The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
BUOYANT CARDINAL BREAKS IN NEW TRACK
Members of Cardinal’s girls 4x800-meter relay had first dibs in a competitive sense March 31 against visiting Grand Valley and had fun with the momentous occasion.
After humorous banter about being the only 4x8 on the track, the truest words of all came as the quartet finished the race: “Hey, it’s history one way or another.”
That it was, as the Huskies commenced a long overdue new chapter.
The dual marked the first meet for Cardinal on its new eight-lane all-weather track, a welcome departure from the decades of honing its craft on cinder in Middlefield.
In a sense, times and distances that emanated from the dual were immaterial, enveloped by the feeling of being a host once more.
“It was very meaningful,” said Huskies senior Trevor Bachna, who captured 400. “Ever since I was in seventh grade, I’ve always wanted to have a home meet. I always thought it was going to be a great experience, and it actually lived up to it. I’m so happy we could actually have a home meet for the first time.”
The dual had a full-circle sense to it, with former longtime Cardinal track and field coach and athletic director Bill Fisher serving as the starter.
Huskies coach Greg Cicero had to wear several proverbial hats, from measuring out at discus to scoring at the finish line to coaching his student-athletes. Seeing their joy — and knowing what an allweather track will mean for Cardinal in the present and future — outweighed any challenges that came along the way in staging this meet.
“You know, I think it’s a big mark for our program,”
Cicero said. “We’ve practiced in parking lots and roadways and washed-out tracks for 30-something years. We have eight kids out of 32 with any track experience, so to be able to show them the marks, it was great.
“After practice every day, we see the community walking, jogging, running before and after practice. And it’s a welcome sight. We haven’t seen that — ever. I’ve been in the district for 21 years, and I’ve never seen that. So it’s great to come out and see everyone is getting use out of it. It’s really helpful.”
As an immediate example, Cicero lauded sophomore Ronee Collins in 100 hurdles. The Huskies had not marked hurdling out on their cinder surface in at least 15 years, according to Cicero. But with marks permanently there now, Collins logged a 3 1/2 second drop in winning the event March 31 “just because she was able to put in the work over the right amount of hurdles at the right height.”
Being one of the last News-Herald coverage area teams having a cinder track presented its share of adversity — and pain, as Bachna can attest.
“Yeah, we used to have to ice daily for shin splints,” Bachna said. “It was terrible on cinder. I mean, it made us tougher. But this gives us a sense of how it will be at the district, regional and state meets. It helps us out a lot.”
Cardinal does have a commendable history in track and field. The Huskies have had 52 individual-event and nine relay qualifiers for the state meet all-time, including state champions Don Hostetler (1962 Class A 880) and Colette Stefansky (1995 D-II shot put and discus).
Their last state qualifiers were Nate Peters for the boys in D-III shot put in 2016, and former longtime program staple Christy Griffin on the girls side in D-III 300 hurdles in 2012.
With a state-of-the-art facility, that drought may end sooner rather than later.
Karalyn Rutkowski could provide some hope in that regard. As a freshman in 2019, she broke into News-Herald coverage area leaders as a 5-0 high jumper. Three weeks ago, she and Cicero decided to give long jump a shot in addition. On her first attempt March 31, the junior popped a 15-1, encouraging for D-III before early April — and arguably not as feasible before now.
“I think I kind of got put in (long jump), but it sounded fun,” Rutkowski said. “I was thinking about just trying it out. (The 15-1) felt really good. It felt clean.
“Especially for high jump, I feel way more comfortable (in the new facility). It helps me feel loose, and I’m at higher heights now. So it’s definitely helped.”
And will only continue to do so.
“I definitely think this (facility) is going to help, even future athletes,” Rutkowski said. “I think that everyone is going to develop and get faster and stronger because of it.”