Track, Girls Lacrosse to Compete in State Competitions This Weekend

This weekend, members of the girls and boys track teams and the girls lacrosse team will be representing in state final and semi-final competitions. The teams have had strong seasons this year. Here’s a quick look at some of their accomplishments:

Boys track
The boys track team had 12 new top 10 performances for the school this year, said Head Coach Jeff Black. They broke records in the long jump, the high jump, the 4x1600 relay, the 4x400 relay, the 4x800 relay, the distance medley, the shuttle hurdles, the 1600-meter run and the 3200-meter run.

The team’s strength was their “versatility in different events,” Black said. The members of the team also have a strong work ethic and always strive to improve. The team performed consistently well all year, he said.

“That’s the hard work that the kids did,” Black said.

The team will be represented at the state meet by senior Rob Scanlon, who will be running in the 3200-meter race. Scanlon also went to states last year.

The 3200-meter race will take place on Saturday at The Ohio State University in Columbus, according to the Ohio High School Athletic Association’s website.

Girls track
The girls track team has six student athletes competing this weekend in the 4x400 relay, the 4x800 relay, the 400-meter run and the 800-meter run, head coach Tara Gruskiewicz said in an email. The students are seniors Jill Bajaksouzian, Megan Beaver, Lauren Greenlee, Ellen Prendergast and Veronica Thompson and freshman Rachel Kotchman.

Gruskiewicz noted that the 4x800 relay team of Bajaksouzian, Beaver, Greenlee and Thompson broke a 24-year-old regional record at the Austintown Regional. They won that race with a time of 9:12.40. That also set a school record.

There will be preliminaries on Friday, with finals on Saturday at The Ohio State University in Columbus, according to the Ohio High School Athletic Association’s website. The finals for the 4x800-relay will be on Friday.

Girls lacrosse
At the , girls lacrosse coach Scott Schneider said the team set goals at the beginning of the year. The team wanted to be one for others to emulate, he said, and he thinks that did that each and every day.

The girls lacrosse team has a record of 14-4 right now. According to the Ohio Schoolgirls Lacrosse Association’s website, the team will be facing Anderson High School at Walnut Hills High School in Cincinnati tonight. The winner will play in the state championship on Saturday.