Bay Rolls to Team Title at Bay Rockets Invitational Behind Perrine, Egan and Record-setting Relays

Bay High School piled up 152 points Saturday to win the Bay Rocket Invitational, finishing well ahead of runner-up Chardon at 92.5. Westlake placed third with 78, followed by Stow-Munroe Falls at 74.5 and Trinity at 64 as the Rockets turned a deep, balanced performance into a dominant meet title.

The Rockets were powered by multiple event victories and several personal records. Braeden Egan delivered one of the biggest performances of the meet, winning both the discus and shot put while setting PRs in each event for 20 team points. Danny Zipfel added a sixth-place finish in the discus to strengthen Bay's showing in the throws. On the track, Jayden Perrine swept the sprints, winning the 100-meter dash and the 200 in commanding fashion. Perrine's 200 mark keeps him ranked first in Division III statewide, while he also sits fifth in the 100.

Bay also turned in one of the signature relay efforts of the day in the 4x200. The quartet of Will Curran, Ben Kamm, Max Fischer and Perrine won in a meet-record 1:30.01, a time that currently ranks sixth in the state in Division III. The Rockets closed the meet with another win in the 4x400, where Fischer, Mikey Taylor, Kamm and Perrine ran 3:33.46 to put an emphatic finish on the team championship. Bay's 4x100 team of Evan Taulbee, Jack Downing, Nick Cebulis and Colin McAlea also contributed with a fourth-place finish in 45.74, a mark that ranks third in the conference.

Distance events brought another wave of points. Stephen Murphy won the 3,200 with a major PR and moved himself near the top of the area's contenders while climbing to second in the conference. Freshman Gavin English added a fifth-place finish in the same race, also with a PR. In the 1,600, Liam Jager was edged by just .01 at the line and settled for second in 4:36.87, another PR that now ranks third in the conference. Keiran Ripley opened his season with a fifth-place finish in 4:49. Taylor nearly added another victory in the 800, finishing second by just .04 after a strong closing kick, while Jager came back to take eighth in that event.

Bay picked up valuable field-event points as well. Jackson Smith cleared 6 feet in the high jump for a PR and a runner-up finish, while Lute Harmon took third after clearing 5-10. Oliver Marotta posted a PR of 19-8 in the long jump to place fourth, a leap that currently ranks second in the conference. Logan Bigrigg finished fifth in the pole vault at 10-6 and remains tied for first in the conference, an impressive showing for the freshman.

Fischer was one of the Rockets' busiest contributors, placing second in the 300 hurdles and third in the 110 hurdles before running on both winning relays. Downing added an eighth-place finish in the 110 hurdles and was just outside the scoring in ninth in the 300 hurdles. Curran, despite dealing with shin splint pain after the 4x200, returned to take third in the 400 with a PR of 52.43. Kamm added a sixth-place finish in the 100 in 11.59, and McAlea placed seventh in the 200. With three weeks left before the conference championship meet, Bay left its home invitational looking like a team gaining momentum at the right time.