The Stark County Championships were a showcase of some of the best athletes from Northeast Ohio. From the sun that turned to rain and hail, none of these conditions stopped athletes from competing and solidifying great performances.
Massillon Jackson won the team title on the girls side while Massillon Perry accomplished the victory for the boys. Alongside this team success, there were many great moments throughout this meet that individuals had. Here are a few of them:
Daniela Scheffler (Lake)
After state podium finishes in both cross country and indoor season this past year, Scheffler continues to keep progressing, setting new personal records every season. As just a sophomore, she has made her mark in a big way. She ran a 1600-3200 double and secured the victory in both. Daniela will be one to watch as the season continues.
Daniela Scheffler leads the way during the 1600m run
Amahrie Harsh (Hoover)
Harsh continued her outdoor pursuit by running a 100-200-400 combination. Over her indoor and outdoor seasons, she has made impressive marks in all three. She was able to with both the 200m and 400m races after striding to a top three finish in the 100m dash.
Leena Patibandla (Massillon Jackson)
Patibandla continued to demonstrate her versatility this past weekend. Throughout this season, she has competed in four of the five field events. On Saturday, she completed a triple in high jump, shot put, and discus. She cleared the 5-0 mark in high jump and secured the win. Patibandla threw distances of 30-11.00 and 127-08.00 in shot put and discus respectively.
Jessica Rhodes (Lake)
Rhodes has proven to be one of the state's top throwers over her high school career. She finished on the podium at last year's outdoor state meet in the discus and is throwing even further this season. Her first place finish in discus followed by a second place in shot put only adds to the great performances that she has shown this season.
Colin Cernansky (Marlington) and Noah Johnson (Hoover)
The boys 800m and 1600m races proved to be some of the closest of the day despite being distance events. Colin Cernansky and Noah Johnson battled it out all the way to the line. Ultimately, Cernansky took the win in both events with a late kick in the 1600m followed by a gutsy 800m performance. They were separated by less than 0.3 seconds in both races.
Noah Johnson and Colin Cernansky running 1-2 during the 1600m run
Brendan Zurbrugg (Alliance)
In his continued success, Zurbrugg had two breakthrough races in the 110m and 300m hurdles. He was able to accomplish two personal records in these events, running marks of 14.60 and 38.16. He comes into this season having placed fourth in the 300m hurdles at the outdoor state meet last year.
Ardell Banks (Massillon Washington)
With solid 100m and 200m performances, Banks is one that could make it very far this season. He was second in the 100m dash, only being separated by 0.01 from first place. Banks was not done there as he won the 200m dash just a few hours later.