By Eddie Dwyer
June 4, 2016
Slide those 11 Division I State Football Championship trophies and three National Football Title trophies over just a bit. Saint Ignatius' Hall of Fame Coach Chuck Kyle '69 has to make room for some new hardware.
Coach Kyle, recognized throughout the nation for his remarkable leadership of the Saint Ignatius High School Football Program, added his second OHSAA State Track and Field Championship to his amazing career, as the Wildcats, behind their gifted relay teams, long distance runners and sprinter James Norris, wrapped up the Division I Championship during Saturday's finals of the 109th OHSAA State Track and Field Tournament at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium on the campus of The Ohio State University.
The Track 'Cats, who Coach Kyle has been guiding for more than four decades, totaled 52 points in outdistancing Reynoldsburg, which finished with 31 points.
Before Coach Kyle begins his 34th season as his alma mater's Head Football Coach with a couple of mini camps this coming week, he is going to savor his second OHSAA State Track Championship for awhile.
A Hall of Fame Coach in both football and track and field, Coach Kyle also guided the Track Cats to the Division I Gold Trophy in 2001 and to a State Runner-Up finish in 2005.
Despite having no one in the field events or the hurdles, the 'Cats still brought the largest Division I boys contingent to Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium this weekend.
As we reported on the corner Friday afternoon, it all started with the area, state and nationally recognized 4x800 relay team of seniors Luke Wagner, Tom Sullivan, Mike Huber and Colin Kruchan, who brought home first place and 10 points during Friday's 4x800 final. Their time of 7:39.23 is a new school record.
Last season, Kruchan, Sullivan, Huber and Wagner finished second at state and scored eight points in a time of 7:47.32.
On Saturday, senior James Norris, who will be furthering his education and track career at Cornell, delivered six points with a third-place time of 11.00 in the 100 meter dash. James' rival over the past two seasons, the young sprinter Zion Cross of Lorain, took first place in 10.86.
James graduated as the Wildcats' all-time record holder in the 100 meter dash (10.61) and the 200 meter dash (21.50), marks he set while qualifying for the finals at the demanding Amherst Steele Regional Meet.
Next it was the 1-2 punch of Wagner and Sullivan, as Luke and Tom went 3-5 in the 1600 meter run in totaling six and four points, respectively. Wagner ran a 4:12.70 and Tom turned in an effort of 4:13.11.
Kruchan, maybe the most versatile and most underrated track athlete in Northeast Ohio, gave his team eight points on Saturday by finishing second in the 800 meter run with a time of 1:53.03. Frank Hayes of Sylvania Southview garnered first place in a Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium record of 1:49.16.
C.J. Ambrosio, another of Saint Ignatius' unsung, but oh so capable athletes, put forth an eight-point, second-place effort in the 3200 meter run. C.J.'s new school-record time of 9:01.78 (shattered previous mark by 9 seconds) was only bettered by an OHSAA Division I state meet and Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium record time of 8:54.96 by Andrew Jordan of Watkins Memorial.
In what was Saint Ignatius' other first-place performance in the State Capital this weekend, the rich in talent 4x100 relay team of Jack Cook, Phil Zuccaro, Quinn Lawless and Norris stormed their way to 10 points in a school-best 41.48.
Gentlemen, take a well-deserved bow, as you showed the way to what was a success-laden season in all seven of Saint Ignatius' spring sports.
Make it a school-best FIVE OHSAA State Championships this school year, as Wildcats Soccer (also a National Champion), Cross Country, Ice Hockey and Track are joined by the OHSAA's 182-pound State Wrestling Champion, Kaden Russell. The four team state championships in soccer, cross country, ice hockey and track set an OHSAA record for an all-boys school.
And, if I may, we can also add James Norris' Ohio Association of Track and Cross Country Coaches Indoor State Meet record of 6.80 in the 60 meter dash that James set this past winter during the annual State Indoor Meet at the University of Akron. No other Saint Ignatius track athlete has ever accomplished that feat.
To Coach Kyle, his outstanding Coaching Staff and the gifted 2016 Track and Field Cats, congratulations from this old-timer. May God Bless You in all of your future endeavors.
Here are some other impressive accomplishments from members of the 2016 Track and Field Wildcats
By Mr. Eddie Dwyer
The Wildcats record-setting 4x800 Relay Team of Luke Wagner, Tom Sullivan, Mike Huber and Colin Kruchan has been invited to compete at the prestigious Penn Relays
Luke, Tom, Mike and Colin combined for a 7:48.09 seventh-place effort during Saturday's finals of the Penn Relays, a time that was fourth among teams from the United States. They bettered their sixth-place qualifying time of 7:49.03 from Friday. Friday's qualifying time ranked as the 10th fastest time in the nation, so you can see how special Saturday's performance was.
Here are the individual times Coach Chuck Kyle's fab four put together in Philadelphia's Historic Franklin Field, while competing with the premier 4x800 high school teams in the nation and some from around the world.
Luke Wagner (1:58.01), Tom Sullivan (1:58.27), Mike Huber (1:56.85) and Colin Kruchan (1:54.96).
The first and second place times on Saturday were 7:33.71 and 7:35.20, with both coming from schools in Jamaica, St. Jago (first place) and St. Elizabeth Tech.
The oldest and longest running men's and women's track and field competition in the United States, the Penn Relays were held for the first time in 1895. They are presented by the University of Pennsylvania.
Cross Country and Track and Field Assistant Coach Ken Sullivan '06 kept us up to date for our 2016 Father's Day posts on the New Balance event and here are the official released results.
From the new 4 x Mile and Distance Medley school records.
Coach Sullivan: We ended up placing 4th in the 4 x Mile (3rd in the fast heat, a team from Indiana nipped us out of the slow heat) and 8th in the DMR (we won the Emerging Elite section handily, but needed to get back in time for the Cavs' game!).
The 4 x Mile broke Hilliard Davidson's 2003 time from the same meet of 17:30 as the fastest time ever run by an Ohio high school team (although it won't count for interscholastic purposes because it was after the state meet).
4 x Mile: 17:26.73 (17:20.33 when converted to 4 x 1600).
DMR: 10:13.06 (when the guys ran it, it was the 10th fastest time in the country this year).
The Spring of 2001 and the first State Track and Field Championship in Saint Ignatius' rich athletic history.
When you discuss the long tradition of athletics at Cleveland's Jesuit Preparatory School, you have to always mark a special place for Coach Chuck Kyle's 2001 State Champions in track and field, who were led by the multi-skilled Marc Sylvester.
Saint Ignatius became Ohio's best that spring by winning the 4x800 meter relay with Sylvester anchoring, the 4x400 relay that included Darren Adams, Trever Duer, Anthony Gonzalez and Sylvester, the 800 meter run courtesy of Sylvester, and the discus behind an effort of 181' by junior Ryan Franzinger. Trevor Duer also finished second in the 400 meter dash.
Ryan Franzinger would again qualify for state in his senior season of 2002 and threw a school-record 189-04 in finishing second in Ohio.
Ryan, who was also a standout defensive end/running back and Captain for the 2001 State Champion Football Wildcats, is currently the Dean of Students at Saint Ignatius and an outstanding Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers Coach for Coach Kyle's nationally recognized football program.
TOSSING IT AROUND AND CLEANING THE GLASS
Some of the corner's other track and field memories extend back to Tim Vala's dominance in the shot put. Tim still holds Saint Ignatius' all-time mark with a throw of 65 feet. And, as we pointed out in our basketball memories, Mr. Vala remains the 'Cats' single-season leader in rebounds.
THE MANSFIELD MEHOCK RELAYS
The 51st running of the late Dick “Zip” Zunt's spring ritual saw the 1983 Saint Ignatius 4x800 meter relay team capture first place. The Wildcats' foursome of seniors Tom Maloney, Tony Galang and Chris Smith, and junior Mike Huber won with a clocking of 7:58.3. That was an excellent time considering the runners faced a numbing wind and a few snow flurries.
Saint Ignatius' effort was the lone victory by an Ohio school in a prestigious meet that attracted 1,088 athletes, including runners from Michigan, Indiana, Pennsylvania and Canada.
Dick, a 1950 graduate of Saint Ignatius and a member of the Wildcats' Athletic Hall of Fame, was honored by the officials at the Mehock Relays for his tremendous coverage of the storied event.
HUBER, WALSH HELP FUEL ANOTHER WINNING EFFORT
With Mike Huber winning the 800 meter run and anchoring impressive triumphs in the 3,200 and 1,600 meter relays, and Pat Walsh capturing the 110 meter high hurdles and 300 meter low hurdles, Saint Ignatius dominated the high school portion of the 1983 Jesse Owens Track Classic in a frigid Ohio Stadium in Columbus.
KEEPING PACE AND THEN SOME
Heading into the 1983 state track and field championships, Huber and Walsh had Ohio's leading times in their specialties. And that was determined by no better authority than the late Ed Chay's Ohio Track & Field rankings.
Ed, who this seasoned reporter had the privilege to work with and learn from during my nearly four-decade career at The Plain Dealer, was and still is recognized by the NCAA for coining the phrase "Final Four" in college basketball. After several years on the high school beat, Ed took over the coverage of The Ohio State University Buckeyes and developed a great friendship with the late football coaching legend Woody Hayes. Ed covered many of Woody's special teams at Ohio State.
Ed also had a passion for track and field, and his Ohio Track & Field Magazine was coveted by every track and field coach and competitor throughout the state. It would sell by the bushels at every OHSAA State Track and Field Meet.
WELL DESERVED
In June 1988, The Plain Dealer announced that Bill Spellacy, a Saint Ignatius graduate and a three-year 1,600 and 3,200 meters competitor for the 'Cats, would be the recipient of the prestigious Jimmie Lee Foundation $1,500 scholarship from the Cleveland Athletic Club. Spellacy was bound for Notre Dame.