The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
A relay repeat in D-II
Gilmour girls, NDCL boys earn 4x800 crowns in consecutive years
Gilmour’s tent on the outskirts of Perry Alumni Stadium for the Division II district meet seems like it’s part of the place.
So typically is what happens when a 4x800-meter relay is contested in which the Lancers are competing.
They have that part of the facility pretty well under control, too. The Lancers’ quartet of Sydney Hlifka, Katie Engle, Izzy Greene and Jorja Hlifka captured the D-II Perry District 4x8 crown with a time of 9 minutes, 49.17 seconds.
It marks a repeat at Perry for Gilmour in its second year in D-II and is the 13th district title for the Lancers in girls 4x8 dating to 2003.
Engle took the lead on her second-lap backstretch, and Greene turned in a sterling third leg to push the advantage out to as much as 75 meters.
Beaumont’s outstanding 4x8 back half, Ashley Rulison and Reba Bartram, put the Blue Streaks within striking distance. But freshman anchor Jorja Hlifka had enough in reserve to hang on in the last 100 meters for the district title.
“Yeah, we’re super excited to be running together,” said Greene, the reigning News-Herald girls soccer player of the year.
“We all have complete confidence in one another. When Katie handed it off to me, it was exciting and I just wanted to further the lead that she got for us. So yeah, we’re just really excited to keep going on.
“I don’t think this group has run together this year. When we were walking down the line, we kind of did like an old ritual — kind of an old thing walking down the line. It just kind of reminds you of all the previous teams I’ve been with. Now that I’m a junior, it’s weird that I’ve done it twice already. But it’s so special still year after year.”
The Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin boys also repeated, as Cal Yackin, Augie King, Jack Robinson and Ryan Hertz captured 4x8 with an 8:24.00.
After some early packing and lead changes, Robinson, a freshman, threw caution to the wind with his opening 400 and gave veteran anchor Hertz a sizeable lead so the senior could bring it home in style.
“We were ahead by a comfortable amount — as a team, they got me a big enough lead that I felt comfortable,” Hertz said. “So I wasn’t too worried about it. And it’s nice having those guys lead off, because I was pretty confident going in that we had it in the bag.
“Jack was great. I think he scared a lot of people with his first lap — he ran a 56 first lap, literally gave it everything he had to the point where he dove to hand me the baton. We got it off, and it’s definitely nice seeing a freshman out there doing things that I would have wished I could do as a freshman.”
The area’s lone fieldevent champion on Day 1 at Perry was Geneva’s Kody
Brown, who broke through for a district title as a senior in pole vault after taking an agonizing fifth last spring.
Brown cleared 13-0 and is eager for his postseason road to continue.
“It meant a lot to me,” Brown said. “Last year, we had a lot of good kids here, and I didn’t qualify for district with 12-6. This year, I knew I really had to push 13. And I finally got it, my third time getting it this year. It just felt great coming out of here with a district title.”
In prelims, the most impressive work came in sprints, as Beachwood’s Mia Knight shattered the 100 meet record with a technical clinic amid an 11.86. Wickliffe’s Jordan Ard went 10.89 in 100, and VASJ’s boys 4x2 had a nice prelim run with a 1:29.97.
The meet was briefly delayed by a passing thunderstorm after boys 300 hurdles prelims but was back on the track at 8:15 p.m.