2008 FAVC Cardinal Divison Champions
On Friday, the Spartan girls and boys track teams took first place capturing the FAVC Cardinal title, in what was also the first home track meet in many years. A strong team effort with many outstanding individual and relay performances led the way for the guys to successfully defend their FAVC title from last year, and allow the girls to capture the title after a somewhat disappointing third place finish in 2007.
Both Spartan distance teams dominated their events, placing first and second in nearly every event. On Wednesday, in the 4 x 800m relay finals, both the girls’ team (Patty, Grogan, Young, Price), and guys’ team (Wagner, Rewick, El-Khoury, DiMartino) dominated their races winning in 9:47 and 8:12 respectively. This story of success was the same on Friday. Kyle Rewick and Nick El-Khoury placed first and second in both the 1600m and 3200m races. Rewick’s three first place finishes earned him FAVC runner of the year honors. Rob DiMartino just missed breaking two minutes in the 800m run, but with a strong finish, he won the race in the final meters in 2:00.70. Kaitlin Price and Sam Patty easily placed first and second in the 1600m run, Price running a very strong PR time of 5:12. Price would go on to also win the 800m run, with Lauren Young placing second. Sam Patty came back in the 3200m run, winning with a time of 11:38, with Megan Plichta finishing second just one second behind Patty.
The sprinters also had their share of strong races on Friday. The boys’ 4 x 200m relay team (Polaneczky, Robinson, Comerford, Davis) won their race in 1:33. Meecis Davis also ran an excellent 400m final winning in 51.10 seconds, and placed second in the 200m dash. The 4 x 400m relay team (Davis, Polaneczky, Robinson, DiMartino) placed second, and the 4 x 100m relay team (Risher, Woodward, Comerford, Denman) placed a very close third. Danny Polaneczky finished third in both the 110m hurdles and the 300m hurdles.
The girls’ team placed in the top three in most events. The 4 x 400m relay team (Plattner, Valenti, Harrigan, Price) placed second, while both the 4 x 200m relay team (Zemites, Bonne, Valenti, Harrigan) and the 4 x 100m relay team (Zemites, Valenti, Harrigan, Mulrey) finished in third. In addition to their relay contributions, Kelly Mulrey placed third in both the 100m and 200m dash, and Stephanie Valenti placed third in the 100m hurdles. Brooke Bonne finished third in the 300m hurdles.
In the field events, Meghan Rewick continued her strong season winning the high jump with a jump of 5’ 4”. Madeleine Turk tied for second with a 4’ 10” jump. JD Emery and Dale Becker placed second and third, each jumping 5’ 10”. Pole vaulters Derek Tucker and Cody Vanderpool hope to have a strong comeback at the district meet after finishing third and fourth, both vaulting 11’ 6”. Kevin Marshall placed second in the shot put with a throw of 52’ 5”. Jesse Harrigan placed third in the long jump with a jump of 15’ 4”. Kelly Ewing finished third in the discus throw, and Morgan Byrd finished fourth in the shot put.
The Spartans will next compete at the district race at Mason, on Wednesday and Friday. Top finishers in Friday’s finals will move on to the regional race in Dayton.
Check out the FAVC photo gallery. If you have photos you would like to share, please send them to turpinrunning@gmail.com (4 or fewer photos per email please).