H.S. Track and Field: Avon Lake shot putter Claire Springer laps competition at home invitational

AVON LAKE — Claire Springer was not about to let Avon Lake get shut out of its home meet. The senior brought home the school's only championship Saturday with a dominating throw in the shot put of 43 feet, 04.25 inches, more than 6 feet farther than anyone else at the Avon Lake Invitational. "I know what I have to do and I just have to mentally know that all it takes is one throw," Springer said. "Anybody below me, anybody above me can beat me at any time. My first few throws were not great, so I needed to put the foot on the gas and just go. We only have two or three meets here and it's my last season, so I had to win here at least once." GlenOak won the boys and the girls team competitions. Avon posted the highest finish of the three area teams competing, as the boys and girls teams finished fifth, though the boys tied with Bay. Lorain also competed, but Samone Whitt was the only one to post a top-four finish, taking third in the shot put at 37-09.5. The Eagles posted six first-place finishes, with Luke Hamilton winning the shot put and the discus. The senior, who will play football for Michigan in the fall, won the shot put with a throw of 53-0 and the discus at 153-03 — both significantly ahead of the competition. Rania Brown also brought home a title in the discus at 138-01, which was 20 feet ahead of the competition. Kaitlin Reese dominated the 800-meter run in 2:15.31, six seconds better than Madeline Betz of Avon Lake. "Honestly I was just excited to get the first race under our belt this season," Reese said. "I was just focused on being strong and being really good with my form and stuff. I think it worked, I think it paved the way to victory. So far this is a good opener and I'm excited for the rest of the season." Both the boys and the girls secured the 800-meter relay title for Avon, and the boys came agonizingly close to rallying in the 400, too. Cole Kepner, who ran the anchor for both events, showed off his blazing speed in the last 50 meters of the 400. The junior started his leg in a pack for fifth place, then he tore past the field and almost ran down GlenOak's Ryder Greenwood, forcing a photo finish. When the dust settled, GlenOak prevailed by 0.03 second. "I had to press really hard and dig deep, that's all it came down to," Kepner said. "I think we're starting off the season really strong this year. Last year we finished really well at state and we want to top that this year." Contact Chris Sweeney at (440) 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com. Follow him @CSweeney1686 on X. Boys TEAM SCORES: 1. GlenOak 91, 2. Solon 75, 3 Rocky River 70, 4. Chardon 63, T-5. Avon 59, T-5. Bay 59, 7. Brunswick 50, 8. Strongsville 39, 9. Olmsted Falls 38, 10. Euclid 28, 11. Westlake 22, 12. Avon Lake 20, 13. North Olmsted 6, 14. Lorain 4. INDIVIDUAL RESULTS 100 meters: 1. Ryder Greenwood (GlenOak), 11.09; 2. Caleb Hewitt (Chardon), 11.19; 3. Cole Kemper (Avon), 11.26; 4. Lamonte Hamelin (Euclid), 11.26. 200: 1. Lamonte Hamelin (Euclid), 23.10; 2. Eric Del Torto (Solon), 23.13; 3. Karl Dietz (Chardon), 23.14; Caleb Hewitt (Chardon), 23.15. 400: 1. Mark Semanco (Brunswick), 53.01; 2. Ben Frazier (Olmsted Falls), 53.63; 3. James Swasey (Strongsville), 53.65; Simon Baum (Rocky River), 54.14. 800: 1. Wesley Marsden (GlenOak), 2:00.86; 2. Grant Preto (Rocky River), 2:01.97; 3. William Dunstan (Bay), 2:02.02; 4. Thomas Nelson (Chardon), 2:03.80. 1,600: 1. Henry Lange (Rocky River), 4:32.02; 2. Jeremy Snyder (Westlake), 4:33.00; 3. Colin Martens (North Olmsted), 4:36.55; 4. Ryan Bridenthal (GlenOak), 4:39.95. 3,200: 1. Michael Hanselman (Bay), 9:28.79; 2. Ruairi Zuercher (Rocky River), 9:30.57; 3. Connor Spellman (Bay), 9:37.28; 4. Taman Chokshi (Chardon), 9:45.40. 100 hurdles: 1. Antonio Coleman (Solon), 15.08; 2. Eric Del Torto (Solon), 15.11; 3. Jack Dillen (Strongsville), 15.65; 4. Zyqueze Ortiz (Avon), 16.37. 300 hurdles: 1. Jack Dillen (Strongsville), 41.70; 2. Antonio Coleman (Solon) 41.75; 3. Cole Taylor (Solon), 41.94; 4. Gavin Koval (Brunswick), 43.95. 400-meter relay: 1. GlenOak (Ja'Brailon Wilcox, Javi'ion McClendon, Jamier McClendon, Ryder Greenwood), 43.56; 2. Avon (Jareil Fenton, Owen Garcia, Nicholas Colburn, Cole Kepner), 43.59; 3. Solon (Dylan Johnson, Eric Del Torto, Brian McQuaide, Otis Thomas), 43.67; 4. Brunswick (Eli Nichols, Collin Kavulic, Hunter Kern, Chris Johnson), 44.20. 800-meter relay: 1. Avon (Jareil Fenton, Jack Farney, Sam Ulery, Cole Kepner), 1:33.09; 2. Solon (Dylan Johnson, Brian McQuaide, Antonio Coleman, Donovan Smith), 1:33.66; 3. Brunswick (Mark Semanco, Aiden Konopinski, Noah Surovey, Kai Piskach), 1:34.66; 4. Bay (Charles Rice, Jace Knapp, Jack Krueger, Brendan Spellman), 1:35.74. 1,600-meter relay: 1. Chardon (Karl Dietz, Landun Henry, Jacob Nieset, Matthew Sopchak), 3:29.26; 2. Euclid (John Jordan, Lamonte Hamelin, Malik Hogan, Mario Seats), 3:31.90; 3. GlenOak (Braedon Paolini, Sean Lynch, Ryder Greenwood, Wesley Marsden), 3:32.51; 4. Olmsted Falls (Nate Ryan, Ben Frazier, Ben Walker, Caleb Ellis), 3:33.00. 3,200-meter relay: 1. Rocky River (Ruairi Zuercher, Henry Lange, Grant Preto, Simon Baum), 8:13.20; 2. GlenOak (Wesley Marsden, Braedon Paolini, Sean Lynch, Canaan Sommers), 8:15.35; 3. Olmsted Falls (Hayden Coughanour, Ben Walker, Lucas Poole, Liam Kuri), 8:18.25; 4. Chardon (Thomas Nelson, Jack Roman Taman Chokshi, Jacob Nieset), 8:23.13. Shot put: 1. Luke Hamilton (Avon), 53-00.5; 2. Max Riley (Avon Lake), 48-10.75; 3. Jacob Abfall (Avon), 45-09.5; 4. Alex Van Meter (Rocky River), 41-04.25. Discus: 1. Luke Hamilton (Avon), 153-03; 2. Timothy Kemer (Avon Lake), 144-10; 3. Abel Sereika (Rocky River), 136-08; 4. Libson James (GlenOak), 135-01. High jump: 1. Ian Lilly (GlenOak), 5-10; 2. Jackson Smith (Bay), 5-08; 3. Caydren Saunders (GlenOak), 5-06; 4. Kainoa Piskach (Brunswick), 5-06. Long jump: 1. Skylan King (GlenOak), 21-05.5; 2. Jayden Perrine (Bay), 20-01.5; 3. Nate Ryan (Olmsted Falls), 19-01.25; 4. Cole Taylor (Solon), 18-11. Girls TEAM SCORES: 1. GlenOak 93, 2. Strongsville 79, 3. Rocky River 70.5, 4. Solon 67, 5. Avon 62, 6. Avon Lake 57, 7. Brunswick 47, 8. Euclid 25, 9. Bay 24, 10. St. Joseph 21, 11. Lorain 19, 12. Chardon 18, 13. Olmsted Falls 16.5, 14. Beaumont 13, 15. Westlake 8, 16. Magnificat 4. INDIVIDUAL RESULTS 100 meters: 1. Sydney Stepanovich (GlenOak), 12.76; 2. Samantha Singleton (Solon), 12.99; 3. Mary Sollars (Rocky River), 13.22; 4. Kayla Harris (Beaumont), 13.29. 200: 1. Eve Clark (Euclid), 25.96, 2. Cariona Lewis (Solon), 26.43; 3. Nia Booker (Solon), 26.69; 4. Camryn Koski (Avon Lake), 27.59. 400: 1. Eve Clark (Euclid), 59.17; 2. Cariona Lewis (Solon), 59.84; 3. Nia Booker (Solon), 1:01.22; 4. Tessa Knapp (Bay), 1:01.37). 800: 1. Kaitlyn Reese (Avon), 2:15.31; 2. Madeline Betz (Avon Lake), 2:21.90; 3. Sophia Ngetich (GlenOak), 2:23.97, 4. Eve Downs (Chardon), 2:25.04. 1,600: 1. Hannah Jicha (Strongsville), 5:09.12; 2. Maddie Harrington (Avon), 5:25.55; 3. Amber Kemmann (Brunswick), 5:25.93; 4. Panagiota Tzouloufis (GlenOak), 5:28.44. 3,200: 1. Briann Chaves (Rocky River), 11:14.30; 2. Jennifer Guo (Strongsville), 11:26.72; 3. Nora Salem (GlenOak), 11:36.42; 4. Emma Bradbury (Brunswick), 11:40.97. 100 hurdles: 1. Mary Sollars (Rocky River), 15.99; 2. Aanika Sommers (GlenOak), 16.73; 3. Ellie Harkins (Rocky River), 16.90; 4. Megan Mahaffey (Olmsted Falls), 17.26. 300 hurdles: 1. Ava Reed (St. Joseph), 47.67; 2. Addison Hamm (GlenOak), 48.94; 3. Ciara May (Brunswick), 50.09; 4. Madison Smalheer (Strongsville), 50.23. 400-meter relay: 1. GlenOak (Natalie Bisesi, Sydney Stepanovich, Addison Hamm, Dareea Tate), 51.61; 2. Solon (Kaya Parker, Samantha Singleton, Jamiyah Sullins-Burke, Zoe Russell), 52.86; 3. Strongsville (Marlena Betchker, Peyton Lynch, Savanna Spisak, Ava Spisak), 53.02; 4. Avon (Sarah Connor, Natalia Keller, Molly Kennedy, Lauren Tindera), 53.49. 800-meter relay: 1. Avon (Sarah Connor, Paige Justice, Molly Kennedy, Noor Odeh), 1:51.12; 2. Strongsville (Jordan Lynch, Ava Spisak, Marlena Betchker, Savanna Spisak), 1:51.34; 3. St. Joseph (Brianna Almasy, Joelle Puni, Bridie Hyland, Ava Reed), 1:51.39; 4. GlenOak (Addison Hamm, Amiyah Chester, Angelina Pyle, Kiera Montgomery), 1:53.91. 1,600-meter relay: 1. GlenOak (Sophia Ngetich, Addison Hamm, Panagiota Tzouloufis, Sydney Stepanovich), 4:07.10; 2. Solon (Nia Booker, Cariona Lewis, Morgan Hillman, Camryn Cayne), 4:12.30; 3. Strongsville (Marissa Smalheer, Tina Varis, Madison Smalheer, Hannah Jicha), 4:15.67; 4. Euclid (Mia Douglas, Eve Clark, Brooklyn Moore, Kourtnie Freeman), 4:18.04. 3,200-meter relay: 1. GlenOak (Jada Ames, Kaitlyn Esporite, Nor Salem, Sophia Ngetich), 9:53.87; 2. Brunswick (Ella Daddario, Emma Bradbury, Kylie Lockwood, Olivia Komperda), 9:59.60; 3. Strongsville (Tina Varis, Madison Smallheer, Gina Pedone, Marissa Smalheer), 10:03.05; 4. Chardon (Micah Tager, Rae Kawalec, Mira Palombo, Eve Downs), 10:06.07. Shot put: 1. Claire Springer (Avon Lake), 43-04.25; 2. Ava Luczak (Avon Lake), 37-10; 3. Samone Whitt (Lorain), 37-09.5; 4. Kennedy Koski (Avon Lake), 35-11.75. Discus: 1. Rania Brown (Avon), 138-01; 2. Bridget Bergen (Avon), 118-07; 3. Claire Springer (Avon Lake), 116-07; 4. Cailynn Cho (St Joseph), 115-00. High jump: 1. Emma Hahn (Strongsville), 4-10; 2. Morgyn Cruz (Rocky River), 4-10; 3. Rene Cicco (Strongsville), 4-08; 4. Natalie Tracy (Brunswick), 4-08. Long jump: 1. Zaria Roberts (Brunswick), 15-07.25; 2. McKenna Adkins (Bay), 15-01.25; 3. Dareea Tate (GlenOak), 14-08.5; 4. Kaya Parker (Solon), 14-08.5. Note: Boys and girls pole vault was not contested because of inclement weather.