Amidst a packed field, the Saint Ignatius track & field squad competed on a beautiful Saturday afternoon in Canton at the GlenOak Second Sole Elite Meet.
Not to jinx it, but the Wildcats have enjoyed back-to-back weeks of nice weather. Here's hoping it continues.
Guided by strong placements in several events, the Wildcats earned a seventh-place finish at GlenOak on Saturday.
Two highlights made the day memorable for the Wildcats. The first occurred in the 4x100 relay and the second came in the pole vault.
The Wildcats' 4x100 relay team fired to a first-place finish. Henry Cook, Jack Kennedy, Dominic Devengencie, and James Crosby formed a formidable quartet of speedsters. The four Wildcats combined for a time of 43.66, capturing the crown amidst some great competition.
The other top highlight came in a field event in which the Wildcats are strong this season – the pole vault. Dan Drellishak leaped over the competition as the lone competitor to leap over 14-06.00. Drellishak nearly got one step further and leaped over 15-00, but could not make the height on three tries. Even still, Drellishak captured first place, shining above all others.
Besides these two highlights, the Wildcats had plenty of solid races, from start to finish.
DeVengencie repped the Wildcats in the 100m dash with a time of 11.79, finished 16th in the prelims, missing out on the finals by .26 seconds. Kennedy and Cook raced for the Cats in the 200m dash. Kennedy and Cook finished 4th and 16th in the prelims with respective times of 23.25 and 24.16. Kennedy qualified for the finals, but did not run in the final race.
Cormac Nolan and Liam Reilly competed in the 400m dash. The juniors clocked respective times of 52.76 and 53.81 for 15th and 25th. Neither Wildcat qualified for the final race.
The Wildcats did score in the 800m run. Matt Blouch snagged eighth in the contest, tallying a time of 2:03.06. Blouch bested the ninth place runner by a mere .63 seconds.
Steve Zucca provided more points in the 1600. The junior galloped to sixth with a mark of 4:32.82, tallying three points. Nick Saul finished close behind at 10th with a time of 4:40.55. Saul missed out on scoring by just a few seconds.
John Mayer and Nathan Soria wore the blue and gold in the 3200 race. The junior and senior clocked in at 10:33.88 and 10:42.65, respectively, finishing 25th and 29th overall.
Two strong seniors – John Wetula and Sam Pike – raced in the 110m hurdles. Wetula qualified for the finals with a prelim time of 15.12. Pike did not qualify despite tallying a solid mark of 16.80. Pike also competed in the 300m hurdles, missing the cut by just a second with a time of 43.37.
In the 110m hurdle finals, Wetula kicked it into another gear. The senior bettered his time with a third-place score of 14.65.
In the next race, the Wildcats won the 4x100 relay. The Saint Ignatius "B" team nearly managed to also score with a time of 44.98. Anthony Santagata, Chris Velotta, Luke Rohloff, and Cole Smith tallied a 10th place time by finishing just under 45 seconds.
The Wildcats also barely missed scoring in the 4x200 relay. Andrew Eicher, Chris Velotta, Luke Griffiths, and Rohloff also placed 10th. The Wildcats' A quartet combined for a time of 1:33.84, missing on scoring by just 0.54 seconds.
The Saint Ignatius A quartet in the 4x400 relay did solidly. Jack McCarthy, Eicher, Nolan, and Griffiths teamed up in the race. The Wildcats' quartet fought for a time of 3:39.23, placing 17th.
The Wildcats did score in the 4x800 relay. Zucca, Biehl, Blouch, and Saul tallied 8 points in a marvelous race. The quartet ran the event in 8:07.95, good enough for second place in a packed field.
The field events yielded solid results for the Wildcats.
Promising freshman Andrew Beten took ninth in the high jump with his best leap of 5-10.00. Eicher followed close behind in 18th with a top mark of 5-07.00.
Besides Drellishak's effort in the pole vault, Zack Morgan also competed. The senior surmounted 11-06.00 on his highest leap, earning 11th.
In the long jump, DeVengencie and Rohloff repped the Wildcats. The two managed respective leaps of 18-09.00 and 17-06.00, tallying 9th and 23rd. DeVengencie and Rohloff did not score, but certainly showed promise.
The Ring Cats also showed signs of promise despite missing the top eight. Brothers Nick and Chris Velotta repped the Ring Cats with class and skill.
Chris led the way in the shot put with a long throw of 41-08.00 for 17th. Nick followed with a top toss of 40-08.50 for 21st. The brothers switched spots in the discus. Nick anchored the Wildcats with a throw of 125-00 for 13th. Chris followed with his best mark being 90-04 for 29th.
The Wildcats will look to keep improving next Saturday at the Solon Meet.