AMHERST — Matt Jurcak had never qualified for the Amherst regional in his first three years at Olmsted Falls High School.
Now Jurcak is preparing for a trip to Columbus for the Division I state track championships after scoring 14 points for his team Friday, finishing second in the boys 110-meter hurdles and third in the 300-meter hurdles.
Jurcak ran the 110 hurdles in 14.26 seconds and covered the 300 meters in 38.67 seconds. Both times he followed Terrence Somerville of Akron Buchtel.
“Those were both PRs (personal records),” Jurcak said. “I can do better. You can always do better. I know it’s in me. But second and third at the regional is pretty good, especially for it being my first time in one.”
Adding to his satisfaction was that he had placed second in the Southwestern Conference meet to Phil Gore of Berea. Gore finished sixth in the 100 hurdles.
“Coming out fast, instead of pacing yourself, helps a lot,” Jurcak said. “You come out slow, you’re behind.”
Jurcak said he hadn’t tried anything new to make such dramatic improvements from last season.
“Practices are the same,” he said. “I do the same things, but I work hard at them.”
Jurcak will be joined by junior Katie Nageotte, who successfully defended her regional title in the girls pole vault with a vault of 12 feet, 4 inches. 
“That was my PR,” said Nageotte, who was sixth at last year’s state meet. “It was really exciting. I surprised even myself.”
Primarily because conditions made things difficult.
“There were a lot of crosswinds and headwinds,” Nageotte said. “I had my coach signal when I should go, when the wind had died down.”
Nageotte set a district meet record at Amherst last week. She made three attempts at 12 feet, 9½ inches, which would have been a state record, barely missing each.
Several other area boys are heading to Columbus next week. Jordan Hoppel of North Olmsted came in third in the 100-meter dash (10.72 seconds) and anchored the third-place 400-meter relay with Cory Molnar, Keith Troyer and Pat Tomko (42.55).
Behind Hoppel in the 100 meters was sophomore Lyndon Anderson of Elyria, who qualified to state with a time of 10.73 seconds, just .01 seconds better than Southview’s Blake Witherspoon.
Witherspoon will compete in the 200-meter dash at state after coming in second in that event Friday (21.67 seconds).
To the surprise of almost no one, Drew Ebersole of Midview won the shot put with a toss of 61 feet, ¼ inch. Ebersole, who stamped his ticket to the state finals on Wednesday by winning the discus, was one foot, ¼ inch better than Toledo Central Catholic’s Andy Hills in the shot.
Only one other area girl qualified for the state meet. Bridget McNeill of Westlake took fourth in the discus with a throw of 125-8, a foot and six inches better than fifth-place Ashley Harris of Toledo Bowsher.
One Amherst regional record was broken Friday. St. Edward’s 800-meter relay team of Alex Cameron, Derek Larsen, Mike Schweistahl and Seth Cunningham set the mark with a 1:27.58 time, bettering the previous record of 1:28.29 set two years ago by Medina.
Contact Steve Byrne at 329-7135
or ctsports@chroniclet.com.

Boys

TEAM STANDINGS: Toledo St. John’s 56, Toledo Whitmer 52, Medina 48, St. Edward 47, Strongsville 38, Shaker Heights 31, Akron Buchtel 30, St. Ignatius 28, Copley 27½, Midview 24, Akron North 20, Sylvania Southview 20, North Olmsted 20, Brunswick 18, Toledo Bowsher 18, Toledo Rogers 17½, Lakewood 15, Lorain Southview 14, Olmsted Falls 14, Amherst 13, Marietta 11, John F. Kennedy 10, Sylvania Northview 9, Lima Shawnee 8, John Adams 8, Midpark 8, Holland Springfield 8, Berea 7, Toledo DeSales 6, Toledo Start 6, Brecksville 6, Oregon Clay 5, Elyria 5, East Technical 3, Normandy 2, Akron East 2, Avon Lake 1, Highland 1, Revere 1, Toledo Central Catholic 1, Padua 1, Canal Fulton Northwest 1.
INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
(top four qualify to state)
100: Lase Brooks (Akron North) 10.60, Princeton Bryson (Bowsher), Jordan Hoppel (North Olmsted), Lyndon Anderson (Elyria), Blake Witherspoon (Lorain Southview), Donte Rogers (East Tech) Phil Ferguson (Copley), Latwan Anderson (St. Edward)
200: Princeton Bryson (Bowsher) 21.26, Blake Witherspoon (Lorain Southview), Seth Cunningham (St. Edward), Phil Ferguson (Copley), Brandon Kish (Amherst), Lase brooks (Akron North), Arnez Hardnick (JFK)
400: Kendall Gregory (Strongsville) 47.94, Willie Brown (John Adams), Keith Cleveland (Shaker Heights), Donte Covington (Akron North), Brandon Williams (St. Edward), Nick Tammerline (Clay) J.T. Bowens (Syl. Northview), Matthew Cleveland (JFK)
800: Sam Maynard (Medina) 1:54.06, Moise Frisch (Whitmer), Joseph Rodriguez (Start), Tim Chippy (Midpark), Devon Snack (Brunswick), Colin Pettiford (Toledo DeSales), Stephen Miles (St. Edward), Joey Cherico (Strongsville)
1,600: Joe Miller (Toledo St. John’s) 4:15.95, Makorobondo Salukombo (Lakewood), Chris Fallon (Copley), Kevin Yarnell (Toledo St. John’s), Donny Roys (Medina), Colby Alexander (Strongsville), Sal Caroniti (Brecksville), Alex Kirkpatrick (Canal Fulton)
3,200: Joe Miller (Toledo St. John’s) 9:26.78, Chase Violet (Shawnee), Donny Roys (Medina), Mark Wieferich (Marietta), Makorobondo Salukombo (Lakewood), Jacob Barnes (Syl. Northview), Brett Wagner (Toledo St. John’s), Julian Meyer (Revere)
400 relay: Toledo Whitmer (Anthony Allen, Kevin Koger, Nicholas Young, Jeremy Jones) 42.32, St. Edward, North Olmsted, Copley, John F. Kennedy, Toledo DeSales, Lorain Southview, Toledo St. John’s
800 relay: St. Edward (Alex Cameron, Derek Larsen, Mike Schweisthal, Seth Cunningham) 1:27.58, Toledo Whitmer, Sylvania Southview, Shaker Heights, Copley, John F. Kennedy, Akron North, Amherst
1,600 relay: Strongsville (Ryan Oblak, Aaron Moran, Derek Halladay, Kendall Gregory) 3:17.99, Shaker Heights, St. Edward, Medina, Akron Buchtel, St. Ignatius, Oregon Clay
110 hurdles: Terence Somerville (Buchtel) 13.90, Matt Jurcak (Olmsted Falls), Ruben Belen (Medina), Johnnie Legrair (Copley), Amadou Gueye (Shaker Heights), Phil Gore (Berea), Kevin Cesaratto (Rogers), Tim griffin (John Adams)
300 hurdles: Anthony Allen (Whitmer) 37.25, Terence Somerville (Buchtel), Matt Jurcak (Olmsted Falls), Derek Larsen (St. Edward), Jon Christ (St. Ignatius), Ruben Belen (Medina), Vyshawn Arnold (Toledo Central Catholic)
Shot: Drew Ebersole (Midview) 61-¼, Andy Hills (Toledo St. John’s), Zach Marinucci (Brunswick), Bob McEvoy (St. Ignatius), Rob Catalano (Midview), Cody Riffle (Toledo St. John’s), Jerrod Kedzior (St. Ignatius), Sean McCann (Avon Lake)
High jump: Erik Kynard (Rogers) 6-10, Kenneth Agee (Shaker Heights), Cody Westbrook (Marietta), Ruben Belen (Medina), Shaun Joplin (Syl. Southview), Chris Arlinghaus (North Olmsted), Deverin Muff (Strongsville), Revor Parkman (Copley)

GIRLS

TEAM STANDINGS: Toledo Bowsher 78, Whitehouse Anthony Wayne 65, Toledo Central Catholic 55, Medina 46, Perrysburg 42, Cleina 37, Magnificat 35, Midpark 29, Toledo Whitmer 23, Normandy 21, Brunswick 19, Toledo Scott 18, Westlake 18, Findlay 14, Toledo Notre Dame 12, Rhodes 12, Olmsted Falls 11, Wapakoneta 11, East Technical 11, Bowling Green 10, North Olmsted 9, Highland 8½, Strongsville 8, Lorain Southview 8, Sylvania Northview 7, St. Joseph Academy 6, Rocky River 6, Revere 6, Marion Harding 6, Elyria 5, Mansfield Senior 5, Sandusky 5, Lakewood 4, Sylvania Southview 3, Amherst 3, Toledo St. Ursula 2, Tiffin Columbian ½
INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
(top four qualify to state)
100: Erika Schmidt (Anthony Wayne) 11.88, Meshawn Graham (Bowsher), Mahogany Jones (Rhodes), Cameron Gardner (Perrysburg), Christine Pendleton (East Tech), Kaila Barber (Midpark), Renee Bettinger (Revere), Torri Miller (Elyria)
200: Erika Schmidt (Anthony Wayne) 23.92, Meshawn Graham (Bowsher), Mahogany Jones (Rhodes), Kaila Barber (Midpark), Cameron Gardner (Perrysburg), Bridget Jacobs (Normandy), Alexis Washington (Lorain Southview), Christine Pendleton (East Tech)
400: Meshawn Graham (Bowsher) 53.78, Jade Barber (Midpark), Samantha Gwin (Whitmer), Sarah Woodrum (Marion Harding), Shannon Franklin (Bowsher), Kristen Hutchings (Highland), Kristeva Rowe (Syl. Southview)
800: Kelly Pickering (Medina) 2:17.69, Hannah Gephart (Findlay), Anne McCarthy (Toledo Central Catholic), Madeline Chambers (Magnificat), Andrea Rennie (Bowling Green), Allexx Mueller (Brunswick) Rachel Borowski (SJA), Katherine Schultz (Magnificat)
1,600: Kaitlyn Llewellyn (Perrysburg) 5:01.79, Madeline Chambers (Magnificat), Kelly Pickering (Medina), Ashley Waddington (Sandusky), Alesha Beverly (Westlake), Katherine McHenry (Magnificat), Lauren Duncan (Notre Dame), Alyssa Moran (Strongsville)
3,200: Kaitlyn Llewellyn (Perrysburg) 11:34.50, Ashley Aberl (Notre Dame), Emma Kertesz (Toledo Central Catholic), Nicole Mangas (Syl. Northview), Abby Fischer (Magnificat), Melissa Roth (Celina), Alison Leckrone (Findlay), Kristin Karn (SJA)
400 relay: Toledo Bowsher (Joy Franklin, Paris Littleton, Chantel Cross, Jade Brown) 48.45, Whitehouse Anthony Wayne, East Technical, Toledo Central Catholic, Elyria, Normandy, Southview, Brunswick
800 relay: Toledo Bowsher (Jade Brown, Joy Franklin, Paris Littleton, Shannon Franklin) 1:41.77, Whitehouse Anthony Wayne, Toledo Central Catholic, Normandy, Magnificat, Perrysburg, Brunswick
1,600 relay: Toledo Bowsher (Jade Brown, Paris Littleton, Shannon Franklin, Kaila Gardner) 3:51.65, Midpark, Toledo Central Catholic, Highland, Medina, Brunswick, Magnificat
100 hurdles: Julie Snyder (Celina) 14.39, Sharise Calhoun (Toledo Central Catholic), Nicole Rymer (Medina), Ashley Zaper (Anthony Wayne), Courtney Siebenaller (Whitmer), Eryn Langenkamp (Celina), Ellie Brandt (Rocky River)
300 hurdles: Sharise Calhoun (Toledo Central Catholic) 43.77, Ashley Zaper (Anthony Wayne), Julie Snyder (Celina), Courtney Siebenaller (Whitmer), Courtney Weiss (Perrysburg), Chelsea Mason (Lakewood), Noel Luther (Syl. Northview), Lashanda Arnold (Southview)
Discus: Hillary Perrea (Brunswick) 138-7, Shatora Lewis (Scott), Lywanna Melvin (Bowling Green), Bridget McNeil (Westlake), Ashley Harris (Bowsher), Mary Bridges (North Olmsted), Tina Perinne (Midpark), Monika Virag (Lakewood)
Long jump: Bridget Jacobs (Normandy) 19-5¾, Meshawn Graham (Bowsher), Julie Snyder (Celina), Eryn Langenkamp (Celina), Lauren Harbath (Revere), Brooke Arthur Mensah (Amherst), Malia Melvin (Strongsville), Kesnia Kriatchkova (Syl. Southview)
Pole vault: Katie Nageotte (Olmsted Falls) 12-4, Courtney Siebenaller (Whitmer), Hannah Tabler (Wapakoneta), Chelsea Lucas (Wapakoneta), Megan Gray (Rocky River), Domenica Rossi (Midpark), Tiffany Platko (North Olmsted), (tie) Steph Shockley (Columbian) and Jessica Meyers (Highland)

Division III: Columbia’s Dorricott qualifies to state again

NAVARRE — Columbia senior Alexa Dorricott is headed back to state.
Dorricott will be competing in the pole vault in Columbus for the third straight year after she cleared 10 feet for a fourth-place finish at the Division III regional meet a Fairless High School on Friday.
A year ago, Dorricott was fifth at the state meet (10-8) following a jump-off.
She was the lone area qualifier Friday. The top four in each event advanced.
Columbia sophomore Lisa Brasdovich was seventh in the 200 (27.46 seconds), while Dorricott, Brasdovich and sophomores Sara Borrhello and Rachel Gray were sixth in the 400 relay (52.53).
The Raiders finished with 10 points, good for a two-way tie for 21st in the girls team standings.
Lake Ridge and Black River’s girls finished with five points apiece.
Lake Ridge junior Megan Leake was sixth in the pole vault (10-0) following a jump-off, while Lions sophomore Amanda Seidel was seventh in the 400 (1:02.58).
Sophomore Raichel Herte scored all of the points for the Pirates as she was sixth in the 300 hurdles (48.11) and seventh in the long jump (15-11).
Lake Ridge junior Nathan Kafity was the lone area boy to score any points for his team after he took sixth in the 1,600 (4:28.87). Kafity’s efforts gave the Lions three points.

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