MANSFIELD, Ohio — As the boys 4 x 400 meter relay teams approached the starting line for final instructions, official starter Doug Castle tried to make the best of what had deteriorated into a miserable situation.
“The boat races will begin immediately following the conclusion of the 4 x 400,” Castle joked.
Sort of.
The skies opened up as a handful of hearty grade-schoolers lined up for the fun run to kick off the first Madison Invitational on Friday and the rain never relented.
“The weather didn’t cooperate with us, but this is track weather in Ohio,” a thoroughly soaked Madison coach Andrew Saris said afterward. “Other than that, I thought the invitational went great. I was really happy to have the local schools and the level of competition was great.
“With the weather, the times weren’t going to be the best but the competition was out there.”
Shelby won the boys title with 114 points. Ashland was second with 102, followed by Madison (92), Mansfield Senior (73) and Clear Fork (70).
Clear Fork claimed the girls crown with 125 points. Ashland (116), Shelby (113), Madison (52) and Mansfield Senior (51) rounded out the field.
While the Whippets claimed the boys team title, Madison’s Frank Douglas stole the show. The All-Ohio hurdler won three individual events and nearly orchestrated a remarkable Madison comeback in the 4 x 400 relay. Running the anchor leg, Douglas nearly erased a huge deficit as the Rams finished second behind Shelby.
“If he would have had a few more meters, he would have won,” Saris said.
Douglas won the 110 and 300 hurdles and outdueled Mansfield Senior’s Jasquez Wellington to win the 100 dash.
“For this early in the season, I was right where I expected to be,” said Douglas, who didn’t run either hurdle event in Tuesday’s tri-meet against Ontario and Shelby. “The conditions were terrible, but overall I was pleased with the effort.”
Douglas won the 110 hurdles in 14.70 seconds, easily outdistancing runner-up Kaz Sutton of Mansfield Senior (15.87). He broke the tape in the 300s in 40.81 seconds.
Shelby’s Cody Stine won the high jump Friday with a leap of 6-foot. The high-flying senior broke his own school record at Madison on Tuesday with a jump of 6-10.
Shelby’s other individual firsts came from Devin Tuttle in the 200 (23.84) and Danny Friebel in the 800 (2:14.41).
Mansfield Senior’s Matt Brown won the 1,600 in 5:13.09. Clear Fork’s Eric Jackson, a returning state qualifier in the shot and discus, won the shot with a heave of 55-3.75.
Clear Fork won the 4 x 200 relay, while Senior High took gold in the 4 x 100 relay.
Girls: Ashland won five individual events and one relay event, but the Colts still were able to hold on for the team title. Clear Fork’s Kayla Huvler won the discus with a throw of 97-1, while the Colts’ 4 x 200 relay team also took first.
Mansfield Senior got firsts from Alayah Grose in the 100 dash and Katie Biggs in the shot put (33-4.5). The Tygers 4 x 100 relay team took first in 52.5 seconds.
Shelby’s Haley Evans won the 800 in 2:42.9, while teammate Kennadie Goth won the 200 in 27.85 seconds. Shelby’s Dani Hoffman wn the 3,200 in 13:22.60.
Madison closed with a win in the 4 x 400 relay.
Starting a Tradition: Saris is looking forward to growing the Madison Invitational in the coming years.
“There are a lot of great track programs in the area,” Saris said. “We want to continue to build on this.
“Hopefully we’ll get better weather next year.”
