High school track: Brunswick girls win GCC meet

BRUNSWICK — The Brunswick girls track and field team got off to a fast start and never looked back Friday, winning the Greater Cleveland Conference Meet on its home track. Miami of Ohio recruit Zaria Roberts won the long jump with a Medina County-record 18 feet, 4.5 inches, Kya Swann took the discus (134-7) and Eleni Rahas soared 11-0 to win the pole vault as Brunswick swept all three girls field events held Friday. In addition to the long jump, Roberts also won the 400-meter dash (57.23) and took third in the 100 (12.71) to power the Blue Devils (143) by rival Medina (129.5). The league meet could prove to be a precursor to the North Royalton Division I Regional, which has Roberts excited to see what the postseason could bring. "It gives me a lot of confidence," said Roberts, whose long jump bested the 18-4 set by Medina's Beth McHugh in 2000. "A lot of the schools here are really good competition and are in our region. They helped me push myself while competing." Mackenzie Soeder finished behind Roberts in the 400 (59.65) and long jump (17-10.5). It looked like the boys title race also was going to come down to a battle of the Blue Devils and Bees, with Brunswick leading Medina 137-134 going into the 3,200. However, Mentor had other plans and leapfrogged both by taking three of the top four spots in the event to beat Medina 156-145. Brunswick was third with 141. After finishing second in the shot put Wednesday, Swann bounced back in the discus, beating Strongsville's Logan Zawie by 16-3. Rahas completed the sweep in the pole vault to edge Medina's Kendall Perfect by 6 inches. "I knew I was ranked first, which is a blessing and a curse," Rahas said. "I know I can go out there and do what I can do, but other girls, like Emily (Noga) from Mentor, PR'd today and had a great vault. There's no for sure, but I just stayed mental through it, talking to my coach and being honest about how I feel. I know I can do this." Brunswick's last girls win came from the 4x400 relay of Natalie Verlinden, Hailey Zielaskiewicz, Alex Burns and Zoey Fuller (4:01.13) punctuating the meet. Outside of Perfect, the Medina girls were led by the sprinting duo of Brooke Diello and Mariana Cunningham. Diello won the 100 ahead of Cunningham 12.50-12.54 before Cunningham reversed by the narrowest of margins in the 200, 25.40-25.41. The duo was joined by Ruby Lloyd and Michaela Gwinn in winning the 4x1 (48.42). "I'm feeling good," Diello said. "It's finally warmer out, so I think everyone's bodies are just trying to adjust to the warm weather. It's been a good day. We had some good wins, the 100, we had a good (4x100) relay." The Medina boys were led by Jackson Riffle's victory in the 400 (48.70) and Liam Meade's triumph in the 800 (1:56.30). Meade held off Mentor's Michael Maynard by 0.62 seconds to win the 800, while Riffle beat Cleveland Heights' Aiden West by 0.40 seconds. "I'm feeling pretty excited," Riffle said. "I feel like I went out well. I could have finished a little stronger. I was just trying to stay smooth. I get really tight in the last 100, so I was just trying to keep my body loose." Jacob Sepesy led Brunswick's boys with wins in the 200 (22.28), 4x1 (42.19) and 4x2 (1:28.00), as well as a second in the 100 (11.00), just getting edged by Mentor's Maximo Miles despite both runners clocking the same official time. Sepesy was joined in the 4x2 by Noah Surovey, Ryder Kern and Kainoa Piskach. In the 4x1, Eli Nichols took the place of Piskach. "I feel like were at a good place with the weather showing some good signs," Sepesy said. "I came in today, feeling good, feeling strong, just ready to get it done." Nichols also won the shot put (55-1.75), which paired with Wednesday's win in the discus gave him a sweep of the throwing events. "I knew I was seeded No. 1, so I couldn't lose it," Nichols said. "I've never won shot and disc in the same year, so that was a big goal. I PR'd today, and I'd say the only reason is Austin (Adkins of Strongsville) had a huge bomb that he fouled on. After that, I knew it was time to throw." Luke Neumeister (49-5) finished second in the shot put. Piskach also was second in the 300 hurdles (39.25). Contact John Urchek at jurchek@medina-gazette.com. Results BOYS Standings: 1. Mentor 156, 2. Medina 145, 3. Brunswick 141, 4. Strongsville 71, 5. Lorain 39, 5. Shaker Heights 39, 7. Cleveland Heights 38, 8. Euclid 30. 110 hurdles — 1. Samuel Walkiewicz (St) 14.46, 3. Kainoa Piskach (Bru) 14.54, 7. Cameron Spraggins (L) 16.15, 8. Dennis Goodhart (Bru) 16.54. 100 — 1. Maximo Miles (Men) 11.00, 2. Jacob Sepesy (Bru) 11.00, 3. Ryder Kern (Bru) 11.05, 4. Jackson Riffle (Med) 11.25, 6. Eli Nichols (Bru) 11.59, 7. Adam Gabel (Med) 11.70. 4x200 — 1. Brunswick (Noah Surovey, Ryder Kern, Jacob Sepesy, Kainoa Piskach) 1:28.00, 2. Lorain (Troy Jones, Jazion Moore, Donte Tinsley II, Jeremiah Daniels) 1:28.49, 6. Medina (Owen Stepsis, Mark Habjan, Adam Gabel, Lucas Deidrick) 1:31.44. 1,600 — 1. Matthew Penkowski (Men) 4:23.77, 3. Peyton Davis (Med) 4:27.40, 4. Joey D'Aurelio (Med) 4:28.46, 5. Tommy Strippy (Bru) 4:31.09, 8. Emmett Keller (Bru) 4:34.85. 4x100 — 1. Brunswick (Noah Surovey, Ryder Kern, Jacob Sepesy, Eli Nichols) 42.19, 2. Lorain (Troy Jones, Jazion Moore, Donte Tinsley II, Jeramiah Daniels) 42.39, 4. Medina (Owen Stepsis, Mark Habjan, Adam Gabel, Lucas Deidrick) 43.96. 400 — 1. Jackson Riffle (Med) 48.70, 4. Nate Fischer (Med) 49.80, 7. Noah Surovey (Bru) 54.52. 300 hurdles — 1. Samuel Walkiewicz (St) 38.54, 2. Kainoa Piskach (Bru) 39.25, 4. Dennis Goodhart (Bru) 41.42, 6. Brayden Belloma (Bru) 43.17. 800 — 1. Liam Meade (Med) 1:56.30, 4. Carson Henning (Med) 1:59.15, 6. Logan Jones (Med) 2:00.58. 200 — 1. Jacob Sepesy (Bru) 22.28, 2. Jazion Moore (L) 22.24, 3. Jackson Riffle (Med) 22.50, 4. Donte Tinsley II (L) 22.60, 5. Ryan Dang (Bru) 22.78. 3,200 — 1. Matthew Penkowski (Men) 9:36.55, 6. Riley Dworznik (Med) 9:55.97, 7. Zach Sohar (Med) 10:00.56, 8. Lleyton Klein (Bru) 10:07.16. 4x400 — 1. Cleveland Heights (Harrison Williams, Marquis Kerr, Sirius Jones, Aiden West) 3:20.16, 3. Medina (Nate Fischer, Liam Meade, Noah Brown, Carson Henning) 3:21.30, 6. Brunswick (Mason Rudisill, Noah Surovey, Dennis Goodhart, Kainoa Piskach) 3:23.94, 8. Lorain (Amari Ammons, Jacob Ford, Troy Jones, Justin Clark) 3:55.74. High jump — 1. Tez Higgins (Men) 6-6, 2. Bishop Burch (Med) 6-2, 4. Cooper Sokolowski (Med) 6-0, 7. Aiden Gontarz (Med) 5-10, 8. Siddarth Ranganathan (Bru) 5-8. Shot put — 1. Eli Nichols (Bru) 55-1.75, 2. Luke Neumeiester (Bru) 49-5, 4. Gage Palinchik (Med) 46-9, 5. Connor Brink (Med) 45-1.5, 6. Roland Jackson (Med) 44-8. GIRLS Standings: 1. Brunswick 143, 2. Medina 129.5, 3. Strongsville 119, 4. Mentor 88, 5. Shaker Heights 59, 6. Euclid 47.5, 7. Lorain 43, 8. Cleveland Heights. 100 hurdles — 1. Jennifer Rawls (SH) 14.69, 2. Autumn Roberts (L) 15.60, 5. Ruby Lloyd (Med) 16.59, 6. Natalie Verlinden (Bru) 17.34, 8. Jme Hood (L) 17.78. 100 — 1. Brooke Diello (Med) 12.50, 2. Mariana Cunningham (Med) 12.54, 3. Zaria Roberts (Bru) 12.71, 6. Mackenzie Soeder (Bru) 13.38. 4x200 — 1. Euclid (Daunaja Perryman, Jayde Robinson, Lashae Jackson, Jordyn Jones) 1:44.54, 3. Medina (Michaela Gwinn, Evie Meade, Anna Carpenter, Kalea Tagalicod) 1:49.18, 4. Lorain (Ava Miller, Janelle Butler, Autumn Roberts, Viviana Chavez) 1:49.46, 7. Brunswick (Svana Johnson, Annalesia Stover, Eleni Rahas, Gabriella Solivan) 1:57.47. 1,600 — 1. Hannah Jicha (St) 5:06.63, 5. Alexis Warnement (Med) 5:18.29, 6. Alanya Yanmaz (Med) 5:22.07, 8. Olivia Petitto (Bru) 5:39.62. 4x100 — 1. Medina (Ruby Lloyd, Brooke Diello, Michaela Gwinn, Mariana Cunningham) 48.42, 4. Lorain (Ava Miller, Autumn Roberts, Viviana Chavez, Jme Hood) 51.16. 400 — 1. Zaria Roberts (Bru) 57.23, 2. Mackenzie Soeder (Bru) 59.65, 5. Marissa Miller (Bru) 1:01.80, 6. Evie Meade (Med) 1:01.84, 7. Anna Carpenter (Med) 1:03.60. 300 hurdles — 1. Jennifer Rawls (SH) 44.09, 2. Autumn Roberts (L) 47.87, 3. Natalie Verlinden (Bru) 48.80, 4. Macie Tighe (Med) 48.97, 5. Sasha-Grace Abi (Bru) 50.01, 6. Talia Masternak (Med) 50.53. 800 — 1. Hannah Jicha (St) 2:15.06, 5. Julia Dietrich (Med) 2:25.64, 6. Alanya Yanmaz (Med) 2:26.05, 7. Zulay Rebollar (Med) 2:26.55. 200 — 1. Mariana Cunningham (Med) 25.40, 2. Brooke Diello (Med) 25.41, 7. Marissa Miller (Bru) 27.06, 8. Viviana Chavez (Lor) 27.83. 3,200 — 1. Hannah Jicha (St) 10:49.85, 3. Reese Nolan (Bru) 11:43.13, 5. Addison Joffre (Med) 11:54.66, 6. Julia Black (Med) 12:19.91. 4x400 — 1. Brunswick (Natalie Verlinden, Hailey Zielaskiewicz, Alex Burns, Zoey Fuller) 4:01.13, 4. Medina (Julia Dietrich, Alexis Warnement, Anna Carpenter, Evie Meade) 4:14.46, 6. Lorain (Emma Buss, Folakemi Fasola, Karlee Patterson, Janelle Butler) 4:47.24. Pole vault — 1. Eleni Rahas (Bru) 11-0, 2. Kendall Perfect (Med) 10-6, 4. Brianna Debow (Med) 9-6, 5. Alex Burns (Bru) 9-6, 7. Zoey Fuller (Bru) 8-0. Long jump — 1. Zaria Roberts (Bru) 18-4.5, 2. Mackenzie Soeder (Bru) 17-10.5, 3. Natalie Tracy (Bru) 17-5.5, 7. Hailey Hofmann (Med) 15-5.25, 8. Brianna Debow (Med) 15-3. Discus — 1. Kya Swann (Bru) 134-7, 4. Brajhia Phillips (L) 114-0, 6. Emerson Sheets (Bru) 92-9.