POSTED ON 5/27/11.
DREW GALANG (800 METER RUN) WILL JOIN KEITH CARMICHAEL (POLE VAULT) AND THE 4X800 TEAM AT NEXT WEEKEND'S STATE MEET AND KEVIN KAVALEC SHOWS GREAT PROMISE IN THE SHOT PUT.
'CATS FINISH IN A TIE FOR THIRD PLACE AT THE AMHERST REGIONAL, AS THEY MATCH SANDUSKY'S 38 POINTS. MEDINA (46 POINTS) AND BRUNSWICK (39 POINTS) PLACE FIRST AND SECOND.
WE LOOK AT AN INCREDIBLE DISCUS COMPETITION AT AMHERST.
SAINT IGNATIUS TO HOST NEXT YEAR'S OHIO JESUIT BASEBALL TOURNAMENT.
FAMILIAR FACES MAKEUP THE PRESEASON FOOTBALL SLATE AND WE TIP OUR CAPS TO THE 'CATS' OTHER SPRING COMPETITORS.
Stories and reports by Eddie Dwyer.
Copyright, May/June 2011.
Saint Ignatius' Chuck Kyle '69 has been guiding the Wildcats' track teams for 38 seasons.
On Friday night, the veteran coach probably summed up best what took place at the talent-rich Amherst Division I regional.
“If you finish among the top eight, you're very good,” Coach Kyle said. “But only the top four qualify.”
What the top four in each event at Amherst qualified for was a spot in next weekend's OHSAA state track and field meet at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium on the campus of The Ohio State University.
While finishing in a tie for third place with Sandusky in the overall team scoring, Saint Ignatius qualified junior Drew Galang on Friday night, as Drew put forth a third-place effort of 1:56.95 in the 800-meter run.
Galang will join junior pole vaulter Keith Carmichael, whose 13-09 was good for second place during Wednesday night's field events, and the Wildcats' third-place 4x800-meter relay team at the state meet. The 4x800 team is made up of junior Lamar Kemp, junior Mitch Baum, senior Nick Bartram and Galang.
“The nice thing is that we did have personal bests in a lot of races, they just weren't good enough to finish in the top four,” said Coach Kyle, whose team has featured several gifted underclassmen this spring. “I thought we had a chance in a couple of them.”
Standout cross country and track senior John Sweeney in the 3,200 meter run and the 4x400-meter relay team were among those Wildcats who left it all on the track during their sixth-place finishes Friday night.
“It's hard to work harder than John Sweeney does,'' Coach Kyle said. “He said he was fine at the mile and then he got to about seven laps to go and it was like, ut oh! He was okay, but the trouble he has is that he is not a kicker. There were kids that could really sprint at the end.
“The 4x4, that was our best time of the year and the 4x100 was basically the same time we had on Wednesday (in prelims), so that was our best. But at a regional meet, you have to peak and we didn't quite get what you would hope for.”
Although he just missed qualifying for the state meet, the performance by sophomore Kevin Kavalec in the shot put brought smiles to the faces of throwers coaches Ryan Franzinger '02 and Tom Flandera '63.
Kavalec, who didn't start competing in track seriously until he enrolled at Saint Ignatius, was edged out by Toledo Whitmer junior Christopher Wormle, 54.02-75 to 53.06-50, for the fourth and final qualifying spot. But not before Kavalec threw personal bests of 50 feet, nine inches, 51 feet, 10 inches, 51 feet, 3 ½ inches and of course, the toss of 53 feet, 6 ½ inches. Coming into the regional meet, Kevin's personal best in the shot was 49-11.
“I wanted to throw 53 and I got that, so I'm excited,” said Kavalec who also excels in the Wildcats' football program as a defensive lineman/tight end and is described by Coach Franzinger as an athlete who always seems to strive to be the best he can be, an athlete who does a lot of “self coaching” in the shot and discus.
“It was a great experience,” Kavalec said of the exceptional competition he faced at Amherst. “So now I know what to expect next year and I'll work to get better.”
TOSSING IT AROUND: Two days later and coaches and fans at Amherst were still talking about Wednesday night's finals competition in the discus.
Coach Franzinger, who as a state champion in the discus helped the Wildcats to the Division I team state championship in 2001, and Coach Flandera, who has beein guiding boys and girls throwers for more than 30 years, described it as the best they have ever seen.
Here are the results: Jaylan Guevara, Sandusky, 188-11; Conner Neu, Midpark, 185-09; Christopher Wormle, Toledo Whitmer, 181-02; Jared Ballenger (a freshman), Fremont Ross, 177-06; Aaron Zedella, St. Edward, 177-03; Jesse Braun, Brunswick, 174-05; Blake Thomas, Saint Ignatius, 168-09; Andrew Maciolek, Toledo Whitmer, 167-04.
As Coach Franzinger pointed out, the seventh- and eighth-place efforts by Blake Thomas and Andrew Maciolek are usually a good qualifying throw.
To appreciate just how challenging the Amherst regional was, the first-place discus toss out of a Columbus regional was 156.