NAVARRE, Ohio — One team came from nowhere and the other won't go away. In a nutshell, that describes the Division III Regional Track and Field Meet Friday at Fairless High School.
Last year, the boys from Villa Angela-St. Joseph were barely a blip on the regional radar screen, scoring seven points and qualifying nobody to the state meet. That was a far cry from the glory days of the past that saw the Vikings take regular trips to Columbus.
But things are different under first-year coach Dan LaRocco, who led VASJ to a second-place finish by the narrowest of margins, 51-50, at the hands of Cortland Maplewood. LaRocco and his coaching staff were left alone to gather the runner-up trophy, as the three seniors and one junior were on their way to their prom.
"I'm so happy for these guys," LaRocco said. "I knew I only had one year with them so I wanted to get the most out of them that I could."
The team that won't go away is the Gilmour Academy girls, who were supposed to be in a down year but won their fifth consecutive regional crown and their seventh overall. The Lancers dominated with 60 points to 39 for runner-up McDonald.
Trinity finished in a tie for third with 34 points.
"I don't know if we could have a down year," said Gilmour sophomore distance runner Halle Markell, who ran legs on the winning 4x800 and 4x400 relays and was second in the 3,200 and third in the 1,600. "It's all about what you put into it. We have a smaller team, but we have a lot of heart."
That heart was front and center in the meet's final event. The Lancers had the team title clinched before the 4x400 relay, but that didn't stop junior anchor Briah Owens from making up about 35 meters down the final homestretch to out-lean Trinity's Nicole Kontur at the line. Owens also qualified in the 100 and 200 dashes, and Alexis Anton ran on both winning relays and qualified in the 800 and 1,600.
"These are quality kids who have been there," coach Jeff Klein said. "They've been to the state meet before and they wanted to go back. It was an amazing effort by a bunch of girls who would not be denied."
The same could be said of the boys from VASJ, except that none of them have been there before. The school is more known for its exploits on the basketball court, so when the basketball season ended prematurely, it was time to turn to track.
"When we came out of basketball, we were disappointed," said C.J. Germany. "We knew we wanted to leave a legacy and we knew we could do it in track. Our basketball coach [Babe Kwasniak] always says you can't win on talent alone, but we've proven that we can do it with just our talent in the sprints."
The margin of error is small for the Vikings, as they compete in only four events, the 100 and 200 dashes and the 4x200 and 4x100 relays.
Germany combined with fellow seniors Marcellus Embry Jr. and Rodney Burse and junior Devon Bolden to dazzle the field in the relays, setting an all-time Division III state record of 1:28.01 in the 4x200 and missing the meet record by just .02 with a time of 42.95 in the 4x100. In addition, Burse and Bolden placed 2-3 in the 100 and Embry and Germany finished 1-3 in the 200.
To the obvious question of what he has been doing so well with his athletes this year, LaRocco had a one word answer, "Caring." Then he continued, "We have a low athlete-to-coach ratio, so everyone gets cared about. Last year, they couldn't even get the coach to ride the bus."
LaRocco, who competed for Trinity High and Baldwin-Wallace, said he has been so focused on developing the team's talent that he hadn't been paying attention to what the efforts might accomplish.
"It wasn't until two weeks ago at St. Ignatius at the boys All-Catholic meet that I realized what we could do," he said. "And it was [Trinity assistant coach] Kevin Gorby who told me. Before that, it never occurred to me."
It's difficult handicapping state meets a week in advance, but historically, if a team scores more than 40 points, it can expect to be in the hunt. It appears the Vikings have the ability to score at least that many points.
While they may not have had the thrill of winning a team title, many area athletes were just as excited to earn a trip to the state meet by placing in the top four. The girls from Trinity won the 4x200 relay and were second in the 4x100 and 4x400 relays.
Other area girls to qualify were Chanel's Chelsi Collins in the 100 and 200, Deanna Gesicki of Independence in the 400, Berkshire's Suzanne Koziol in the low hurdles and Hawken's Alexandra Markovich in the 3,200. The Cuyahoga Heights girls qualified in the 4x200 relay, as did Elyria Catholic in the 4x100 relay.
Area boys were led by a rarity, a freshman winning a regional title. Brian Calvey of Independence held a slight lead coming off the final turn in the 400 dash and held on to win with a fine time of 49.20.
Other area boys to qualify were Chanel's 4x100 relay, Berkshire's Matt Pelletier and Independence's Ryan Polman, both in the 3,200, and the 4x400 relay from Cuyahoga Heights.
Joe Magill is a freelance writer from Cleveland.
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