Braving cold and sometimes stiff winds at Medina's Ken Dukes Stadium, the Saint Ignatius varsity track and field team had a strong showing on Saturday morning into the afternoon.
The Wildcats finished third at the Medina Relays, a solid finish for the men of legendary coach Chuck Kyle '69.
The day began at 10 am with the field events. Mentored by Ryan Franzinger '02 and Tom Flandera '63, the Ring Cats performed well on the whole.
Tommy Eichenberg anchored the squad in the shot put. The junior recorded a top throw of 50-09.50, good for second place. Alex Misencik followed close behind in sixth at 45-05.50. Tony Georges rounded out the Cat pack with a toss of 39-02.00.
The Ring Cats finished close together in the discus, taking 9th, 10th, and 11th place. Misencik (124-06), Eichenberg (122-00), and Georges (119-03) did well considering the cold weather – everyone was struggling to stay warm on Saturday.
Points came to the Wildcats in other field events, too. Dan Drellishak tied for second in the pole vault, clearing 11 feet, 6 inches. Only Solon's David Howell could clear 12 feet, as wind and cold also impacts pole vaulters. Zack Morgan and Ryan Sweeney also repped the Cats in the event.
In the long jump relay, Andrew Phillips (19-05.00), Oscar Barillias (16-03.00), and Steve Woytek (15-06.00) represented the Blue and Gold.
The high jump also featured a few Cats, with Dante Frabotta, Andrew Eicher, and Nate Sommerfeld tying for sixth (5-08.00).
A highlight of the day came in two always thrilling events – the 100m and 200m dashes. Phil Zuccaro grabbed first place in both events, with times of 11.03 and 22.17, respectively. Zuccaro's big efforts locked up 20 critical points for the Wildcats.
John Wetula notched 4 points in another fun event – the 110m hurdles. The junior tabbed 4th place with a time of 15.83, even despite a downed hurdle at the end of the race. Wetula will be a Wildcat to watch this season.
The Wildcats did well in an opposite race, the grueling 3200m race. Brett Saunders earned 6 points for the team with a third-place time of 10:07.53 in a race that extracts every ounce of energy from its competitors. Connor McAndrews and Steve Zucca also deserve props for finishing 2-3 in the 1600m JV race, though it did not grant the Wildcats any points on the scoresheet, it indicates a bright future for the Wildcats' distance events.
The relays went quite well for the Wildcats, too. Competing against fast Medina and Solon squads, the Track Cats' 4x100 team of Connor Kennedy, Jack Kennedy, Luke Griffiths, and Zuccaro snatched third place with a time of 43.63 in a thrilling race. The 4x400 relay squad followed up with a similar effort. Kyle Hall, Max Pike, Wetula, and Griffiths earned third place, clocking in at 3:33.58, not far behind Medina and Solon.
The 4x800 relay one-upped the two other relay squads. Nick Saul, Jack Mayer, Liam McGuire, and Andrew Biehl galloped to a time of 8:27.08, grabbing 8 points and 2nd place honors. The same crew also earned the distinction of second-place finishers in the 4x1600 and another 8 points with a clocked time of 18:36.78.
The Wildcats' 800 sprint medley quartet of Griffiths, the Kennedys, and Hall snagged eight more points for the blue and gold. The crew finished in 1:37.93 for second place. The JV 800 medley squad of Julian Burnett, Liam Reilly, Phillips, and Barillas earned 1st in the event.
Finally, the Track Cats' boys distance medley team tabbed two points to round out a great day for the relays. Bill Deucher, Cormac Nolan, Elliot Rodstrom, and Nathan Soria tagteamed the race for a time of 11:31.55.
As a team, the Wildcats finished with 97 points, not far behind Medina's 104 and Solon's 120.
The Wildcats will have a home meet this week before heading to the Canton GlenOak Meet next weekend. Hopefully for all teams involved, the weather warms up some. But either way, the Wildcats will continue to power through.