High school track: Brunswick's Kainoa Piskach wins two hurdle events at Comet Relays

AMHERST — The Brunswick and Medina track and field teams always manage to stay near the top at the annual Comet Relays. The 70th edition Saturday was no exception at Amherst's newly-remodeled Richard S. Cooley Track. The Brunswick boys led Medina County this time, as the Blue Devils (63 points) finished third behind Mentor (74) and Walsh Jesuit. Last season's co-runner-up with Walsh Jesuit, Medina placed seventh with 41 points. Medina led the county on the girls side, as it finished fifth with 49 points. Brunswick was sixth with 45. Avon defended its title with 100 points, defeating Solon (97) for the second straight year. Brunswick senior Kainoa Piskach stole the show for county athletes, winning the 110-meter hurdles (14.97) and 300 hurdles (39.04). In between his victories, Piskach combined with Noah Surovey, Ryder Kern and Jacob Sepesy to win the 4x200 relay in a meet-record time of 1:27.74. It broke the 1:28.33 set in 2022 by St. Edward. "I thought our exchanges were pretty good. Solid all-around," Piskach said. "It feels like that all the puzzle pieces were put together for this meet. Everything was put in place for this relay. We just wanted to show what we could do." "Kai was awesome, but he's like that every day," Brunswick coach Owen Coughlin said. "I can't say enough good things about him. The coolest thing to watch is his evolution. His sophomore year he showed up and it was clear he had a lot of potential. Last year he was great, but we knew there was more in him if we could just draw it out." Piskach pulled Brunswick into the lead in the anchor leg. Amherst (1:28.18) and Walsh Jesuit (1:28.88) rounded out the top three. "We know that a lot of the top competition from the region is here," Kern said. "It was important to come out here and to put on a show, hammer them and kind of show what we can do. I think we did that. Exchanges were good. We knew that it was good competition, so we needed to run our absolute best. I think we did that." "This year Kai's turned into that elite level competitor who you feel like is going to win every race he's put in," Coughlin said. "In the 110s and 300s, he was behind the leader the whole race and won it over the last two hurdles. He's been working so hard at it. Our head girls coach, (Matt) Sofranko, has been tutoring him on it, and Kai's mentality is just different now. It reminds me of the evolution Chris Johnson made for us a couple years ago. "He's become the kind of guy who everyone wants to watch, and what makes it even better is that he's one of the best young men I've ever worked with from a character standpoint. He's a good person from the heart, he works as hard as anyone and he cares about the people around him." Brunswick also got a second-place finish from the distance medley of Corbin Klein, Surovey, Ryan Hershbine and Tommy Strippy (10:55.75). Only Mentor (10:48.87) was faster. "Strippy was great for us," Coughlin said. "He was disappointed in only being eighth in the 3,200, and all day after that until the DMR, he had this look on his face like he was determined to do something insane. He honestly had me a little bit worried. Then he went out in the anchor leg of the DMR and caught four or five guys in one of his best races ever." The 4x1 of Surovey, Kern, Jacob Sepesy and Eli Nichols was fourth (43.06). "The team as a whole is coming together," Coughlin said. "I was really happy with everyone's preparation and performance. We've got plenty to work on, and I'm praying we can get some key guys healthy and keep them that way, but we're moving in the right direction." Medina still had strong performances, led by three distance relays. Nate Fischer, Carson Henning, Logan Jones and Liam Meade were second in the 4x8 (8:04.49) behind Beavercreek (8:03.09), Peyton Davis, Joey D'Aurelio, Riley Dworznik and Trent Schirmer were second in the 4x16 (18:44.99) behind Mentor (18:33.94) and D'Aurelio, Jack Smith, Davis and Dworznik were third (10:56.89) in the distance medley behind Mentor (10:48.87) and Brunswick (10:55.75). "Today went well. We had some nice performances and some things to improve on as always," Medina coach Toby Stepsis said. "The field event athletes had a solid day, and we were able to earn some points in both the jumps and throws. We continue to add depth to a variety of events with great experience at these large invitationals." Seniors Brooke Diello and Alexis Warnement were the mainstays for the girls. Diello anchored the winning 4x1 that included Mariana Cunningham, Michaela Gwinn and Ruby Lloyd (49.26), as it held off Avon (49.42). Diello was also third in the 100 (12.72) behind Avon sophomore Ally Brediger (12.24) and Solon senior Samantha Singleton (12.50). Warnement was fourth in the 1,600 (5:18.16) after earlier teaming with Alanya Yanmaz, Julia Dietrich and Zulay Rebollar for second in the 4x8 (9:55.48) behind Avon's meet-record 9:26.25. "We had a very solid day," Medina coach Phil Brewer said. "Our distance runners were terrific, highlighted by Alexis Warnement in the 1600. Brooke Diello had a great day in the sprints, finishing third in the 100 and taking our 4x1 from third to first in her anchor leg." The Brunswick girls were led by its winning long jump relay of Zaria Roberts (17 feet, 7 inches), Natalie Tracy (17-4) and Mackenzie Soeder (16-6) that combined for a meet-record 51-5, breaking the 50-3.25 set in 2017 by Medina. Brunswick senior Reese Nolan was also a catalyst, taking second in the 3,200 (11:29.99) and sixth in the 1,600 (5:35.21). Senior Kya Swann was second in the discus (119-0) and fourth in the shot put (38-4) as she helped those relays finish fifth and sixth, respectively. The pole vault trio of Eleni Rahas (10-3), Zoey Fuller (8-0) and Alexandra Burns (8-0) combined for a 26-3 to earn third. "There were definitely a lot of positives," Sofranko said. "Reese Nolan had an awesome 3,200 race and another big PR. The long jump went really great, a new meet record from those three. Kya threw really well, too." Contact Paul Heyse at sports@medina-gazette.com. Results BOYS Standings: 1. Mentor 74, 2. Walsh Jesuit 68, 3. Brunswick 63, 4. Avon 57, 5. Solon 56, 6. Beavercreek 48, 7. Medina 41, 8. Berea-Midpark 39, 9. Amherst 37, 10. St. Ignatius 35, 11. Olmsted Falls 24, 12. Bay 22, 13. Toledo St. Francis de Sales 19, 14. Painesville Riverside 18, 15. Strongsville 15, 16. St. Edward 11, 16. Sandusky 11, 18. Perkins 8, 19. Warren Harding 6, 19. Westlake 6, 21. Bedford 2, 21. Maple Heights 2, 23. Twinsburg 1. 100 — 1. Jayden Perrine (Bay) 11.02. 1,600 — 1. Aiden Allen (Beav) 4:22.37, 7. Jackson Warfe (Med) 4:44.36. 3,200 — 1. Jacob Newman (St. E) 9:15.51, 8. Tommy Strippy (Bru) 9:48.38. 110 hurdles — 1. Kainoa Piskach (Bru) 14.97. 300 hurdles — 1. Piskach (Bru) 39.06. 4x100 — 1. St. Ignatius 42.53, 4. Brunswick (Noah Surovey, Ryder Kern, Jacob Sepesy, Eli Nichols) 43.06. 4x200 — 1. Brunswick (Surovey, Kern, Sepesy, Piskach) 1:27.74. 4x400 — 1. Walsh Jesuit 3:23.66, 4. Medina (Nate Fischer, Liam Meade, Noah Brown, Carson Henning) 3:26.41, 8. Brunswick (Ryan Dang, Dennis Goodhart III, Ben Heilman, Mason Rudisill) 3:33.16. 4x800 — 1. Beavercreek 8:03.09, 2. Medina (Nate Fischer, Henning, Logan Jones, Meade) 8:04.49.4x1,600 — 1. Mentor 18:33.94, 2. Medina (Peyton Davis, Joey D'Aurelio, Riley Dworznik, Trent Schirmer) 18:44.99, 5. Brunswick (Lleyton Klein, Corbin Klein, Ryan Herschbine, Emmett Keller) 19:10.82. Sprint medley — 1. Walsh Jesuit, 1:33.51. Distance medley — 1. Mentor 10:48.87, 2. Brunswick (Klein, Surovey, Hershbine, Strippy) 10:55.75, 3. Medina (D'Aurelio, Jack Smith, Davis, Dworznik), 10:56.89. High jump — 1. Riley Jones (B-M) 6-9.5, 6. Bishop Burch (Med) 6-0. Long jump — 1. Jackson Hughes (Avon) 22-5, 8. Kern (Bru) 20-8.25. Pole vault — 1. Cole Lugar (Am) 14-6, 6. Owen Stepsis (Med) 13-6. Shot put — 1. Maximus Hauck (Avon) 57-4.25, 7. Eli Nichols (Bru), 53-2. Discus — 1. James Conrad (St. I) 183-5. GIRLSStandings: 1. Avon 100, 2. Solon 97, 3. Beavercreek 71, 4. Twinsburg 51, 5. Medina 49, 6. Brunswick 45, 7. Painesville Riverside 40, 8. St. Joseph Academy 26, 9. Mentor 20, 9. Norwalk 20, 9. Perkins 20, 12. Lakewood 19, 12. Walsh Jesuit 19, 14. Bay 17, 15. Magnificat 13, 15. Strongsville 13, 17. Berea-Midpark 12, 18. Lorain 10, 19. Amherst 6, 20. Maple Heights 5, 20. Olmsted Falls 5, 22. Bedford 3, 23. Firestone 2. 100 — 1. Ally Brediger (Avon) 12.24, 3. Brooke Diello (Med) 12.72. 1,600 — 1. Kaitlyn Reese (Avon) 5:01.54, 4. Alexis Warnement (Med) 5:18.16, 6. Reese Nolan (Bru) 5:35.21. 3,200 — 1. Camryn Cayne (So) 11:12.27, 2. Reese Nolan (Bru) 11:29.99. 100 hurdles — 1. Allison Urbas (Riv) 14.97. 300 hurdles — 1. Faith Brown (Beav) 44.95, 7. Sasha-Grace Abi (Bru) 51.45. 4x100 — 1. Medina (Diello, Mariana Cunningham, Michaela Gwinn, Ruby Lloyd) 49.26. 4x200 — 1. Solon 1:41.16, 6. Medina (Gwinn, Macie Tighe, Cunningham, Diello) 1:47.63. 4x400 — 1. Solon 4:00.12, 7. Brunswick (Hailey Zielaskiewicz, Natalie Verlinden, Zaria Roberts, Marissa Miller) 4:15.98. 4x800 — 1. Avon 9:26.25, 2. Medina (Warnement, Alanya Yanmaz, Julia Dietrich, Zulay Rebollar) 9:55.48. 4x1,600 — 1. Avon 22:34.16, 4. Medina (Addison Joffre, Ella James, Julia Black, Tiffany Sebaugh) 23:50.07, 8. Brunswick (Lyla Rodriguez-Gedeon, Lyla Snider, Anna Halfhill, Olivia Petitto) 24:46.24. Sprint medley — 1. Avon 1:49.75, 4. Brunswick (Natalie Verlinden, Mackenzie Soeder, Marissa Miller, Zaria Roberts) 1:53.39. Distance medley — 1. Twinsburg, 13:07.64, 3. Medina (Dietrich, Evie Meade, Yanmaz, Rebollar) 13:25.21. High jump — 1. Gisele Chandhok (B-M) 5-5.5, 3. Natalie Tracy (Bru) 4-10, 4. Macie Tighe (Med) 4-6, 5. Kalea Tagalicod (Med) 4-6, 5. Zoey Fuller (Bru) 4-6. Long jump — 1. Chandhok (B-M) 18-2, 4. Roberts (Bru) 17-7, 5. Tracy (Bru) 17-4. Pole vault — 1. Adyson Lepley (Nor) 10-6, 4. Eleni Rahas (Bru) 10-3. Shot put — 1. Gabriella Schirg (Perk) 40-8, 4. Kya Swann (Bru) 38-4. Discus — 1. Schirg (Perk) 119-11, 2. Swann (Bru) 119-10.