High school track: Isyss Ellis hits high gear to lead Buckeye relay team to win

EATON TWP. — Isyss Ellis helped the Buckeye girls 4x100-meter relay avoid a photo finish. The Bucks were trailing heading into the final leg, but Ellis turned on the burners to pass Midview in the final stretch to clinch a first-place finish at the Midview Shipwreck Invitational on Thursday evening. "The weather's been really cold and we hadn't been performing well," said Ellis, who took third in the 100, fourth in the 200 and competed in the high jump. "I went into (the 4x1) hoping we'd get there. "I really had to push to get past Midview. This feels pretty good, first win of the day (and) I think it's a good mark. I think we can improve a whole lot, though. We have a lot of potential to get better." Both Buckeye teams had strong showings, with the girls finishing third with 85 points behind Midview and Vermilion and the boys taking fourth with 73.5 points, trailing Midview, Keystone and Vermilion. Both Middies teams won their home event. The Buckeye girls had strong relays, taking second in the 4x8 and 4x4 and fourth in the 4x2. Junior Lindsay Fitzgerald was competing in her first meet after a six-month recovery from tearing both of the labrums in her hips during cross country season. Despite that, her leg in the 4x1 was just shy of her personal record. "Coming back from surgery, I'm really proud of myself and my team," Fitzgerald said. "I think we did a good job getting first place and second place. I just got cleared to run this week. It was really, really stressful to not be able to be out there with my team." The boys had a strong showing in the pole vault, with Joe Petruna and Alec Fike taking the top two spots. Petruna broke the meet record with a vault of 13 feet, eclipsing the 12-6 set by Buckeye's Ryan Steppenbacker in 2021. Other strong performances included Kamdon Czwerwony's third-place finish in the 800 in 2:10.83, Grant Conn's fourth-place finish in the 400 (53.89) and top-four finishes in each of the four relays. "I think our team is looking really good," Petruna said. "I think 13 feet is good for me. It's tied for my PR, but I think there's a lot more to come in the future. I can always run faster, get off bigger poles, but the most important thing for me right now is getting turned before I get to the bar so I don't hit it on the way up." Contact Chris Sweeney at sports@medina-gazette.com. Follow him @CSweeney1686 on Twitter. Results BOYS Standings: 1. Midview 151, 2. Keystone 143.5, 3. Vermilion 123, 4. Buckeye 73.5, 5. Coventry 50, 6. Valley Forge 37, 7. North Olmsted 36, 8. Lutheran West 23, 9. Lake Ridge 19, 10. Clearview 5. 100: 1. Collin Willard (NO) 11.23. 100 seated: 1. Max Carter (Mid) 22.28. 200: 1. Ryne Shackelford (K) 23.08. 400: 1. Logan Nagle (K) 52.38, 4. Grant Conn (Buc) 53.89. 400 seated: 1. Max Carter (Mid) 1:35.06. 800: 1. A.J. Stroud (K) 2:04.56, 3. Kamdon Czwerwony (Buc) 2:10.38. 1,600: 1. Tyson Denison (Cov) 4:44.32. 3,200: 1. Nathan Demarest (VF) 10:20.66. 100 hurdles: 1. Owen Bier (Mid) 16.96. 300 hurdles: 1. Beir (Mid) 41.22. 4x100: 1. Midview (Jailen McNair, Cam West, Dane West, Mason Kucera) 44.61, 4. Buckeye (Jack Reichle, Joey Lenarth, Alec Fike, Troy McCann) 47.11. 4x200: 1. Keystone (Emory Fedor, Logan Nagle, Zach Shackelford, Alex Nagle) 1:33.04, 3. Buckeye (Reichle, Grant Conn, Joe Petruna, Logan Lowe) 1:35.67. 4x400: 1. Keystone (Logan Nagle, Stroud, Z. Shackelford, Alex Nagle), 3:36.08, 3. Buckeye (Conn, Czwerwony, McCourt, Petruna) 3:40.87. 4x800: 1. Vermilion (Joseph Webb, Collin Angney, Cameron Logue, Reagen Massey) 8:43.83, 4. Buckeye (Nate Reith, Andrew Baon, Isaac Clady, Czwerwony) 9:15.84. Shot put: 1. Hayden Valenti (V) 53-5. Discus: 1. Valenti (V) 145-6, 4. Edwin Ortiz (Buc) 115-9. High jump: 1. R. Shackelford (K) 6-0. Long jump: 1. R. Shackelford (K) 22-0.5. GIRLS Standings: 1. Midview 159.5, 2. Vermilion 134.5, 3. Buckeye 85, 4. North Olmsted 80.5, 5. Valley Forge 66, 6. Keystone 42.5, 7. Lutheran West 35, 8. Coventry 21, 9. Clearview 5, 9. Lake Ridge 5. 100: 1. Alexis Weber (Mid) 12.92, 3. Isyss Ellis (Buc) 13.33. 200: 1. Erica Baldoza (Mid) 27.04, 4. Isyss Ellis (Buc) 28.13. 400: 1. Brooke Whisenant (V) 1:03.91. 800: 1. Grace Henley (Mid) 2:38.51. 1,600: 1. Emma Beauchamp (VF) 6:00.51, 3. Sophia Regiec (Buc) 6:21.77, 4. Sandra Dolata (Buc) 6:34.00. 3,200: 1. Beauchamp (VF) 12:45.25. 100 hurdles: 1. Brinley Partin (V) 16.86. 300 hurdles: 1. Camrin Lowder (V) 50.88. 4x100: 1. Buckeye (Lindsay Fitzgerald, Sarah Lowe, Julia King, Ellis), 54.14. 4x200: 1. Vermilion (Claire Bartlome, Camrin Lowder, Brooke Whisenant, Brinley Partin) 1:55.49, 4. Buckeye (Fitzgerald, Lowe, Danielle Wiley, King), 1:58.96. 4x400: 1.Vermilion (Claire Bartlome, Reece Holland, Alyssa Woodward, Jocelyn Alverado) 4:40.99, 2. Buckeye (Fitzgerald, Lowe, King, Sara Rak) 4:45.56. 4x800: 1. North Olmsted (Sierra Simon, Marissa Hernandez, Kellie Kennedy, Grace Pinto), 11:24.62, 2. Buckeye (Regic, Al Schell, Maddy Kost, Shelby Skilskyj) 11:54.82. Shot put: 1. Brynn Willard (Mid) 30-11.75. Discus: 1. Meghan Hubbard (Mid) 94-6, 4. Alyssa Bengough (Buc) 88-2. High jump: 1. Alexis Weber (Mid) 5-6. Long jump: 1. Alexis Weber (Mid) 18-4.25. Pole vault: 1. Nadia Aponte (Mid) 9-0, 2. Sara Rak (Buc) 8-6.