Perry’s Silvis, Haywood earn regional titles

Chagrin 4x8 also reigns during Day 1 of D-II regional YOUNGSTOWN » When it was noted to Tyler Silvis that Perry has a knack for getting two pole vaulters to state in the same year or at least vying for it May 24 during Day 1 of the Division II Austintown-Fitch Regional, he joked as to why that is.

“People always say it’s the power plant,” Silvis said with a laugh. “So I guess I’m just going to go with that.”

Albeit facetious, his point was well-taken.

It may not be something in the air from the nuclear plant, but Perry does have a knack for showing its power and planting its flag on the big stages when it counts.

Silvis went 1-2 in pole vault with Cameron Rogers and Justin Haywood captured the regional title in discus, part of one of the better regional afternoons the Pirates have ever boasted in track and field.

The junior vaulter cleared 12 feet, 8 inches and took first on misses over Rogers, who also went 12-8.

It marks the fourth time in school history Perry has sent two boys pole vaulters to state in the same year (1970, 2000 and 2016) and the 15th and 16th boys vaulters overall from the school to get to state.

“(Cameron) and me were going back and forth through the whole thing,” Silvis said. “Finally, I got on top on him. In practice, we were doing good, like 13 jumps. So it was finally nice to finally get another PR and for him, too, this season.”

Silvis and Rogers struggled to get in outdoor practice time to start the spring due to the weather. So in a sense, the peak which the duo enjoyed had to be on an abbreviated spring workload. Silvis finished the regular season fourth in the area with a 12-3, and Rogers was third at 12-6.

“It was very frustrating (with the workload),” Silvis said. “It was very cold. Your muscles are tight, so you couldn’t get the speed that you wanted to like you are now. Everyone was jumping a lot better than we all thought we were going to do. So yeah, during the beginning and middle of the season, you’d see people start peaking up — and toward the CVC area, you’d see the 13s and a couple-foot jump PRs that people have.

“So I’m glad we had our PRs today to be on top.”

Silvis wasn’t the only gold medalist heading back to Perry.

Haywood, after taking seventh at regional last spring five feet off a state berth, unleashed a 160-0 to take top honors in discus.

The senior is the first Perry boys discus thrower to qualify for state since Ryan Stoltz in 2003.

“It’s awesome to be honest,” Haywood said. “I came here last year hoping to get top four — I was just shy of it by a couple feet. And this year, coming back to be regional champ is amazing.

“I wasn’t about to be beat by a couple inches or a couple feet or anything. I was ready to win. (The 160-0) was my very first throw. It felt like a regular throw. I don’t know — I turned around and it was really good. I almost fouled, actually — I was really close to the edge of the circle. But it did feel pretty smooth.”

The Chagrin Falls girls 4x800 was smooth as always as it continued its quest for a third straight D-II state title in the event with a regional crown. The quartet of Hannah Clark, Tallulah Haskett, Catherine Coffey and Annie Zimmer recorded a time of 9 minutes, 25.12 seconds.

Clark and Haskett kept the Tigers positioned nicely in the top three, then Coffey took the lead at the 400 turn before Zimmer pounded her first 150 to push the lead out to 75 meters.

“I think, especially having two new runners who have never run a regional 4x8 before, we were kind of experimenting with it for sure, being in such a hectic race,” Zimmer said. “And I think definitely we wanted to go out there and run low-9:20s. I mean, 9:25 is still technically low-9:20s.

“But yeah, we are definitely happy with our performance today and excited for next weekend. That was the ultimate goal, to make it to next weekend. We’re happy with it.”

Chagrin will be joined by Beaumont, which took second with a 9:35.59 for the Blue Streaks’ 23rd state berth in the event all-time.

Freshman Ella Lisac kept Beaumont with the top pack as the relay popper before handing off to Ashley Rulison. The junior did beautifully with her 200 kick to the line. Addison Ciecierski got up into the lead briefly amid a nice leg before turning over to Mia Mlynek with a confident anchor.

“Yeah, I was really happy with our time,” Mlynek said. “I thought we all did some season bests and personal bests. I was happy with the way the race went and how it played out. I think everyone got us in some good positioning. It’s pretty hot — again — so I’m glad with the way we did.”

Wickliffe’s Isaac Pettway took second in long jump with a best effort of 21-11 1/2. The Blue Devils’ junior multi-sport stalwart is the first boys track and field athlete in school history to qualify for state three times in the same individual event.

“That is very special for me,” Pettway said.