Regional track: Black River qualifies two girls, boys' relay to state

CRESTON — If the boys 4x100-meter relay was a half-meter shorter, Black River would have won. However, 399.5 doesn't have the same ring to it, and that extra half-step was enough for Hanover United to win by 0.01 seconds at the Norwayne Division III Regional on Friday evening. Still, the Pirates qualified for the state meet at the University of Dayton. The runner-up 43.33 is impressive given that the Pirates lost anchor Stephan Kozopas to a broken foot on Thursday. "It's amazing, especially stepping in as an alternate," said baseball player Alex Woolfrom, who ran the anchor Friday. "I've got big shoes to fill, but today was a good outcome. It feels great to go down to state. "We've got to keep going. There's more to do. We want to try to get better handoffs, but I think we are peaking at the right time." The boys finished ninth out of 41 teams with 27 points, while the girls finished 15th out of 40 with 20. Joining Woolfrom in the 4x1 will be Seth Gaspari, Aden MacFarlane and Braylon O'Neal. O'Neal was the only individual boy to qualify, placing second in the 300-meter hurdles (39.12). He also had fifth-place finishes in the 110 hurdles (15.30) and pole vault (12 feet), putting him in position to receive a wild card. "It was a rough one, but we got it done," O'Neal said. "I hit a couple of hurdles, but got it done. I worked through it. I'm glad I had the other kid (Lowellville's Michael Ballone, 38.27) to chase. That's a first this year. I've never had anyone to chase, so that was definitely fun." On the girls side, Zoey Bungard and Olivia Todd qualified. Bungard finished fourth in the pole vault at 9-4, while Todd finished third in both hurdles events. Todd said this regional was all about redemption after she missed state in both last season. She led the 100s in 2023 before tripping over the eighth hurdle and missing the cut, then finished sixth in the 300s. This time around, broke her school records with a 15.42 and 45.98. "This is my senior year. I went all out," Todd said. "It was a good day. Mentally, going out and looking at the hurdles, I had to forget what happened last year. I had to go and face it, and I did. It wasn't even a thought in my mind when I was running. It's like I'm complete. I'm a senior, and I'm going to state in both hurdles. I feel very accomplished." Contact Chris Sweeney at sports@medina-gazette.com. Follow him @CSweeney1686 on X.