NOT EVEN ANOTHER HURDLE FROM MOTHER NATURE CAN SLOW DOWN THE WILDCATS' OPENING-NIGHT EFFORTS AT THE LAKEWOOD DIVISION I DISTRICT.
COACH CHUCK KYLE'S TEAM AGAIN DISPLAYS ITS DEPTH AND VERSATILITY AS IT LOOKS TO SECURE ANOTHER DISTRICT CROWN IN LAKEWOOD STADIUM ON FRIDAY.
By Eddie Dwyer
Copyright, May 2011
After posting the fastest time in the 110-meter high hurdles during Wednesday night's semifinal or preliminary competition at the Lakewood Division I District, Saint Ignatius senior Tyree Seals said he always takes the “run until somebody tells me to stop” approach.
Well, the thunder and lightning that hovered over Lakewood Stadium early Wednesday evening did put a temporary halt on the aspirations of every competing school.
But after an hour delay, Seals and his Wildcat teammates never stopped running until they crossed that coveted finish line on the press-box side of the legendary stadium.
Saint Ignatius, looking to defend its Lakewood District championship, will take a strong and savvy contingent into Friday's finals at the “Madhouse on Madison.”
Please note that Friday's action will begin with the field events at 3 p.m., followed by the running competition at 6. Mother Nature did wipe out Wednesday's field events and thus we have the earlier start on Friday.
“I felt like I was running a bit slow, but Coach (Chuck) Kyle was pleased,” said Seals after he ran a 14.89. Also joining Seals as one of the top eight qualifiers in the 110-meter high hurdles was freshman Matt McVey, who clocked a 16:41.
In the only finals event and the only event that was scored on Wednesday night, Saint Ignatius' 4x800-meter relay team of junior Mitch Baum, senior Nick Bartram and juniors Drew Galang and Lamar Kemp advanced to next week's Amherst regional by running a first-place time of 8:03.33.
Also qualifying to Friday's finals at Lakewood were the 'Cats' 4x400-meter and 4x100-meter relay teams. The 4x400 team consisted of juniors Ryan Kray, Galang and Kemp, and an authoritative anchor by senior Nick D'Amico. Nick also qualified in the 400-meter dash with a second-place performance in his heat.
Senior Bobby Grebenc led a strong start and sophomore Tim McVey, Matt's brother, provided the powerful finish as the 4x100-meter team ran a competition-best 43.38. That effort also included the strength and stability of junior Tim Shenk and sophomore Pat Jeffries.
In what were some other impressive individual efforts by Saint Ignatius, Tim McVey and freshman Marquee Montgomery each qualified in both the 200-meter dash and the 100-meter dash, Galang and Kemp were both qualifiers in the 800-meter run, Jeffries and Matt McVey qualified in the 300-meter hurdles with Jeffries turning in a night's-best 41.54, and although he didn't qualify, freshman Ryan Napoli was second in his heat in the 400-meter dash.
“It is really hard to judge where individuals are at in their event, where relays are at, because the track is wet and it's cold,” said Coach Kyle '69, who also guided his team to the Amherst Regional championship last year. “They're saying Friday is going to be a pretty nice day and I think if it is a nice day, we're going to see a lot of nice performances.”
As for Wednesday night, Coach Kyle pointed to Seals in the high hurdles and said that Tyree is starting to become more confident and more aggressive with each meet. The man who has guided the fortunes of Saint Ignatius' track teams for 38 seasons was also pleased with the effort by the 4x100 team, but quickly added that a performance of under 43 will be needed at the regional level.
Coach Kyle emphasized that Wednesday night's regional-qualifying 4x800 team will also have to push for a better time at Amherst next week and that he expects his field-event performers to secure some points on Friday. Junior Blake Thomas, an Ohio State football recruit, sophomore Kevin Kavalec and junior Zach Lozar are more than capable in the discus and shot.