AUSTINTOWN, Ohio — Solon girls track coach Brian Sabol came to the Division I regional track meet at Austintown Fitch High School with a simple goal: "Make sure they know we are here."
When the Comets boarded the bus outside Falcon Stadium on Friday night, they were doing so as regional champions after scoring 87 points. They finished with four individual event championships and two relay titles and defeated second-place Shaker Heights by 53 points.
"We did a real nice job last week at districts, and I felt like we had a chance to do something special this weekend and the girls ran well," Sabol said after being presented with the regional championship trophy. "We did everything we could. We threw well, we jumped well, we ran well, and things kind of came together for us."
Sabol said the team's balance is what "has led to all of our success."
"We are pretty strong in all aspects," Sabol said. "We can run, we can jump, we can throw. We're pretty strong, so somebody may have a bad day, but we can make it up somewhere else. In my opinion, it is the epitome of a team. They win as a team."
The Comets got a strong effort from runners Jelvon Butler and Therese Haiss.
Butler won the 200-meter event in 24.51 seconds, 0.18 seconds ahead of Chardon's Stephanie Ferrante, while Haiss took the championship in both the 1,600- and 800-meter individual events. Haiss and Butler joined with Paige Yaeger on one of Solon's relay teams.
"I think I ran well for the conditions, but I think my times were a little slow," Haiss said of running in the nearly 90-degree heat. "I like to know that I did my part to help the team. If I hadn't done as well, I would not feel like I contributed as much, but I know I play a major role on my team. They count on me, and I like to help them get there."
Yaeger was competing after battling an illness all week.
"Paige accomplished things today that I was worried about," Sabol said. "She has been sick about half the week and anchored two winning relays and gave me everything she had. There was a time I didn't know if she was going to be able to run that 4x400. The heart and dedication she showed to her team was awesome."
Khoury Crenshaw served as an anchor for the Solon boys track team, who also took home a regional championship Friday. Crenshaw won both the 100- and 200-meter events and also qualified for next week's state championship meet with Solon's 4x100-meter relay team.
"He's unbelievable," Solon coach Dan Iwan said of Crenshaw. "He's definitely one of the best runners in the state. He gets overshadowed sometimes by some real talented athletes in Cleveland, but he's looking forward to running against those guys. He's a tough kid, and he's looking forward to the challenge."
Crenshaw clinched Solon's team championship by winning the 200-meter run. According to Iwan, Crenshaw showed the most emotion after finding out the 200 locked up the championship.
"It's just a great feeling," Crenshaw said. "I just love putting the team on my back, as we say. It's a little nerve-racking, at times, but once you overcome that and accomplish that, then, it feels pretty good. It feels great. It's just a great accomplishment. I'd like to progress from here and take it down to state."
Earlier in the competition, Twinsburg sophomore Garrett Crichlow won the 1,600-meter run. Crichlow earned his first state-championship meet invitation with a winning time of 4:15.97 in a field of qualifiers that featured three juniors and nine seniors among the 16 student-athletes.
"As a freshman, I went out too hard and didn't have enough for the end," Crichlow said. "I was ecstatic after my race. It was very hard [to set the pace] because I've never done that. I always ran with somebody, but it's fun."
Matt Florjancic is a freelance writer in Broadview Heights.
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