- Ryan Kiracofe

Team's Friday efforts fail to qualify any athletes to regional; Heart wrenching end for Patty

MASON – Had the District Championship’s rules stated that the top six individuals or relays in each event qualify to next week’s Regional meet, Turpin would have won no fewer than eight individual and four relay berths on Friday night at Mason. Unfortunately, at last check, the rules still only qualify the top four. On a perfect night for running, and in a meet that promised so much for this Turpin squad, the Spartans were frequently the bridesmaids, but never the brides. Heartbreak was the theme of the night for those wearing maroon and gold on Friday, as four individuals and two relays finished 5th in their respective events, narrowly missing Regional qualification.

The evening’s saddest moment, however, came from the athlete who quite possibly looked the strongest last night, senior and Baylor-commit Sam Patty. Patty, in complete control of her 3200m race and resting behind frontrunner Alana Sonntag of Sycamore, looked set to qualify to her first Regional track meet, with the fifth-place runner nearly 100 meters behind. Late in the race, however, track officials disqualified Patty for stepping off the track and into the infield while passing a lapped runner. Turpin head women’s coach Missy Siemers vehemently protested the ruling, but to no avail; so ended the individual high school career of one of Turpin’s best women’s runners ever, a late-bloomer that captured cross country All-Ohio honors last fall (Patty will run in the 4x800m relay for Turpin at the Regional next weekend).

Elsewhere, senior hurdler Danny Polaneczky’s Regional bid was cut short once again when he finished 5th in the 300m hurdles and 7th in the 100m hurdles. Junior Pole Vaulter Derek Tucker reached the same height as the 4th place finisher in the event, but took more attempts to do so, and was therefore awarded 6th place. The boys’ 4x200m relay finished 5th (where else?) and the boys’ 4x400m squad was a close 6th. 2007 Regional finalist Kevin Marshall was 5th in the shotput, and 7th in the discus. Senior Dale Becker finished 6th in the high jump. A rare bright spot for the men’s team was senior Kyle Rewick, who despite finishing 7th in the 3200m run, set a crushing personal-best time of 9:42.48. Nicholas El-Khoury was close behind, coming in 8th.

On the women’s side, Kaitlin Price struggled through a late-race meltdown in the 1600m run. In solid position through 1400 meters, the junior locked up on the home stretch, and fell to 5th place, although it was in an impressive personal best time of 5:09.64. Megan Plichta was just behind, finishing 6th in the race. Price would return shortly thereafter in the 800m run, where she never looked herself and finished 14th. A relentless competitor, Price’s body looked exhausted as she failed to challenge the frontrunners in the entire race. Price would claim some measure of redemption later in the night, as she ran a gutsy third leg of the women’s 4x400 relay. Anchor and senior Jesse Harrigan gave a thrilling push in the race’s final lap, but fell just a few meters short, as Turpin finished…well, you know. 5th. The 4x100 meter relay team was 6th, and sprinter Kelly Mulrey had a pair of close losses, finishing 5th in the 100m and 6th in the 200m. After Sam Patty’s unfortunate disqualification in the 3200m, Lauren Young went on to finish 6th. Hannah Plattner scored a point by finishing 8th in the 400m, and Stephanie Valenti did the same in the 100m hurdles.

Aside from Turpin’s two 4x800m relay teams that successfully qualified on Wednesday, the Spartans’ individual hopes in Dayton rest squarely on the shoulders of two underclassman girls: a surprising sophomore pole vaulter and a freshman phenom in the high jump. A year ago, sophomore Hannah Zimmerman was competing on a sunny Saturday morning at the JV FAVC Championships at Kings after failing to make the varsity roster. Things have changed for the determined vaulter, and next weekend she will be going up against southwest Ohio’s best at Dayton’s Welcome Stadium. Zimmerman vaulted 9’0” in the District Finals on Wednesday, earning 3rd place honors. Elsewhere, many would expect the younger sister of distance captain Kyle Rewick to be a cross country star like her brother. It isn’t so, but she’s a star nonetheless, as Meghan Rewick cruised to a conference championship and the city’s second-best regular season height in her freshman campaign. Now, she’ll turn her sights to Dayton, after jumping 5’2” and finishing 2nd this week at Mason.

Congratulations to Hannah, Meghan, and the 4x800 teams (Sam, Adrienne, Lauren, Kaitlin, Kyle, Nicholas, Ben and Rob) on their Regional qualifications! Congratulations to everyone else on a great season!

Complete Results 

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).

The FAVC Cardinal Championships will be held on Friday at Turpin. Field events will begin at 4:00pm and the running events will begin at 6:00pm.

The 4x800m relay finals were held on Wednesday. Both the Turpin girls and boys teams won their races with respective times of 9:46 and 8:12.

Turpin qualifiers from Wednesday’s preliminaries and athletes competing on Friday include:

Brooke Bonne (4x200m relay, 300m hurdles)
Morgan Byrd (shot put, discus throw)
Kelly Ewing (shot put, discus throw)
Jesse Harrigan (4x200m relay, 4x100m relay, 4x400m relay, long jump)
Kelly Mulrey (100m dash, 4x100m relay, 200m run, long jump)
Sam Patty (1600m run, 3200m run)
Hannah Plattner (400m dash, 4x400m relay)
Megan Plichta (3200m run)
Kaitlin Price (1600m run, 800m run, 4x400m relay)
Meghan Rewick (high jump)
Madeleine Turk (high jump)
Kristen Uhl (100m hurdles, 300m hurdles)
Stephanie Valenti (100m hurdles, 4x200m relay, 4x100m relay, 4x400m relay)
Lauren Young (800m run)
Erica Zemites (4x200m relay, 4x100m relay, 200m run)
Hannah Zimmerman (pole vault)

Dale Becker (high jump)
Brian Comerford (4x100m relay)
Kevin Comerford (4x200m relay, long jump)
Meecis Davis (4x200m relay, 400m dash, 200m dash, 4x400m relay)
Jon Denman (100m dash, 4x100m relay)
Rob DiMartino (800m run, 4x400m relay)
Nick El-Khoury (1600m run, 3200m run)
JD Emery (high jump)
Jeff Groene (shot put, discus throw)
Kevin Marshall (shot put, discuss throw)
Danny Polaneczky (110m hurdles, 4x200m relay, 300m hurdles, 4x400m relay)
Kyle Rewick (1600m run, 3200m run)
Jon Risher (4x100m relay)
Andy Robinson (4x200m relay, 400m dash, 200m dash, 4x400m relay)
Derek Tucker (pole vault)
Cody Vanderpool (pole vault)
Ben Wagner (800m run)
Kyle Woodward (4x100m relay, long jump)

more photos of the 4x800m race

- 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.

Results