RAVENNA — Firelands junior Cory LaMar, Elyria Catholic sophomore Marty Coolidge and Bay freshman Bridget Doughty brought home regional titles from Saturday’s Division II track and field meet at Ravenna High School.
A three-time regional qualifier, LaMar clocked a school-record time of 49.16 in winning the 400 meters.
“It’s amazing,” LaMar said. “From district champ to regional champ. I’ve never been so pumped up in my life. I was still so nervous (before the starting gun). I knew I was right in the mix this time. It feels great.”
Last year, LaMar finished 10th (52.55) at regionals and didn’t make the finals. This year he was seeded second (49.82) after Thursday’s semis to Poland Seminary sophomore Robert Balzano (49.55). But Saturday, Balzano had to settle for second (49.70).
“I knew that I couldn’t let anybody pass me,” LaMar said. “I never backed off. I stayed aggressive the whole way.
“My goal was to make up the stagger on the guys to my right, but don’t let anyone on my left pass me. The main thing I had to do was stay relaxed. I didn’t tense up at all. I just stayed smooth.”
LaMar broke Isaac Drost’s 2003 school record (49.7).
“He’s had to run hard only once all year (49.8, at the Edison invite),” Firelands coach Greg Northeim said of LaMar. “He’s a very confident runner and a very talented runner. He’s just very strong. He just powers his way through. The more he runs with his competition now he’ll get even better.”
Coolidge won the 3,200 meters with a time of 9:34.95, just missing the career best of 9:34.29 he set at the Midview district. Coolidge is EC’s first 3,200-meter regional champ since Ron Rick won in 1981.
“I was very nervous coming in here, but once I was on the line I just knew I had to do it,” Coolidge said. “Mr. (Tim) Kuhman’s a great coach. He’s been helping me out all year.”
EC distance coach Chuck Lynch said Coolidge executed the race strategy extremely well.
“We’re trying to hit some numbers and hit some times, but we needed to learn about these other runners, too,” Lynch said. “We learned a lot today. He hit a good pace even with the wind today.”
Doughty won the 100- (15.24) and 300-meter (44.40) hurdles convincingly, including beating West Branch sophomore Taylor Kring (15.74), the defending 100 hurdles state champ.
Vermilion junior Nate Rodriguez passed four runners on the last lap to earn the final qualifying berth in the 800 with a fourth-place time of 1:58.73. It was a personal record by nearly three seconds.
“I’m just ecstatic,” Rodriguez said. “It’ll sink in Monday when I realize I still have track practice. I felt very strong at the end today. I don’t think I’ve ever felt that strong before.”
Avon senior Dan Smith (4:26.36) barely held off Vermilion senior Nate Cremean (4:26.63) for the fourth qualifying spot in the 1,600. Smith tried running away from the field with a blistering pace in the second half of the race. It nearly cost him when he tightened up in the final 80 meters.
“It feels great to qualify. I’ll be sleeping good tonight,” a winded Smith said. “I don’t typically have a great finishing kick, so I knew I had to make a big move when I did. In 20 minutes, I’ll be a little more excited.”

Boys

Team scores: 1. University School, 45; 2. Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy, 34; 3. Chagrin Falls, 33; 4. Hanoverton United, 32; 5. Woodridge, 31; 14. Avon, 19; 18. Elyria Catholic, 15; T19. Vermilion, 14; T26. Firelands, 10; T33. Bay, 6; 41-t. Clearview, 2
Individual results
(Top 4 finishers advance to state meet,
Friday and Saturday at Ohio State)
100 meters: Kasey Schwing (Streetsboro), 11.11; Randy Greenwood (Lake Catholic), 11.12; Dustin Matak (Salem), 11.29; John Lundy (Cleveland Central Catholic), 11.30;
200: Justin Chappell (US), 21.93; Zane Smith (United), 22.21; Schwing (Streetsboro), 22.41; Lundy (Cleveland Central Catholic), 22.44
400: Cory LaMar (Firelands), 49.16; Robert Balzano (Poland Seminary), 49.70; Joe Vucic (NDCL), 49.76; Taylor Throckmorton (Chagrin Falls), 50.02
800: Brad Adams (CVCA), 1:56.63; Keith Marable (Warrensville), 1:56.77; Cory Hoover (Marlington), 1:57.79; Nate Rodriguez (Vermilion), 1:58.73
1,600: Mike Martin (Orange), 4:23.85; Brian Himelright (Woodridge), 4:25.24; Graham Fishell (Chagrin Falls), 4:25.71; Dan Smith (Avon), 4:26.36
3,200: Marty Coolidge (Elyria Catholic), 9:34.95; Jarrod Eick (Marlington), 9:37.76;  Mike Brajdic (Bay), 9:43.70; Kyle Sullinger (CVCA), 9:44.69
110 hurdles: Chris Bowler (Harvey), 14.63; Ben Moody (Lakeview), 14.69; Jermaine Collins (Hubbard), 15.03; Doran Grant (SVSM), 15.09
300 hurdles: Jordan Johnson (Hanover United), 39.72; Ed Anderson (Canton Central Catholic), 40.05; Jermaine Collins (Hubbard), 40.09; Travis Macek (Garretsville Garfield), 40.14
400 relay: Benedictine (Justin Kollie, Nick St. John, Chris Alvis, Romel Dismuke), 43.27; Cardinal Mooney, 43.38; Hubbard, 43.60;  Niles McKinley, 43.67;  Elyria Catholic (Bir, Jayson Graham, Pat Flanagan, Tyler Mahone), 44.86
800 relay: University School (Stephon Lynch, Matt Kelly, Harrt Hartnett, Justin Chappell), 1:28.68; Hubbard, 1:30.05; Painesville Harvey, 1:30.28; Hanoverton United, 1:30.73;
1,600 relay: University School (Lynch, Kelly, Hartnett, Chappell), 3:24.98; Garretsville Garfield, 3:25.32; Chagrin Falls, 3:27.29; Hanoverton United, 3:28.50
3,200 relay: Woodridge (Joe White, Matt Weiss, Tony Marette, Brian Himelright), 7:59.89; CVCA, 8:01.79; Marlington, 8:05.21; Chagrin Falls, 8:06.45
Shot put: Bill Dugan (Poland Seminary), 55-9; Joe Paulenich (Cardinal Mooney), 52-0; Kyle Hammer (SVSM), 50-31/2; Adam Patterson (Benedictine), 50-2 3/4
Discus: Bushong (Avon), 167-6; Caleb Schwan (Garrettsville Garfield), 150-0; Jerry Grisko (US), 142-3; Steve Woodyard (LaBrae), 142-1
High jump: Andrew Austin (Champion), 6-4; Greenwood (Lake Catholic), 6-4; Mike Jones (Rocky River), 6-3; Stephen Morris CVCA), 6-1
Long jump: Greenwood (Lake Catholic), 21-93/4; Bracin Walker (Wickliffe), 21-63/4; Lionel Jordan (Painesville Harvey), 21-2; Kollie (Benedictine), 21-13/4
Pole vault: Dave Kolakowski (Rocky River), 14-0; Ryan Kochert (Chagrin Falls), 13-6; Todd Mazzola (CVCA), 12-9; Ben Bartley (Wickliffe), 12-9

Girls

Team scores: 1. Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy, 1071/2; 2. Warrensville Heights, 79; 3. Bay, 40; 4. Beloit West Branch, 37; 5. Newton Falls, 33; T21. Avon, 9; T30 Elyria Catholic, Vermilion, 5
Individual results
(Top 4 finishers advance to state meet,
Friday and Saturday at Ohio State)
100 meters: Jeanette Pettigrew (CVCA), 12.32; Allorian Horne (LaBrae), 12.76;  Brittney Jackson (Hathaway Brown), 12.78;  Tiara Bivins (Streetsboro), 12.85
200: Pettigrew (CVCA), 24.67; Angelique Lykes (Warrensville), 25.17; Horne (LaBrae), 25.32; Daianna Barron (Warrensville), 25.71
400: Lykes (Warrensville), 56.14; Barron (Warrensville), 56.75; Kelsey Barnes (Bay), 56.79; Katoria Carter (Hubbard), 56.88
800: Emilee Zets (West Branch), 2:17.42; Carolyn Case (CVCA), 2:19.81; Asia Hill (Warrensville), 2:19.84; Stephanie Black (Bay), 2:20.06
1,600: Katie Gillespie (CVCA), 5:00.45; Abbie Clifford (Perry), 5:14.48; Case (CVCA), 5:17.43; Erin Mercer (Woodridge), 5:18.79;
3,200: Gilllespie (CVCA), 11:01.34; Jessica Zangmeister (Fairview), 11:01.84; Mallory Kreider (Edgewood), 11:18.68; Lauren Shrivers (Salem), 11:31.83
100 hurdles: Doughty (Bay), 15.24; Taylor Kring (West Branch), 15.74; Jennifer Bjelac (Newton Falls), 15.77; Jerica Sanders (Lake Catholic), 15.77
300 hurdles: Doughty (Bay), 44.40; Kring (West Branch), 45.26; Ashley Galbraith (Struthers), 45.28; Arielle Garson (Orange), 45.62
400 relay: CVCA (Brittainy Erby, Taylor James, Katie Engerer, Pettigrew), 48.40 (MEET RECORD, old record 48.63 set in 1989 by Beaumont); Ravenna Southeast, 49.95; Warrensville, 50.01; Hubbard, 50.64;
800 relay: Warrensville Heights (Alyce McClain, Ashlei Rugley, Lykes, Barron), 1:42.79; Hubbard, 1:44.01; Cardinal Mooney, 1:45.05; Woodridge, 1:45.22;
1,600 relay: Warrensville (Maria Tompkins, Asia Hill, Lykes, Barron), 3:55.86; Woodridge, 4:02.97; CVCA, 4:05.48;  Hanoverton United, 4:06.15
3,200 relay: Woodridge (Danielle Dougherty, Maria Moore, Morgan Willis, Erin Mercer), 9:22.55; CVCA, 9:24.54; Chagrin Falls, 9:36.25; West Branch, 9:37.96
Shot put: Nikki Murphy (Ravenna Southeast), 43-111/4 (MEET RECORD, old record 43-0 set in 1999 by Revere’s Melissa Bickett); KaiCee Kubicina (Newton Falls), 40-111/2;  Korrey Willis (Lake Catholic), 40-51/4 Aysha Nickels (Girard), 39-73/4;
Discus: Sarah Brobeck (Salem), 136-8;  Kubicina (Newton Falls), 132-10; Murphy (Ravenna Southeast), 127-10; Ashley Evanich (Minerva), 118-9
High jump: Ashley Galbraith (Struthers), 5-6; Amanda Bennett (Tallmadge), 5-5; Dayna Rohlke (Bay), 5-4; Lizzy Ziemski (Jefferson Area), 5-2
Long jump: Pettigrew (CVCA), 18-11/2; Tompkins (Warrensville), 17-93/4; Bjelac (Newton Falls), 17-8; Amanda Bennett (Tallmadge), 17-53/4
Pole vault: Sarah Rasnick (CVCA), 11-1 (MEET RECORD, old record 11-0 set in 2004 by Perry’s Kristen Olds); Kim Keesler (Chagrin Falls), 10-3; Amanda Schmauder (Orange), 9-9; Corrylee Drozda (Perry), 9-6.

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