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Wildcats Cap Off Indoor Track Season with Solid Effort at OATCC Championship

By Joe Ginley '12 , 03/08/20, 11:30AM EDT

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The 4x200 relay squad snatched 8th on Saturday.

Goodbye winter, hello spring.

The Saint Ignatius track & field squad concluded the indoor portion of the season on Saturday at the Ohio Association of Track and Cross Country Coaches (OATCCC) Indoor State Championship. From here on out, the Wildcats will be focused on outdoor season, which starts on March 28.

The Wildcats scored four team points on Saturday, finishing in the middle of the pack among the 72 teams present at SPIRE Institute.

Saint Ignatius sent eight men to Geneva – Steve Zucca (3200m); Henry Cook, Dominic Devengencie, Mike Morgan, and Jack McCarthy for the 4x200 relay, Jack Hutter (long jump), Andrew Eicher (high jump), and Dan Drellishak (pole vault). Tony Georges stayed at home to rest up and recuperate for the spring season.

The day began with the field events at 3:15 pm. Dan Drellishak led the way in the field events for the Wildcats with a standout day in the pole vault. The senior started out with a miss at 13-06 (13 feet, 6 inches) before hitting it on his second jump. He then surpassed 14' and 14-06 with ease on his first tries on both heights. On his second attempt at 15', Drellishak vaulted over the bar successfully, matching his school-record feat from a couple of weeks ago. The height of 15-06 proved to be too much, however, as Drellishak could not hit it. The skilled senior still snagged sixth, tallying 3 points for the Wildcats.

Eicher took the stage for the Wildcats in the high jump. After leaping to 5-10, Eicher could not get over the 6' bar in three attempts. So, Eicher settled for a tie for 20th place. 

Hutter repped the Clevelanders in the long jump. The senior opened with a leap of 19-04, a solid opener. His second jump turned out to be the best, as Hutter careened to a hop of 20-04.50. He regressed a bit to 19-09.50 in his third jump. His best jump of 20-04.50 was solid, but not enough to advance to the next round, so Hutter took 10th. 

Steve Zucca was the lone individual Wildcat racer. Zucca competed in the 3200m, right in the senior's long-distance wheelhouse. The cross country and track star entered with a seed time of 9:42.14, and far surpassed it. Zucca fired out to a time of 9:31.87, a great improvement on his previous time as he begins to get into a rhythm for outdoor season. Zucca's time placed him 10th, just two seconds away from scoring points for the Clevelanders.

The Wildcats' lone relay enjoyed a memorable day. Cook, Devengencie, Morgan, and McCarthy combined for a nice effort in the 4x200. The quartet clocked in a 1:32.14, shaving .25 seconds off of their seed mark. The Wildcats edged by Westerville Central's relay by .07 seconds to secure eighth place and a team point for the boys in blue and gold.

With some momentum banked from Saturday's solid showing at SPIRE, the Wildcats will begin preparing in earnest for March 28. The men of Chuck Kyle '69 open the outdoor campaign with the Strongsville Elite Meet, which is just 20 days away.