Dawn DeHart Results: A Promising Future For The Spartans
- Alex Polivka
The Dawn DeHart Memorial Invitational at Loveland High School started at 9:30 in the morning on April 26th, 2008, with 15 high schools in attendance. The Turpin Spartans came into the stadium looking for a win, having come in the top three in the Milford Invitational the weekend before.
The Lady Spartans had the first official race of the meet in the 4 by 800 meter run, aside from the preliminary rounds that took place before it. The team consisting of Adele Literski, Jenny Beahr, Hannah Plattner, and Adrienne Grogan came in 4th place with a time of 10:26. Having qualified Junior Kristen Uhl and Senior Erin Kratzer in the prelims, both athletes came back to run the 100 meter hurdles, coming in 4th and 6th with times of 17.69 and 17.92, respectively. Two Spartans, Junior Kelly Mulrey and Sophomore Erica Zemites, also qualified in the 100 meter run, coming in 2nd and 5th with strong times of 13.08 and 13.53, also respectively. Another strong finish was run by the 4 by 200 team, which came in 3rd place. In the Mile run, Sophomore Jillian Jaworek, drawing from her success in the Milford Junior Varsity meet on April 22nd, ran another PR (personal record) in the mile, placing 6th with 5:43, with fellow sophomore Alexia Yun right behind her in 5:49. The first win for the Turpin girls came in the 4 by 100 meter team, who ran a 51.78 and was made up of Erica Zemites, Kelly Mulrey, Jesse Harrigan, and Erin Kratzer. The success continued in the individual 400 meter run as Junior Kaitlin Price, who had run in the mile and 800 meter run the previous night at the Darby Distance Classic, came in first place with a time of 1:02. She was followed closely by Sophomore Helen Gamez who ran a 4th place 1:05. In the 300 meter hurdles, sophomore Brooke Bonne came in 4th with 49.76 and Erin Kratzer came in 10th and 52.75. The combination of Kelly Mulrey and Erica Zemites returned in the 200 meter run as both qualified in prelims to run a 2nd place 26.5 and a 4th place 27.5, respectively, in the finals. The races finished with a bang for the Lady Spartans as the team of Erin Kratzer, Betsy Holcombe, Jesse Harrigan, and Kaitlin Price won the 4 by 400 meter in 4:18. The field events yielded some more wins as Freshman Meghan Rewick continued her victorious first high school season, winning the high jump, with fellow freshman Madeline Turk placing 6th in the high jump. Sophomore Hannah Zimmerman came in 2nd in the Pole Vault, Kelly Mulrey won the Long Jump, Senior Morgan Byrd placed 8th in the Shot Put, and in the Triple Jump, Erica Zemites and Jesse Harrigan came in 2nd and 3rd place, adding more points to the Girl’s strength. The Turpin Girl’s won the Dawn DeHart Memorial with a total of 135 points to Loveland’s 2nd place 122.5.
The Turpin Guys, having come in 3rd behind Winton Woods and cross-district rival Anderson at the Milford Invitational, looked to make more progress at the Loveland meet. The first event to be won was the 100 meter hurdles by Senior Danny Polaneczky in a time of 15.33. In the 100 meter run, junior Jon Denman came in 8th place with 12.2, and the 4 by 200 team came in 4th with a time of 1:35. In the mile run, Junior Drew DiSabatino, who had run in the Darby Distance Classic the night before, ran a 7th place 4:43 and Senior Ben Wagner, coming back from weeks of no practice and an 800 meter run the previous night, came in at 4:59. Senior Meecis Davis ran a strong 400 meter run, placing 2nd with a time of 52.8, while Senior Danny Polaneczky came back to win the 300 meter hurdles with a time of 41.11. Senior Rob DiMartino, also having run the mile and the 800 in the Darby Classic, ran the 800 meters in 2:02, placing 3rd, while Sophomore Alex Polivka made a PR of 2:06.9 in 10th. In the 200 meter run, Meecis Davis came to place 2nd with 23.08. The 3200 meter run (2 mile) was a strong win for Senior Kyle Rewick who came in 1st place with a PR of 9:49.72. Sophomore Nicholas El-Khoury, who had run the entire race and finished 2nd in 9:57 before Cincinnati Christian’s Josiah Bragg’s 10:02, was disqualified, regrettably, due to stepping over the line barrier. Both Rewick and El-Khoury had run in the 800 and 1600 at Darby the previous night. Finally, the boy’s 4x400 team, consisting of Meecis Davis, Ben Wagner, Danny Polaneczky, and Rob Dimartino, was disqualified while they were in 3rd place for dropping the baton. Over at the field events, Senior J.D. Emery placed 4th in the High Jump, Junior Derek Tucker won the Pole Vault with fellow Junior Cody Vanderpool placing in 5th, Senior Kyle Woodward came in 6th in the Long Jump, and Senior Kevin Marshall placed 2nd and 3rd in the Discus and Shot Put, respectively. The Turpin Guys, pushing through many competitive teams, ended up coming in 2nd place with 99 points to Anderson’s score of 127.5.
With a wide set of wins across the board at the Dawn DeHart Memorial, the Spartans now have a week to get ready for the King’s Invitational on May 6th. Congratulations to all the Spartan athletes for getting through one of the biggest meets of the season, and thank you to all the Turpin supporters who came to the Dawn DeHart.