High school track: Andon O'Neal, Joseph McKean big winners for Black River at LCL meet

HENRIETTA TWP. — For the second year in a row, Black River's Andon O'Neal was a two-time champion at the Lorain County Conference Meet. The senior ran the 110-meter hurdles in a time of 15.56 and the 300s in 39.83 Thursday as the Pirates finished second with 144 points, trailing only Keystone (181). "I felt smooth — real smooth. Overall, it was a good race," O'Neal said after the 110 hurdles. "There were a lot of good kids in this race. It feels good to come out on top." In what many have been the most exciting race of the day, Pirates senior Joseph McKean upset the top-seeded Alex Nagle of Keystone in the 400, pulling away in the final 100 to win by a quarter of a second with a 50.52. Black River senior Jared Bradford continued his dominance of the distance events, winning the 3,200 in 10:21.19, almost 10 seconds in front. The Pirates' Dillon Royster finished third in 10:31.64. "I felt really good in the race," Bradford said after winning the 3,200 for the second year in a row. "I don't like leading the whole thing, so the first couple of laps I was just trying to sit behind somebody. Once I got my legs underneath me and settled down, I just took the lead and took off. Laps five, six and seven I was just trying to pull away and push myself as hard as I could go." Bradford said having a chance to test himself in the warm weather helped to prepare him for districts. "I usually don't do very well in the heat, so today was a good test," Bradford said. "Last year at districts I really tanked in the heat, so this really gives me a confidence boost." On the girls side, sophomore Riley Kubitz improved on second-place 400 finish from a year ago, winning with a 1:01.58. "I came in really nervous because it's the conference meet, and I wanted to do well," Kubitz said. "I tend to get nervous about most things. Even though I've been running track for a while, I always get nervous before I run. I felt run good at the end. I wasn't sure how close anyone was behind me but I just kept running as hard as a could to keep the lead." The Pirates girls finished sixth with 59 points. Contact Todd Shapiro at sports@medina-gazette.com. Results GIRLS Standings: 1. Brookside 174, 2. Firelands 141.5, 3. Wellington 103.5, 4. Columbia 92, 5 Keystone 72, 6. Black River 59, 7. Clearview 9. 100: 1. Heaven Vanzant (Brooks) 12.59. 200: 1. Vanzant (Brooks) 25.94. 400: 1. Riley Kubitz (BR) 1:01.58. 800: 1. Madison Palmer (Brooks) 2:30.48, 3. Teddi Vonderau (BR) 2:39.85. 1600: 1. Madeleine Finton (Col) 5:21.24, 3. Olivia Szmania (BR) 6:06.48. 3,200: 1. Finton (Col) 12:05.36, 2. Szamania (BR) 13:31.90. 100: 1. Jessica Gower (Brooks) 15.71. 300 hurdles: 1. Gower (Brooks) 46.17. 4x100: 1. Firelands 52.66. 4x200: 1. Brookside 1:49.18. 4x400: 1. Wellington 4:19.54. BOYS Standings: 1. Keystone 181, 2. Black River 144, 3. Brookside 99, 4. Columbia 76, 5. Firelands 70, 6. Wellington 66, 7. Oberlin 14, 8. Clearview 4 100: 1. Ryne Shackelford (K) 10.66, 2. Joseph McKean (BR) 11.16. 200: 1. Shackelford (K) 21.83. 400: 1. McKean (BR) 50.52. 800: 1. Sam Sikorski (Col) 1:56.79, 2. Treyce Wood (BR) 2:01.27. 1,600: 1. Sikorski (Col) 4:30.56, 3. Jared Bradford (BR) 4:41.22. 3,200: 1. Bradford (BR) 10:21.19, 3. Dillon Royster (BR) 10:31.64. 110 hurdles: 1. Andon O'Neal (BR) 15.56. 300 hurdles: 1. O'Neal (BR) 39.83, 3. Braylon O'Neal (BR) 41.85. 4x100: 1. Keystone 44.97, 2. Black River 44.97. 4x200: 1. Keystone 1:30.85, 3. Black River 1:32.91. 4x400: 1. Columbia 3:29.59, 3. Black River 3:33.13.