CLYDE – In a spring where the weather was more cooperative, Saturday’s track and field meet likely would have been called off.
But, with this year’s weather so poor to this point, and track teams in desperate need to get out and compete, the Ross track and field teams braved the wind and rain for Saturday’s A.W. Hendricks Invitational at Clyde High School.
Oliver Ellis
It meant for the second weekend in a row, Ross’ athletes would be tested in their mental toughness as much as physical abilities.
“The older kids handle (the weather) better, they’ve become used to it,” Ross boys track coach John Elder said. “No one likes it, but they’ve learned how to deal with it. Older kids, Matt (Kuyken), for example, when he was done had a whole new set of clothes to change into and get out of his wet running clothes. The younger kids haven’t quite learned that yet.
“We tell them the day before, ‘Bring extra things, it’s going to be wet,’ and of course, ‘I didn’t think it was going to rain this much.’ Hopefully they learn. That’s the goal. The way this season’s going, they better learn quick.”
While the meet featured a number of strong performance by Ross’ boys and girls teams, it did come with a cost, however, for one of the Little Giants’ top runners.
Little Giants senior Oliver Ellis took a first-place finish in the 400 dash, clocking a time of 52.53 seconds, more than two seconds faster than his closest competition. Near the end of the race, however, he aggravated a hamstring injury. His prognosis will be evaluated Monday, but if Ellis has to miss a significant amount of time, it’ll leave a large hole for the Little Giants to fill, both in the 200 and 400 as well as relay events.
“I think we’ll find out more on Monday, right now there is swelling and pain and he’s under orders to ice it on and off all weekend,” Elder said. “We’re hoping it’s not bad. We’ll sit him out for the week, at least and go from there.
Matt Kuyken
“Right now, we can afford to lose him because it’s just meets, they have no consequence toward any state run. Hopefully, like with any kind of injury, it’s early enough where he can recover and come back.
Distance runner Matt Kuyken won a pair of events, dominating both the 800 and 1600 runs. His time of 2:03.90 in the 800 won by nearly six seconds while his 1600 time of 4:38.75 was more than 10.5 seconds faster than that of second place.
“We think Matt has the capability of breaking the school record in the mile (4:23),” Elder said. “He needs to get a feel for what he has to do to break it. We wanted to see him take on the race like he’d have to to break the record –and he did that – but with the weather conditions, it was a good experiment. That his second-best 1600 time ever.”
Despite battling bursitis in his knee, hurdler Devyn Jagodzinki placed second in the 110 hurdles and third in the 300. Ethan McClory and Zach Edmunds, running the 3200 for only the second time this season due to weather, both dropped significant time, McClory finishing second in the event and Edmunds taking fourth.
And Jason Burling scored a new personal-best in the shot put, reaching a distance of 46-1, giving him second place in the event.
Jason Burling
As a team, the Little Giants totaled 87 points, placing them second overall, finishing behind Bellevue’s 127.
As for the Lady Giants, they compiled 72 points, placing fifth as a team. Ross missed out on the points it’d have received from Olivia DeRodes and AnneMarie Moses in the high jump and pole vault which were not held due to the weather.
Also, Ross’ 4×200 relay, which finished first, was disqualified for an illegal baton pass. Elder said it’s a learning opportunity for the group.
“They had a mishap, they exchanged too soon, and they would have won that race so we lost points, just on that,” Elder said. “But the girls are young and are good girls, like (Ashanti) Elkins and (Kimora) Rapp. They have to gain experience and learn from experience. It’s coming.”
McKela Elder continued her tremendous start to the season with another pair of first-place finishes. She cruised to victory in the 1600 in 5:49.29, nearly 10 seconds faster than second place, and also pulled out a close win in the 3200 (12:28.54), an event she was learning on the fly.
“McKela was outstanding,” John Elder said. “She looked really strong, and she did the exact same thing at Perkins and at Bowling Green last week. She has not run the 3200, I think she’s run it once or twice in her high school career. She kind of entered that race not sure how to run it and we said, ‘Stay with the leaders and go from there.’ She did quite well with that.”
McKela Elder
The Lady Giants had a handful of quality sprinter performances, including hurdler Janna Sutton. She took third in the 100 and eighth in the 300 while, along with Jazzele Lindsey, Alexis Prenzlin and Ashanti Elkins, helped the 4×100 relay team to a third-place finish.
“We’re really happy with how she’s been running,” Elder said of Sutton. “She’s a senior and, like a lot of our sprinters, is battling leg issues, but she ran real well and was very prepared. Her place may not have bene great, but she was strong. Really strong.”
Lindsey gave the Lady Giants a first-place finish in the 100 dash, clocking a time of 13.76. Kimora Rapp took third in the 400 (1:06.76) and Marissa Overmyer enjoyed a second-place showing in the shot put with a throw of 93-11.
The track teams will be back in action Tuesday, hosting their first meet of the year against Findlay, Old Fort and St. John’s/Notre Dame Academy.
“It’ll be good Tuesday because that’ll be a meet where everybody gets to run, we can try some things out, find out about some of these kids who haven’t gotten to run at all,” Elder said. “Hopefully the tide is turning weather-wise There is not one person that doesn’t want the weather to change.”
Janna Sutton
A.W. Hendricks Invitational, hosted by Clyde
Girls Results
1. Tiffin Columbian 107; 2. Bellevue 105; 3. St. Ursula 80; 4. Clyde 79; 5. Fremont Ross 72; 6. Genoa 13; 7. Gibsonburg 7; 8. Woodward 1.
100 Hurdles: 3. Janna Sutton, 18.16
100 Dash: 1. Jazzele Lindsey, 13.76
4×800 Relay: 4. Ashanti Elkins, McKela Elder, Madalyn Metcalf, Olivia DeRodes, 10:57.81
4×200 Relay: DQ
1600 Run: 1. McKela Elder, 5:49.23
4×100 Relay: 3. Janna Sutton, Jazzele Lindsey, Alexis Prenzlin, Ashanti Elkins, 55.19
400 Dash: 3. Kimora Rapp, 1:06.76
300 Hurdles: 8. Janna Sutton, 1:01.76
800 Run: 4. Hayley Wilson, 2:49.10
200 Dash: 6. Talayiah Milton, 30.57
3200 Run: 1. McKela Elder, 12:28.54
Long Jump: 8. Alexis Prenzlin, 12-05.25
Shot Put: 4. Emma Jahns, 30-7.25
Discus: 2. Marissa Overmyer, 93-11
Boys Results
1. Bellevue 127; 2. Fremont Ross 87; 3. St. Francis 77; 4. Tiffin Columbian 70; 5. Clyde 48; 6. Genoa 43; 7. Gibsonburg 10; 8. Woodward 1.
110 Hurdles: 2. Devyn Jagodzinski, 17.12
100 Dash: 10. Maliek Johnson, 12.87
4×800 Relay: 3. Evan Starkweather, Jayden Scott, Ethan McClory, Ka’Von Martin, 9:14.81
4×200 Relay: 4. Oliver Ellis, Ka’Von Martin, Maliek Johnson, Devyn Jagodzinki, 1:39.80
1600 Run: 1. Matt Kuyken, 4:38.75
400 Dash: 1. Oliver Ellis, 52.53
300 Hurdles: 3. Devyn Jagodzinki, 46.79
800 Run: 1. Matt Kuyken, 2:03.90
200 Dash: 4. Oliver Ellis, 25.36
3200 Run: 2. Ethan McClory, 10:20.64 10:32
Long Jump: 8. Kamyron Jones, 17-08.25
Shot Put: 2. Jason Burling, 46-1.00
Discus: 4. Mike Thomas, 112-09