North Olmsted junior Jordan Hoppel broke a 30-year drought when he defeated Southview senior Blake Witherspoon to win the 100 meters at last Friday’s Amherst district meet.
That’s how long it had been since a North Olmsted boy won the event at the district level. Last to do it was Dino Mastantuono, who won the 100-yard dash at the 1978 Elyria Class AAA sectional (now called district) meet when he, too, was a junior.
“I went down to watch the state meet last year when Steve MacDonald qualified for us in long jump,” said Hoppel, who looks to earn his own berth to Columbus this week at the Amherst regional. “I was just at awe at the quality of sprinters.”
Like all track athletes, Hoppel has a pre-race routine, but his is a little bit different.
“You have to make sure you know how the starter starts his races,” said Hoppel, who ran a 11.11 in the 100 to Witherspoon’s 11.17. “Some of them can hold you longer. Some are very quick. I just have to make sure that I continue to have exceptional starts. It’s very hard to overcome a bad start coming out of the blocks.
“At this point in time, you’re not running in a dual meet where you can come back on everyone. You’re running against some very top-notched competition.”
Hoppel (22.13) also qualified second to Witherspoon in the 200 (22.09), and was on the first-place 400 relay (43.30) along with senior Cory Molnar, senior Keith Troyer and junior Pat Tomko. It was the first North Olmsted boys relay to win at districts since 1978, as well.

Washington’s week

Southview junior Alexis Washington is also hoping to build on a successful district meet.
Washington was second at districts in both the 100 (12.66) and 200 (25.50) and qualified second as a member of the Saints’ 400 relay (50.11).
“It’s going to be very tough this week,” Washington said. “We’ve been focusing on our hand-offs for the relays and me with my blocks (starts). We’re trying to get everything down pat.”
Washington was a regional finalist in both sprints last year and qualified to state in the 400 relay.

It’s been a while

Elyria Catholic has had a lot of success over the years in the postseason, but sophomore Marty Coolidge’s win in the 3,200 meters (9:34.29) at Saturday’s Division II district meet ended a long dry spell.
The last time a Panther won that event at districts was when Ron Rick won back-to-back titles at Olmsted Falls in 1980 and ’81. Rick’s 1981 district record of 9:16.70 still stands.
EC junior Evann Heidersbach also enjoyed a good day. Heidersbach qualified third in the 800 meters in a time of 2:25.93, a personal record by three seconds.
An eight-time All-Ohio Division II swimmer, Heidersbach is the first Elyria Catholic girl to qualify to track regionals in the 800 since Jessica Patton did it in 1995 and ’96.
“My coach always jokes with me that if it rains, you’ll be fine,” Heidersbach said.
Heidersbach also anchored the Panthers’ 3,200 relay to a regional berth with a fourth-place finish.

Streak continues

The Elyria girls track team extended its district win streak in the 400-meter relay to three straight last Friday. Junior Alexis Filiaggi, senior Torri Miller, sophomore Amani Wise and sophomore Burgundy Jones clocked a winning time of 49.55.
Miller and Jones were also members of last year’s winning relay. Miller was also a member of the 2006 relay that won district and regional titles at Amherst before advancing to state where it finished second.
Elyria’s recent success in the 400 relay actually dates back to 2000. The Pioneers won four straight from 2000-03. Overall, Elyria has won seven of the last nine district titles in the 400 relay at Amherst.

Nageotte sets record

Olmsted Falls junior Katie Nageotte’s No. 1 focus is getting back to the Division I state meet in pole vault. A meet-record win of 12 feet, 3 inches at the Amherst Division I district meet kept her momentum in high gear.
Nageotte broke the 2004 meet record of 11-6 held by Medina’s Erin Ferut by clearing 11-7 on her first try. She previously cleared 10-0 and 11-0 on her first attempts.
After making 11-7, Nageotte cleared 12-3 on her first try. Three misses at 12-6 ended the day.
“I kept my runway speed up, but the real key was that I was able to better utilize the bend in my pole,”  Nageotte said. “I pushed my bottom hand (the left one) up during my plant. That gave me a greater force in my follow through. I only nailed this technique down during the last two vaults in practice on Thursday.”

Beverly win a first

Westlake freshman Alesha Beverly’s victory in the 3,200-meter at Friday’s Amherst Division I district meet came as quite a surprise.
Beverly ran cross country in the fall, but never raced longer than 1,600 meters in track before the district. Her winning time of 11:41.90 barely missed Tina Lokar’s 1993 school record of 11:40.5. She’s the program’s first-ever district champ at that distance.
Beverly ran a personal-record time by five seconds taking second in the 1,600 (5:16.38) less than an hour earlier. She ran a 2:24 split on Thursday for the third-place 3,200-meter relay.
Not bad for someone who placed only 28th (22:13) at last fall’s Southwestern Conference cross country meet.
“Coach (Duane) Miller and I talked and thought that since she had a good cross country base that we’d run it by her. She was pretty excited about giving it a shot,” Westlake distance coach Travis Haselswerdt said. “Her final lap of 1,600 seemed pretty strong, so all three of us thought we’d give it a try.”
Westlake junior Bridget McNeill also enjoyed a stellar district. McNeill won the discus with a school-record throw of 138-7. She defeated Brunswick junior Hillary Perrea (136-11), who beat her at the Berea Relays.
McNeill’s effort broke her previous best of 132 feet in the prelims. Previously, her best throw was 130-0 set May 2 at the Berea Relays. She held the school record last year at 123-11.

Ebersole on target

Midview senior Drew Ebersole bounced back from a somewhat flat performance in winning Wednesday’s district discus title (169-4) to take the shot put crown on Friday with a school-record toss of 62-7½.
Ebersole crushed his previous best shot put of 60-0, set May 9 at the Bulldog Relays at Olmsted Falls.
“I feel in my own mind I’m right where I need to be,” Ebersole said. “Mike D’Andrea (the county record-holder from Avon Lake) was a good thrower. I’m definitely not done chasing his records yet. I have two meets left. I’m going to go for it.”
D’Andrea set county records in 2002 for both discus (190-5) and shot put (67-6½).
Contact Paul Heyse at 329-7135 or phheyse@aol.com. 

PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

Jordan Hoppel, North Olmsted

YEAR: Junior
LAST WEEK: Won the 100 meters (11.11) and placed second in the 200 (22.13) at the Amherst district meet. Also anchored the winning 400-meter relay (43.30).
OTHER SPORT: Football
BIO: Hoppel won four events at this year’s Southwestern Conference meet: 100, 200 and was a member of the 400- and 800-meter relays. One of only eight athletes in the 73-year history of the boys meet to win four events at the same meet. Was a district qualifier in the 200 last spring, plus was a member of the 800 relay. Also a 2007 SWC champ in the 200. A wide receiver and defensive back for the football team, he plans to participate in the NFL’s Junior Player Development program this summer.
PARENTS: Jim and Jill Hoppel

Lindsay Forconi, Vermilion

YEAR: Senior
LAST WEEK: Captured the 100 (12.82) and 200 (26.40) at the Midview Division II district meet. Believed to be the first Vermilion girl to win district track titles in those two events. Also qualified to regionals as a member of the third-place 400-meter relay (52.86) and with a fourth-place finish in the long jump (14-10½).
BIO: Was a West Shore Conference champ this spring in the 100 and 200. Last spring, was a regional qualifier in the 100, plus as a member of the 800- and 400-meter relays. A member of National Honor Society and Leo Club, she plans to walk on the track team at Miami of Ohio, where she plans to major in dietetics. Carries a 3.5-grade-point average.
PARENTS: Lou and Nancy Forconi

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