Avon track and field teams dominate the Lorain County meet

For the second year in a row, the Lorain County track and field meet enjoyed exceptional early-season weather and saw a host of meet records because of it. Eight records were set in the meet at Firelands High School Friday, five by the girls and three by the boys.

As has been the trend in the recent past, the meet was dominated by the teams from Avon, with the boys winning their sixth title in a row and the girls winning their fifth in a row. As a clear demonstration of why the programs are as strong as they are, both Avon coaches responded to the meet by saying they have lots to work on.

Avon’s girls won eight events on the track and also took second in eight, accumulating 163½ points to 66 for runner-up Firelands. The rest of the field consisted of Avon Lake (54½), Oberlin (53), Amherst (50), North Ridgeville (45), Midview (43), Elyria (32), Elyria Catholic (28½), Brookside (28), Lorain (20), Open Door (13), Wellington (11½), Keystone (11), Black River (3) and Lake Ridge (2).

The Eagles were led by junior Paige Justice, who set meet records in both the 100-meter high hurdles (14.69 seconds) and the 300 low hurdles (44.18) and also ran a leg on the 4x200 relay that placed second behind the meet record of 1:41.49 set by Oberlin.

“I’m excited about this year,” Justice said. “We want to go down to state and hopefully accomplish a little more than we did last year. I think our boys team definitely has a chance, and so does our girls team. I think it’ll be fun.”

Avon also got two firsts (100 and 200) and a second (400) from Ally Brediger, who also ran on the 4x200. Other winners for the Eagles were Kaitlyn Reese in the 800 (meet record 2:15.32), Jessica Pendleton in the 1,600 (5:25.75), Julia Stein in the 3,200 (12:10.61), and the 4x800 relay of Ava Melott, Stein, Olivia Pajak and Pendleton, which ran 9:38.73, the fastest time in the state so far this season.

“We had some really fantastic performances tonight,” said coach Sam Ulery. “We watched a lot of meet records, not only the ones we broke, but the competition here as well. So, it was a lot of fun. But I think what we learned tonight is that we have a long way to go if we want to get where we want to get at the beginning of June. So, we’re going to keep working. I think the girls would agree with me that there’s some things that we can improve to make our chances better when it comes to the meet down in Columbus.”

While the Avon girls were dominant on the track, the boys did the same in the field events, winning four of five and scoring 69 points. The Eagles totaled 129 points to 96 for runner-up Firelands followed by Keystone (61), Amherst (60), North Ridgeville (54), Lorain (45), Avon Lake (44), Elyria Catholic (33), Brookside (22), Elyria (20), Midview (18), Black River (15), Columbia (14), Lake Ridge (8), Wellington (4) and Oberlin (1).

Avon’s Thomas Smith set a meet record in winning the pole vault with a school record effort of 14-8. Max Hauck (57-2¾) and Jacob Abfall (56-10¼) took the top two places in the shot put, while Lance Dawson was third in the discus (163-1), and Jackson Hughes won the long jump (22-5½) and the high jump (6-6). All are seniors.

“We just have a lot of talent that just kind of started popping up our senior year,” Hughes said. “Obviously, I think our class is pretty special. I just wanted to score 20 points for my team, get two wins, and I accomplished that. The marks could have been better, but that happens early in the season.”

The Eagles also had two firsts and two seconds on the track, with Michael Colburn winning the 100 (10.96) from one of the slower heats (something he predicted to coach Scott Lanham when he found out he was not in the fast heat) and Jared Keressi winning the 800 in 1:58.31.

“I’m very pleased with what the boys did tonight, across the board—field events, sprints and distance,” Lanham said. “They’ve been working hard, but we’ve got a lot of work to do. Our biggest thing this year is to be in the last race, the last jump, the last throw. That is our goal, and to do that, we have a lot of work to do.”

A friendly rivalry

Brediger and Oberlin senior Olivia Hudson have trained together for years as members of the Oberlin Spikes track club. They train together during summers and during the indoor season. They also matched up at Firelands for two of the better races of the night, the 400 and 200 dashes. Hudson, who will run for Miami of Ohio next year, won the 400 in a meet record of 56.20, with Brediger placing second. They reversed that order in the 200, with Brediger winning in 24.69.

“We train together, but once we get on the track, we’re competitive,” Hudson said. “Everyone’s a competitor on the track. I got first and she got second, and then she got first and I got second. It’s just nice being up there with someone I know, someone I train with and care about.”

Brediger, a sophomore, said she knows she has benefitted from the relationship with Hudson and her father, Jason, the coach of the Oberlin Spikes as well as the head coach at Cleveland State University.

“We’re both really competitive, but we both really support each other and push each other,” Brediger said. “I’m so grateful to have someone like her to push me, or else I wouldn’t be where I am right now. She’s helped me so much.”