to do well,” she added. “I felt good.
I’m where I want to be at this point in the season but who doesn’t want farther distances? So I’m working towards taking conference and state. But I need to keep working hard in the weight room. I can’t wait to see what we’re going to do next week at the Reynolds Relays.”
Avon’s 4x800 relay also won a title led by Evelyn Pelfrey, Kelsey Gannon, Sydnie Firment and Lexie Firment (9:39.77). The 4x400 relay of Pelfrey, Jules Frombach, and both Firment twins took second (4:06.31). In the distance medley, the Firments, Pelfrey, and Frombach took seventh (13:11.43).
“We had a new girl (Gannon) take Jules’ spot on the 4x8 and she fit in well,” Lexie said. “The competition really helped us. Being an anchor really helped me out to keep in and do the best I can. I got a 2:22 split.
“And our 4x4, we knocked off four seconds from last week. I think we all ran PR splits. This past week we did a lot of workouts and our stamina went up. That helped us out.” Avon’s Kamryn Sharer additionally placed third in the 100 hurdles (16.09).
Amherst’s Josh Hill, on his home course, put on a show winning the 1,600 (4:23.02), and took fifth in the distance medley (11:03.21) along with Devin Baumgartner, Ben Brogan, and Bradley Kirsch. On the
girls side, the pole vault relay of Sydney Walker (110) and Allison Tackas (9-6) combined for 20-6 for the title. Walker’s 11-0 broke her own school record.
“I knew I had to work the back straightaway in the mile and I knew if I had that I would take it home,” Hill said. “It means a lot to do it at home. We’ve been working hard and it’s kind of my paycheck race day. I’ve been watching this meet since I was in sixth grade when my sister (Ashley Hill) ran in high school. I used to wonder how these athletes did it when I was young. I’ve had a busy day and it’s a nice workout.”
Avon Lake’s boys shot put relay combined for 13610 to win the title, led by Kyle Leitch (46-4.75), Justin Wirtz (45-10) and Cutter Briggs (44-7.25). The Shoremen also claimed the discus title (407-10) led by Leitch (139-9), Wirtz (137-9) and Jared Wirtz (130-4). Rocky River’s Michael Shoaf won both individually, taking the shot (63-3.5) and discus
(174-7), both top five alltime meet throws.
Westlake sophomore Samantha Thomas broke the school record in the 300 hurdles (44.88) and placed fifth in the 100 (13.05). Thomas is coming off a third place in the indoor state championships in the 400.
“There were a lot of good runners, especially in the 300 hurdles,” Thomas said. “I just tried to stay with them a lot. I was really excited for breaking the school record.”
It’s Thomas’ first season running the 300 hurdles.
“I want to get my time down into the low 44s so I can qualify for a national meet I’m trying to get to,” she added. “And I want to make it to top three at state on podium.”
Bay’s 4x800 relay of Sam Nortz, Sam Coe, Khaled Hamil and Ivan Slyepkan took second (8:06.86) and the girls pole vault relay of Mara Kinsey (10-0) and Meave Milligan (9-6) also took second (19-6).