7 things to know about the Wildcat Invitational as Streetsboro boys, Mogadore girls shine

MOGADORE — From the Streetsboro boys and Mogadore girls repeating as Wildcat Invitational champs to Rootstown's Brooklynn McIntyre sweeping the throws, here are seven things to know from Friday's meet:

1. Streetsboro boys, Mogadore girls win by convincing margins

It wasn't just that the Rockets boys and Wildcats girls repeated as Wildcat Invitational champions. It was the margins by which they won.

The Streetsboro boys scored a whopping 163 points, 70 ahead of runner-up Garfield. The Mogadore girls had an impressive 154 points, 46 ahead of the runner-up Rockets.

Streetsboro swept the boys relays while the Mogadore girls accomplished the same feat.

In fact, the Rockets won every track event other than the hurdles, sweeping the sprints and runs.

2. Inside a big day for Mogadore

The Wildcats girls were highly competitive in every running event, especially from the 400 on up.

Mogadore nabbed one-two finishes in the 400, with junior Ari Tompkins (1:00.07) edging her twin sister, Julie (1:00.13); 800, as Katie Lane (2:25.10) just beat fellow senior Brook McIntyre (2:25.14); and 1,600, with junior Emma Quillen (5:34.39) closely followed by freshman Kasey Bolyard (5:37.89). Tack on a two-three finish in the 3,200 and the Wildcats scored 68 points in those four events alone.

"It was an outstanding performance," Mogadore coach Kim Kreiner said. "We are gearing up to hopefully put on a pretty good show at PTC. We know that the Rovers are going to be very tough to beat. They always are. They are [a] very well-rounded team, but I think that motivates our girls a little bit more to try and knock them off the top."

3. How Streetsboro surged ahead of the competition

The event was a chance for the Rockets to prove themselves. There haven't been many such chances, according to Streetsboro coach Robb Kidd, due to injuries and weather.

"We didn't run any dual at 100 percent," Kidd said. "Every dual we ran was very limited in terms of preparation. At this point, getting this meet in [was] very good timing, finally had some decent weather. Our kids were pretty excited. I think this is the buy-in."

It turns out the Rockets at full force are pretty darn scary.

Senior Garrett Tiller won both sprints, with sizzling times (11.31 in the 100 and 22.73 in the 200). His brother, Eric, won the 800, and junior Charles Ivory captured the 400 and fellow junior Tim Harkleroad won both distance runs.

4. Plenty to celebrate for the Streetsboro girls

The runner-up trophy brings mixed emotions at a track meet. Some teams treat it like a bag of carrots on Halloween. Not the Rockets, as a couple of girls in their celebratory postgame huddle commented they couldn't remember the last time they had won a trophy.

Sophomore Olivia Johnson-Wilson was a big reason why, as she swept the hurdles. That included an epic 300 in which she ran against Division III state qualifier Porter Smith of Rootstown and won with a remarkable time of 48.16. That's about a second off what it took to qualify for state last year in Division II.

The scariest part, Kidd said, is that Johnson-Wilson is far from peak shape, having split time this spring between AAU basketball and track.

"We're not surprised by her," Kidd said. "She's a phenomenal athlete. You can see that in any sport that she does. We share time with AAU basketball and we have no problem doing that because I know that that's very important to her. I think she's not in her best shape right now, and I think that should scare a lot of people."

5. Brooklynn McIntyre sweeps the throws

The Rovers senior already had one Wildcat Invitational title secured in the shot put, her stronger event.

Then, in the discus finals, McIntyre went from second to first with a 125-9, making clear the Rootstown thrower has a chance to go deep into the postseason in both events.

"She's been super consistent in her throws," Rovers coach Kyle Rodstrom said. "She's been around upper 30s most of the year for the shot put."

She's guided by a new coach this year, Kassidy Smith, a state thrower herself for the Rovers who stepped in to replace the retired Joe Mackle.

"Coach Kassidy Smith has worked hard with her, getting her in the right positions and getting drills and all that stuff," Rodstrom said. "She's just been consistently working and doing all the stuff she needs to do to be successful."

6. How the Garfield boys earned runner-up honors

In some ways, the G-Men's road to runner-up honors was a familiar one.

They got a ton of points from their throws, with senior Christian Gallagher winning the discus (139-2), sophomore Richie Shackelford earning runner-up honors in the shot (45-9) and senior Jon Wiczen placing in both events.

Their distance runners delivered points, as usual, including a runner-up finish in the 4x800, and a three-four finish in the 800 (by freshman Cole Porter and sophomore Conner Hunt).

But this Garfield team can rack up points in the sprints as well, with seniors Deacon Sommer and Keegan Sell finishing fourth and fifth, respectively, in the 100 and sophomore William Simon and Sell placing fifth and sixth, respectively, in the 200.

7. Ravenna on the rise

The Ravens are improving, there's no question about that, including a third-place finish on the boys side.

Junior Robert Melzer has long been among the area's better throwers, including Friday's shot put title (50-2) and runner-up finish in the discus (137-7).

He was far from alone.

Bryant Thompson's 20-2 long jump wasn't just enough for a Wildcat Invitational title; it puts him in contention for a deep postseason run. The junior is also a high-level sprinter, finishing second in the 100 (11.68) and third in the 200 (23.89).

On the girls side, Ravenna senior Samantha Weber won a title in the 100 (13.30) and junior Taylor Brown was second in the long jump (15-11).

In a loaded track league like the Metro Athletic Conference, nothing will come easily, but the Ravens have the athletes to be competitive, especially on the boys side.

This article originally appeared on Record-Courier: Streetsboro boys, Mogadore girls track shine at Wildcat Invitational