High school track: Wadsworth's Hailey Otradovec keeps breaking records

NORTH ROYALTON — Records are meant to be broken, including ones that stand for only few days. Wadsworth senior Hailey Otradovec did just that Thursday at the Suburban League National Conference Meet, winning the 400-meter dash in a time of 55.85 seconds, breaking her school record of 56.07 set less than a week ago after Brittani Peltz (56.38) held it for 13 years. Otradovec broke meet and stadium records and now ranks third in Medina County history behind Brunswick's Brianna Neitzel (54.70) and Cloverleaf's Riley Evans (55.56), both Division I state champions in the event. "I was honestly just trying to relax and trying to remind myself that's when I do my best," Otradovec said. "That's just what I've been doing to get me here." Down the stretch, Otradovec felt like she had the victory in hand, but breaking the record was still in doubt. "I was just trying to finish the race," she said. "I saw the finish line and I'm like, 'Just get to the finish line and see if I can do it."' Jessica Stoops earned 18 points for the Grizzlies, winning the 200 in 25.15 and finishing second in the 100 (12.29). "It feels amazing," Stoops said. "I felt really powerful out of the box (in the 200), and I have been working on that all season. That was really good." Maggie Gerschutz ran away with the 3,200, winning by more than seven seconds in 11:15.29. She ran behind Olivia May of Nordonia for the first half of the race before passing and setting sail. "Props to Olivia in front of me. She really helped me get through that first mile," Gerschutz said. "The second mile is just, 'How tough are you?' and I am glad I could show that today." Brooke Haude kicked off Thursday for the Grizzlies with a win in the 100 hurdles (15.08). The 4x800 relay of Gerschutz, Ella Dolgowicz, Cami Ross and Otradovec finished first with a 9:30.50 Tuesday, winning by nearly eight seconds over second-place Solon. The 4x2 of Haude, Bree Maxwell, Ashley Valatka and Otradovec ran a 1:42.79, which was better than the previous stadium record but 0.19 seconds slower than Solon on this day. The 4x1 of Valatka, Maxwell, Alexis Norris and Bailey Blum finished third (51.13), as did the 4x4 of Otradovec, Maxwell, Dolgowicz and Stoops (3:59.32). Kameron Chapman was third in high jump with a mark of 5 feet. On the boys side, senior Calix Lemp and junior Alex Valentine had to put their disappointments from the 100 earlier in the day out of their minds to gear up for the 4x1, which they ran with Gavin Madigan and Cooper Gray. The quartet set a stadium record with a 43.35. Valentine, who was supposed to run from Lane 5 in the 100, was fueled in the 4x1 after a false start disqualified him in the 100. "I think it definitely gave me more motivation because of the false start," he said. "I had to prove something, so I had put in all on the track in the 4x100." Lenix started in Lane 4 in the 100 and finished fifth (10.97) in the race that was won by Hudson's Reno Ferri (10.79). "We had to put that behind us because there is nothing that we can do about the 100," Lemp said. "We came out here, did our best and took it home." Valentine picked up two more victories, winning the pole vault with a 13-8 and the 200 in 21.67. Brayden Murphy won the high jump with a 6-2. Jimmy O'Connell finished third in the 110 hurdles in 14.67, Mason Hiltner was third in the 1,600 at 4:39.08 and the 4x2 of Luke Maddox, Quinn McMaster, Gray and Dominic Jackson finished third in 1:32.93. Solon won both meets, with Wadsworth finishing third in each. The Wadsworth girls finished with 99 points to the Comets' 163, while the Grizzlies boys had 109 to Solon's 152. Contact Ryan Isley at sports@medina-gazette.com. Results BOYS Standings: 1. Solon 152, 2. Nordonia 111, 3. Wadsworth 109, 4. Hudson 95, 5. Twinsburg 55, 6. Brecksville 49, 7. Stow-Munroe Falls 47, 8. North Royalton 35. 100 — 1. Reno Ferri (H) 10.79, 5. Calix Lemp (W) 10.97. 200 — 1. Alex Valentine (W) 21.67, 4. Coopey Gray (W) 22.54. 400 — 1. Reginald Jefferson (N) 50.87, 5. Quinn McMaster (W) 52.27. 800 — 1. Sam Hopp (T) 1:53.67, 6. Landon Lanham (W) 2:03.11, 7. Eli Loveless (W) 2:03.72. 1,600 — 1. Matthew Scipione (Sol) 4:30.02, 3. Mason Hiltner (W) 4:39.08. 3,200 — 1. Aiden Flynn (N) 9:38.20, 6. Jacob Mount (W) 10:13.03. 110 hurdles — 1. Joseph Filinsky (N) 14.24, 3. Jimmy O'Connell 14.67. 300 hurdles — 1. Cole Taylor (Sol) 37.74, 4. O'Connell (W) 40.45. 4x100 — 1. Wadsworth (Gavin Madigan, Gray, Lemp, Valentine) 43.18. 4x200 — 1. Solon 1:42.62, 2. Wadsworth (Luke Maddox, McMaster, Gray, Dominick Jackson) 1:42.81. 4x400 — 1. Nordonia 3:24.55, 4. Wadsworth (McMaster, O'Connell, Lucas McDermitt, Gray). 4x800 — 1. Nordonia 8:02.51, 5. Wadsworth (Landon Lanham, Chase Otradovec, Mason Hiltner, Eli Loveless). High jump — 1. Brayden Murphy (W) 6-2. Long jump — 1. Cole Taylor (Solon) 22-2, 7. Jakoby Currens (W) 20-0.75, 8. McMaster (W) 19-11. Pole vault — 1. Alex Valentine (W) 13-8, 8. Hunter Harris (W) 11-6. Shot put — 1. Drake Vander Cica (H) 58-2.25, 4. Evan Lilly (W) 48-3, 7. Scott Ita-Leiendecker (W) 42-8. Discus — 1. Bryan Shin (Solon) 175-7, 4. Lincoln Reeling (W) 156-5, 8. Jack Blubaugh (W) 145-8. GIRLS Standings: 1. Solon 163, 2. Twinsburg 103, 3. Wadsworth 99, 4. Hudson 77, 4. Nordonia 77, 6. Stow-Munroe Falls 53, 7. North Royalton 51, 8. Brecksville 39. 100 — 1. Samantha Singleton (Sol) 11.99, 2. Jessica Stoops (W) 12.29. 200 — 1. Jessica Stoops (W) 25.15. 400 — 1. Hailey Otradovec (W) 55.85, 4. Stoops (W) 57.69. 800 — 1. Autumn Besett (T) 2:16.14, 6. Ella Dolgowicz (W) 2:23.18. 1,600 — 1. Camryn Cayne (Sol) 5:16.56, 7. Cami Ross (W) 5:29.21. 3,200 — 1. Maggie Gerschutz (W) 11:15.29, 5. Kyleigh Frield (W) 11:45.1. 100 hurdles — 1. Brooke Haude (W) 15.08. 300 hurdles — 1. Nicole Smith (T) 45.18. 4x100 — 1. Solon 49.08, 3. Wadsworth (Ashley Valatka, Bree Maxwell, Alexis Norris, Bailey Blum) 51.13. 4x200 — 1. Solon 1:30.27, 3. Wadsworth (Haude, Maxwell, Valatka, Otradovec) 1:32.93. 4x400 — 1. Solon 3:54.75, 3. Wadsworth (Otradovec, Maxwell, Ella Dolgowicz, Stoops) 3:59.32. 4x800 — 1. Wadsworth 9:30.5 (Gerschutz, Dolgowicz, Otradovec, Cami Ross) 9:30.5. High jump — 1. Tristine Lyons (NR) 5-2, 3. Kameron Chapman (W) 5-0. Long jump — 1. Samantha Singleton (Sol) 18-0.75. Pole vault — 1. Makenna Bode (H) 11-4, 8. Ella Mattle (W) 9-0. Shot put — 1. Myla Gallagher (Sol) 39-6.25. Discus — 1. Myla Gallagher (Sol) 130-5.