The Perry junior high boys track team captured it's own meet, winning the Perry Pirate Invitational at Alumni Stadium on Saturday.

Perry scored 108 points to easily outdistance runner-up Euclid Central's score of 80 points. Willowick took third with 581%25u20442 points, while Geneva (48), Madison (45), North (45), Jefferson (37 1/2) and Mentor Shore (12) rounded out the scoring in the eight-team field.

In the girls' meet, Perry finished tied for second with Geneva with 72 points. Euclid Central won the championship with 82 points. Willowick took fourth with 67 points, while North and Madison tied for fifth with 46 points. Mentor Shore was seventh with 39 points and Jefferson eighth with 10 points.

In the boys meet, the Pirates were paced by Josh Wiles, who captured three first places, including winning the 100m dash (11.9) and coming back to win moments later to win the 100m hurdles in 16.2 He also grabbed first in the 200m hurdles in 26.4. Perry's only other first place came from Mickey Parker, who cleared 5-4 to win the high jump.

The Pirates were powered mostly by their depth as they captured sixth second places and three thirds. Parker added a second-place finish in the 400m dash (1:01.6). Michael Lutes took second in the 100 dash behind Wiles in 12.4. The Pirates' 400m relay (51.2) of Rob Russell, Lutes, Bryan Grusell and Anthony Kukwa and their 800m relay (1:47), consisting of Grusell, Lutes, Matt Kropko and Kukwa both placed second. Kropko (16-1 3/4) also came in second in the long jump. Perry's third-place finishes included Zack Gustat in the long jump (16-0), Russell in the 110m hurdles (18.5) and the Pirates 1600m relay (4:24) of Grusell, Parker, Gustat and Talbot.

Additional scoring placers for the Pirates included Kukwa (4th in 200m, 26.1), Russell in the 200m hurdles (5th, 31.6) and Kropko (4th in high jump, 4-10).

- Fourth-place Geneva was paced by eighth-grader Dillon Puckrin, who won both the 200m dash (25.0) and the long jump (17-7 1/4). He also took fourth in the 100m dash in 12.6. Teammate Nelson Marquez gave the Eagles another first place when he won the 400m dash in 1:01. Marquez also took 6th in the 200m dash in 26.5.

Additional placers for Geneva included Gabriel McLeod (4th in the 800m run, 2:31), Alex Hicks in the 200m hurdles (6th, 32.9), Ricardo Valazquez in the long jump (6th, 13-11 3/4), Kanen Coffey in the shot put (4th, 36-9) and Alex Ortiz in the discus (5th, 96-8). The Eagles' 800m relay (6th, 1:57.5) consisting of McLeod, Anthony Pena, Bryan Brown and Zach Langdon.

- Madison's fifth-place team finish was fueled by it's distance corps. Eighth-grader Jordan Bevan ran away with first place in the 1,600m run in 5:20. Teammate Brian Bismark also placed fifth (5:30.1) in that event. Beven added a second place in the 800m run in 2:26. Fellow Blue Streak Cody Shuttleworth was sixth in that event in 2:38.3.

More Madison scorers included Brandon Markgraf (5th, 100m dash, 12.8) and Jesse Rutter (2nd in 200m hurdles, 29.8). The Streaks' 400m relay (5th, 53.0) of Bismark, Markgraf, Robbie Bernstein and Brad Pearlman, their 800m relay (4th, 1:55.4) of Marcus Bland, Tim Stone, Bernstein and Bismark and 1600m relay (2nd, 4:20.1) consisting of Bismark, Bevan, Bernstein and Bobby Bismark all fared well.

- Jefferson's effort was paced by thrower Joe Severino, who placed second in both the shot put (40-8) and discus (106-2). The Falcons' 400m relay team of Connor Cleveland, Jacob Dengg, Corey Prine and Brandon Osborne also took third in 52.8.

Also scoring for Jefferson were Ryan Lupold (6th, 400m dash, 1:04.3); Chris Kantor in both the 800m (5th, 2:34.7) and 1600m runs (4th, 5:29); Gregory Hamper (5th, 110m hurdles, 19.6); Osborne (tied for 6th in high jump, 4-10), Dengg in the long jump (5th, 15-1 3/4); Jefferson's 800m relay (5th, 1:56.1) of Andrew Santiago, Dengg, Colin Cicon and Donnie Smith and it's 1600m relay (5th, 4:27.8) of Lupold, Clint Swihart, Charlie Nines and Cleveland.

Pirate, Eagle girls 2nd

Perry's girls squad also shined on Saturday tying with Geneva for runner-up honors. Pacing the Pirates was eighth-grader Abbie Clifford, who swept the distance events winning the 800m run (2:36) and 1600m run (5:36). Teammate Caroline Dugan also captured a first-place medal, winning the high jump (4-5), while taking second in the 100m hurdles (17.3).

Perry also used it's depth to it's advantage as it garnered a second and three third places. The Pirates' 1600m relay of Taylor O'Donnell, Alex Riegert, Michaela Garden and Clifford ran a 4:46.6 for second. O'Donnell (14.1 in 100m dash), Mikala Blakesmith (23-3 in the shot put) and Brianna Luszcak (68-2 in the discus) all grabbed third-place finishes for the Pirates.

Additional Perry scorers were it's 400m relay (58.4) of Dugan, O'Donnell, Alycia Golding and Lauren Schober, which took sixth; it's 800m relay (2:07.7) of Ashley Adamik, Riegert, Nancy Wells and Luszcak that came in fifth; Brianna Cain in the high jump (4th, 4-2) and Morgan Wright in the long jump (6th, 13-2 1/4).

- Co-runner up Geneva also got plenty of high finishes, including a pair of first places from eighth-grader Stacy Mead and seventh-grader Audra Puckrin. Mead sprinted her way to a win in the 200m dash (29.3), while Puckrin took top honors in the long jump with a winning leap of 15-0, while also adding a third place in the 100m hurdles (18.3).

Geneva's 400m relay team of Kami Gill, Mead, Puckrin and Veronica Clutter ran a 44.9 to take second in that event, while both it's 800m relay (2:07.1) of Monica Scharf, Ashley Carroll, Frankie Stocker and Domina DiBiase and it's 1600m relay (4:56.9) of Mardi Galloway, Carroll, Stocker and DiBiase each placed fourth.

Additional scorers for the Eagles were Brittany Graham (4th, 30.60) in the 200m dash; DiBiase (5th, 1:10.3) in the 400m dash; Sami Bragg (5th, 6:17.5) in the 1600m run; Gill in the 100m hurdles (5th, 18.9) and high jump (5th, 4-2); Clutter (3rd, 33.8) and Lindsey Gibson (6th, 35.0) in the 200m hurdles; Mead in the long jump (5th, 13-8 1/2); Alex Bird in the shot put (4th, 23-2) and both Torey Bowser (4th, 64-4) and Bird (6th, 57-6) in the discus.

- As for the Madison's girls, it's lone first place of the day came from it's 1600m relay team of Emily Rowe, Laura Bruening, Katie Malesky and Jillanne Mackey, who won in 4:43.4.

The Blue Streaks also nabbed a second place in the long jump (Devon Archinal, 14-6) and third places by Mackey in the 1600m run (6:15) and their 800m relay (2:05.7) of Rowe, Gretchen Miller, Malesky and Kelsey Koskinen.

More scoring places for Madison included Archinal in the 100m dash (4th, 14.2); Koskinen in the 200m dash (6th, 31.1); Bruening in the 400m dash (6th, 1:12) and 800m run (4th, 2:51.9); Becca Lomurno in the 1600m run (6th, 6:21); Miller in the high jump (6th, 3-10) and it's 400m relay (57.4) of Rowe, Koskinen, Julia Sawyer and Archinal that placed fourth overall.

- Jefferson's scorers included Mikayla Hamilton, who placed second in the 800m run in 2:48 and Rachel Moyer and Megan Hussing, who tied for sixth in the shot put at 23-1. The Falcons' 800m relay of Carrie Sloan, Hamilton, Laura Cole and Gina Unsinger placed sixth in 2:09.

High school

Lakeside's Matt Jones set a school record in the 110m hurdles on Saturday, running a time of 14.79 to place second at the Erie McDowell Invitational. Jones was Lakeside's lone scorer in the 40-team meet.

In the girls meet senior Kailey Johnson placed fourth in the 3200m run in 11:57 to also score for the Dragons. Like Jones, she was the only Lakeside girls' competitor to score at the meet on Saturday.

- James Johnson

Star Beacon Print Edition: 4/29/2007

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